1-year-old frozen maple seedlings

Hotei

About a year ago, I potted up about 50 6" to 12" vine and trident maple seedlings, mostly into 1-gal nursery pots. They did well over the summer. For winter, I crowded them all together into 2 corners, one beside my garage and the other against a fence, both out of any wind. They stayed wet due to above-average rain this fall. But ... we have had 2 weeks of severe weather, with over 10 days of below freezing overnight temps. I know I should have put mulch around the pots, but didn't have an opportunity to do that. I was able to put a frost cloth over them and found room in my garage for many, but the ones outside were very frozen to the touch a few days ago. Although it's too late to change anything this year, what are the odds of survival? Also, other than investing in an expensive greehouse, what can I do differently next year?

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xerophyte_nyc

i also check out a palm tree forum on occasion, and one`simple thing i've read about to help increase winter temps is to wrap x-mas lights around the plant bodies and along the ground - combined with a thick plastic covering, the heat from the bulbs seems to be enough to raise the temps a few precious degrees.

x

Cathie

I would think a hay bale corral would be more effective, and plastic's never a very good idea as mulch.

xerophyte_nyc

You're absolutely right, plastic is not a good mulch, but it does create air space which is heated by the light bulbs and helps hold the warmth - mulch materials work by stabilizing big temp changes , which may or may not be adequate depending on a plant's hardiness and the climate around it; in the case of using the heat from lights, I think the mulch would trap the heat and prevent it from spreading, but I've never tried it so I don't know for sure.

One thing I do know, heavy snow is probably the best mulch

Dav4

I suspect your maples will be ok come spring. I can't speak about vine maples, though I suspect they are as hardy or slightly more so then tridents. As for Tridents, their rootballs can freeze solid, though they are more cold sensitive then other maple varieties and root damage will occur at higher soil temps. Brent at evergreengardenworks has some great info concerning this specific subject. Visit his website. I think Tridents require minimum protection in zone 8...the best thing to due would be to mulch the pots next year with wood chips. I'm hoping someone from your neck of the woods who is actually growing Tridents will chime in.; Good luck,


Dave

ps you can still mulch them this year if you like.