Winter Care for Apple Trees

Apple trees in winter go dormant, but they need care to survive the cold climates.

Caring for apple trees extends past their growing season. In order to ensure that apple trees continue to bear well and remain healthy, meet their physical needs during the winter. During the winter, apple trees are subjected to harsher climates, and even though they are dormant, they can still suffer from the cold winds and dropping temperatures. Appropriate care allows apple trees to survive the winter and to thrive with the new growing season.

Things You'll Need

• Measuring tape
• Hardware cloth
• Wire cutters
• Shovel
• Wire

Instructions

Protection

1. Measure the girth of the apple tree and add 3 inches to this measurement.

2. Measure the distance from the ground to a point about halfway up the tree's bare trunk.

3. Cut a rectangle of hardware cloth that uses the measurements that you acquired in Steps 1 and 2.

4. Clear any mulch or vegetation away from the base of the tree using a trowel or shovel. There should be bare dirt around the trunk to a distance of about 1 foot.

5. Wrap the hardware cloth around the lower trunk of the tree, seating it firmly in the soil at the base of the tree. The two ends of the hardware cloth should overlap.

6. Cut several 4-inch lengths of wire with the wire cutters.

7. Bind the cylinder of hardware cloth by wrapping small lengths of wire between mesh of the two ends, holding the overlapping edges together. This cage prevents rabbits and voles from harming the tree's base and roots in the winter.

Pruning

1. Prune in late winter, ideally in February or early March. This mitigates the damage and allows the tree a full growing season to recover.

2. Cut off all broken or diseased limbs with the pruning shears. They are only going to sap the tree's resources.

3. Locate and cut off all branches that rub against each other or branches that cross. This improves circulation to the center of the apple tree.

4. Eliminate branches that travel straight up or branches that droop down. An apple tree should have predominantly branches that are horizontal.

References

• University of New Hampshire: Care of Mature Backyard Apple Trees
• North Carolina State University: Training and Pruning Fruit Trees
• Texas A&M University: Home Fruit Production- Apples