Tree wrapping is a common practice by tree and shrub care professionals used to keep your trees healthy during the cold winter months. This is especially helpful for evergreen shrubs such as junipers and cedars, deciduous flowering shrubs, and recently planted trees.

Recently planted evergreen trees are particularly vulnerable because their roots are not yet developed enough to absorb enough water from the soil to make up for excess water loss from winter winds.

Most of the time the material used for tree wrapping is burlap since it is inexpensive, blocks the sun well, and adequately controls the temperature of the trunk on sunny winter days. Tree wraps can also be made of crepe paper and even by applying diluted, white, water-based latex paint.

Here are 3 benefits of tree wrapping as part of your tree and shrub care regimen over the winter months:

1 – Prevents Damage from Salt

Salt used for de-icing can damage bark, burn foliage and can possibly kill your tree. Using a good snow removal service can reduce the damage caused from salt, but tree wrapping can prevent salt from contacting any vulnerable areas of trees near any roads, driveways or parking lots where de-icing salt is used.

2 – Discourages Pests

During especially harsh winters when food is scarce, pests such as deer, rabbits and rodents may chew bark and strip away any leaves and twigs within easy reach of them. A tree wrap creates a barrier which is difficult for them to chew through and prevents damage to your trees and shrubs.

3 – Prevents Sunscald

Sunscald is damage caused when the tree gets warm on a sunny winter day and “wakes up” the cells in the living tissue of the tree. These cells begin transferring water and nutrients within the tree. When the temperatures drop at night, these water-filled cells freeze and burst causing long vertical “cracks” in the bark. This damage takes a long time to for the tree to heal, and insects and disease may enter the tree from these cracks.

Need Help Protecting Your Trees and Shrubs During the Winter?

Give us a call at (801) 569-2383 or click on our Contact an Expert green arrow on any page of our website to speak to a tree and shrub care expert to learn how Aeroscape can help protect your landscaping investment during the winter months.