shed for winter protection?

dankone

i was looking at some books and noticed the difference in information regarding light requirements for trees in winter. the place i am residing at right now only has a shed i can use for winter protection. is this ok? i am asking this because in some books it says no light is needed due to the lack of leaves for photosynthesis. others say junipers pines and such do need some light. some point towards all needing light.

i guess my questions are:

1. is the shed with no light source completely adequate
2. when should i put the jun. and pines in there or not at all, just blocked from wind on the porch mulched or unmulched?
3. some of my trees have not lost all their leaves yet and they are outside still out of the wind, is this ok or should i put them in the shed now

__________________
eat a bonsai for breakfast.

Advertisement

treebeard55

Hi, dankone.

Briefly...

...the shed is OK for deciduous trees, like maples and hornbeams. They truly don't need light while dormant.

...from what I've read, evergreens do best with some light during winter, but make sure it's indirect. Otherwise solar gain could bring them out of dormancy too soon. Protect them from wind, too: it dessicates.

Sorry you couldn't make the November meeting in FW; it was a good one.

Chao,

__________________
Treebeard 55

"... the Lord God made all kinds of trees ... trees that were pleasing to the eye ..." (Genesis 2:9, NIV.)

Chadguay

Yeah, the evergreens need to be out in the weather. They'll do fine if you mulch them in. Unless you are getting fairly strong winds or constant winds then they should be ok, but a little protection shouldn't hurt.

The ones with leaves can wait a bit especially if your winter is coming on like our is.

RandiSharp

I agree...wind is the killer and don't forget to occasionally water to keep the trees from drying out. If they freeze that's OK just be sure that if temps rise about 32 you’ll want to check to make sure that they are somewhat moist. If we have snow..and that's a big 'if' these past years...I gather up some snow and pile it on the pine needles that they are mulched in with so that as it melts it will water. In the past I've put my trees under benches sheltered from the wind - on a 2" - 3" bed of pine needles. This allows for air flow and if there's a downpour or snow melting it keeps the water flow from entering the pots and cracking the pots when it freezes. After I put the pots on the needles I take additional needles and 'mulch' in the pots to cover the top of the soil by a couple of inches.

I have used a small cold frame made from PVC pipe; 8X10s and tyvek as a covering. When the temps would start to rise I would need to open a flap to maintain the temp so that the interior would not get too warm. So if you use the shed..just be careful it doesn't heat up too much if the temps start to rise above freezing and it’s a sunny day.