Besides piling hay all around the base of my trees. I bought a few packages of pool Noodles. And cut them down the sides with a box cutter and fitted around the trunks of all my trees. Then packed my hay around my trees. Its a great insulator.
What a great idea! I had always worried about the top of the tree when as you pointed out, it’s about keeping the roots from freezing! Definitely much easier than trying to keep the tops from freezing. I planted 10 young fruit trees so this will be a much better and easier method. Thank you!
I thought I had lost my fig tree this past winter with the excessive cold. But thankfully if re-sprouted from the roots. I didn't get any figs this year though... This is good info to know. Thanks Luke!
Just wondering - Here in Colorado we get down near -25 at times, so I like the idea of insulating the roots - But - we also get many late spring freezes/snows that kill off the flowers if the trees flower too early. In spring, should the insulation come off fairly early (after the super-cold temps are over) to help keep the trees from thinking it's warm enough to initiate flowering too early? Maybe just the black layer, so that the leaf mulch could still help keep the ground from warming up to flowering temps too soon? We have intense sunshine at our altitude (about 5500 ft), which I'm concerned could potentially heat a black layer quite a bit while the air temps are still too cold for the trees to flower safely. Thanks!
Me and my toddler's routine in the morning is laying in bed and checking RU-vid for any new videos from our favorite people! Thanks for sharing this info! I feel I can apply this to some of my perennial plants (we dont have fruit trees...yet!) as well since we live in central WI and lost a few last year due to the ridiculous cold temps.
Brilliant idea! You saved me a trip to the store! And I really like that using the black landscape fabric adds a solar element as well if we don't have much snow cover! Will be doing this to our baby apple tree, and some shrubs!
How long do you believe is a limit of covering fruit trees during the colder temperatures? I am in South Mississippi so it doesn’t get too cold, but the temperature can freeze our trees.
Thank you this was very informative. We recently moved into a home with lots of fruit trees and I didn’t know that we need to protect the roots, is it go late to do them now? We already had a couple of snow falls in our area.
Thank you for this great tip! This will definitely come handy for our young trees as well, we been losing tropical fruit trees (guava and avocado) year after year because they don't survive to cold winter (surprisingly even in California) .. we will be trying this method for sure
I tend to forget how cold it can get in Michigan, since I've lived where it rarely if ever freezes - California and now Florida since 1979. What I miss is real seasons, especially Fall and Spring. Good video. All those leaves........... Another good video. You were born for this - - - well it looks like it to me anyway. Thanks you for your videos.
Such great info here, Luke! I like how quick and simple this is, anyone can do this! Hopefully your trees make it through the winter, it sure would be great to see some fruit on them next spring!
I ordered a Kwanzan Cherry Blossom tree which is scheduled to arrive sometime next month, which makes me nervous about planting in as the weather starts to get cold. I live in California, so it doesn't get freezing cold. Which might be my saving grace.
I have a smaller one which I planted in early Oct this year. Now I put it inside the house as the weather is getting cold, so can the peach grow in-house? This is my 1st try for growing peach from seed. Thanks! :)
hello love your vides I have sow a peach tree from a seed , it 4 inches in my front yard i live in zone 7b do i tranfer to pot and take it inside for winter?
Lucky fruit trees Luke my part of zone 3 usually hits -40 for a few days every winter ! Luckily by then we have nearly a meter or 3 feet of snow insulating the ground !
Good idea Luke! I have some young Saskatoon berry trees (juneberry) that I planted this spring. My biggest fear is that they did not get the roots down deep enough for winter. These are a hardy zone 3 trees but I am still concerned for them. Like Stephen, we see -40 degrees all of the time. I even saw -56 once. However, like Stephen says, we normally have a very deep layer of snow by the time it gets real cold. Whatever snow comes down after the middle of November will still be on the ground in the middle of April.
What can I do for my young trees, peach & wisteria, to protect the buds that grew during mid Michigan warm stretch we had a couple weeks ago. Now, the overnight lows are in the teens & I'm afraid for those buds. Thank you!
That looks very effective Luke. I seldom get a frost, let alone snow (but it doesn't happen occasionally) but if one's forecast I'll know what to do. Always learning from you my friend :)
When we planted our fruit trees this year we covered them with 9 square feet of mulch. should i still put some landscape cloth over the mulch? i have an inch of mulch spread evenly over each tree should i double it to 2 inches then cover with the black cloth?
Ok i need some clarity. This guy said he was able to keep his tropical plants alive outside during the winter instead of digging them up and taking them indoors. By alive does he mean just the roots or was he able to maintain leaves and flowers of "hardy" plants in the winter? I think i ready somewhere that hardy tropical plants are more likely to survive the winter as well rather than regular tropical plants
I would be worried about mice eating the bark below the leaves which would girdle the tree and kill it. A plastic protector around the trunk and pushed a couple of inches in the ground would work
Do you put a plastic protector and a root protector? My peach tree survived 5 winters with just extra mulch, but this year fire blight and other infections swooped through the garden.
I had to learn this lesson too. I lost a pear tree and a peach tree. All that hard work of years just gone so yes sir lesson learned lol. I have 6 German shepherds so Im thinking i might need to use some chicken wire. They are super smart. Can I fill it with leaves and it be ok? Help
We get cold snaps with temperatures from -10 to -30 degrees fahrenheit in the winter and unfortunetly that is enough to kill the trunks of sensitive trees (I'm gambling with a sweet cherry this year). The rootball often survives since it's covered in snow, but the trunk doesn't, so in the spring the rootball sends up new shoots but the grafted part is dead. So I will put up a netting around the first 1-1,5m of the tree (to keep away the hares) and fill that with leaves, hoping that will insulate the tree enough.
Just saw your video I was wondering about small persimmon trees that are not native persimmon trees but the ones that are as big as oranges we like to grow them but I have trouble keeping them alive through the winter here in Oklahoma when they are saplings. I like your idea if If you have any more suggestions for keeping them alive please let me know but I will try this. I like the one lady’s suggestion to protect the bottom of the trunk of the tree from mice I will do that also
Uhg I'm hoping ours survived this winter. It got winter early while we traveled and this winter was nuts but ar least two of my trees seem to be trying to show buds. I live in hope. My rose bushes however look done for.
Roots need to breathe in oxygen received from above ground atmosphere and will continue growing until ground freezes. Ever notice how first snow to begin melting is around the bottom of Tree Trunks who's large Woody masses radiate Suns heat.
That's what I was wondering. I was scrolling to find a comment that would address this. And also the moisture they need. I'm wrapping the bark of my peach and apple but still not convinced to cover the ground around the root.
In England we get the same cold weather, minus 20 f is pretty normal. I was looking for protection from Peach Leaf Curl, as my 2 year old tree, bought as a grafted tree on Rootstock was riddled with blisters. Our local Radio Gardening expert advised me to cover LEAVES with winter fleece in January and February, as the leaf curl is a Virus which enters the buds during wet and cold. Is he right, is our climate so different than in America that these tropical trees can't cope? Smart people in England grow trees up against a south facing wall (sunny side) and cover with a plastic awning in Winter. I made a mistake and planted the tree right in the middle of the lawn. Do I need to also cover the roots do you know? Our very hottest Summer days could reach 70 to 80 f, but not much more. Blossom grows on the trees in around March I am told. I want to try what you have shown, but worry the tree won't get enough water. Thanks, Neil.
Hi! I am worried about the plastic nursery tag that is around the trunk - at 4:35 of the video you can see it getting covered, later you see it again staying on the trunk at the end of your video. I have seen branches killed by these constricting tags as the tree girth increases, as well as entire trees when the tag is located around the main trunk of a young tree.
I got blooms on my pears here in tennessee. anybody have any other ideas other thing covering them we got 20s coming here in a few days, I guess towels and blankes?
I never has issues with the cold but I have had issues with deer and fox eating my peach tree. It was a foot tall at the start of the season because deer or a fox ate it back and now it is 7 foot in one season. last year we had a nasty winter so I put leaves around my fruit trees and plants just to insure that my hard work pays off next year!
We use wood chips after the trunk has been wrapped in plastic tree wrap to keep the mice from eating the bark. Also this year we had to put 5ft. fencing around each (12) young tree (and stake them down) because the deer love to eat the nice tender branches. Costly? Yep, but so were the trees and the time and effort of planting them.
I planted 8 ornamental pear trees, 5' tall. First winter the deer stripped them good. Next fall I put three 8' bamboo pole around each tree (buried 18") and ran heavy duty deer netting horizontally around using the bamboo to hold the netting. Supported the netting on the bamboo with zip ties. Because the netting was only 3' H, I started 3' high so more of the height was protected. Well, it kept mom and dad away but bambi got in there in the spring. She didn't do much damage because I didn't need branches that low and the trunks were fine. So for me, this worked really well. That was 3 years ago and all is still well here in Hudson Valley, NY.
