Winterizing Your Trees

1. Mulching
One simple thing you can do is put a new layer of mulch around the base of your trees. This helps your trees in a few ways. It keeps the soil moist, helps it handle big temperature changes, and adds some good stuff to the soil. You should spread the mulch out in a circle around the tree, but don’t make a big mound of mulch right against the tree trunk.

2. Fertilizing
The mulch you add will slowly break down and give your soil some good things. But it’s also a good idea to give your trees some extra food in the fall. Unlike trees in the forest, our yard trees don’t get a lot of nutrients from fallen leaves and twigs because we clean up our yards. So, adding a special kind of plant food in the fall can help your tree get the nutrients it needs during the winter and help its roots grow.

3. Watering
Water is still important for your trees, but they don’t need as much as they do in the hot summer. If you have a system that waters your yard, you can start watering less. You can keep watering until the first freeze, but make sure the soil isn’t too wet. Some trees, like evergreens, need a good, slow drink of water 1-2 times a week until the ground freezes because winter winds can dry them o