Drought can prove an issue in winter

Have you ever thought that drought can be a winter issue even when there is plenty of snow cover? The ground is frozen, and your plants do not have access to the moisture in the snow and so there are still drought conditions. When you see browning or scorching on needles or leaves, this is a common symptom of drought. Drought is not just a summer issue. Besides winter desiccation, there is winter sunscald, low-temperature injury and snow breakage with plants.

Watering in late fall before the ground freezes is key to minimizing winter desiccation. Mulching is as important as watering to mitigate the soil temperature to keep the soil moisture available to plants. Plants who face a southern exposure will suffer more because the south, and sometimes western, exposure warms up more than a northern or eastern exposure. 

With sunscald, the thin bark of maples, ash, crabapple and fruit trees that face a south and west exposure warms the trunk and the sap starts flowing. As the temperature cools at night, then the sap freezes and expands, cracking the bark. This area of dead bark loosens or sinks during spring and summer. This exposes that area to disease such as Cytospora canker. This is a fungus that is evident with a lot of drought-stressed trees. It is very prevalent on the plains with fruit trees. There is no cure for Cytospora canker other than to keep the trees as healthy as possible.

If you have any marginally hardy plants in your yard, they will suffer from low-temperature injury. Anytime the temperature goes below normal when a plant is not fully dormant, it will sustain some damage. Temperatures that fluctuate in spring can cause damage with flower and leaf buds already opening. It is equally important here to water well and mulch the ground. 

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