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April snows bring May, er, flower shows?
Late season snow strikes again!
By Chris Leinster - April 18, 2025
How do you make it snow on April 18th? Untie all your trees and shrubs and fire up your irrigation system on April 13th! Yep, spent last night re-wrapping my trees and draining my system. Oh well, Colorado, right?
Actually, the snow is a blessing and couldn’t have come at a better time. Nature knows grasses, trees, and shrubs are “waking up” from their winter slumber, and desperately in need of water. Temperatures shouldn’t be severe enough to do any serious damage, although heavy snow loads could be problematic.
Colorado isn’t always so kind, and some years see less early Spring precipitation. For this reason, Winter watering is essential to help your living landscape plants thrive. Roots actually start to stretch before any top growth is essential. Water begins to flow up the trunks to nourish swelling buds and crispy evergreen needles. It is very stressful on the trees if the ground is bone dry, so drag out the hoses and water if we’ve gone a week or two without any rain or snow. Just be sure to disconnect your hose from the tap to prevent any overnight freeze damage.
Warm temperatures create heavy, wet snow. As it collects on tree and shrub branches the weight can bend or break loose limbs. Gently wrap multi-stem trees and shrubs with garden tie, twine, strap, or even bungee cords in the Fall. This will help support the trees and prevent breakage. Don’t cinch the bundles tightly, just loosely wrap so the limbs have some support under heavy snows. Get out and gently shake the snow off tender plants as best you can as well.
Hopefully your trees retain some flowers and the leaves can withstand the dip in temperature. Some years bring much greater late freezes, and these can damage the leaves of early bloomers. Fret not, evolution and nature has gifted trees with “latent” buds. These are leaf buds held in reserve for just such an occasion. Hormones are triggered upon the sudden loss of leaves, and most trees should recover beautifully within a few weeks.
You can safely remove trunk wrap once the leaves emerge on your trees. The wrap does not keep the trees warm, it protects the trunks from sunburn, just like a long sleeved shirt. At this altitude, intense sunrays can penetrate the soft tissue of young trees. Continue to do this every year until the trees develop a corky protective bark.
Good luck and get out to bag some late season skiing! And now is a great time to plant!
Actually, the snow is a blessing and couldn’t have come at a better time. Nature knows grasses, trees, and shrubs are “waking up” from their winter slumber, and desperately in need of water. Temperatures shouldn’t be severe enough to do any serious damage, although heavy snow loads could be problematic.
Colorado isn’t always so kind, and some years see less early Spring precipitation. For this reason, Winter watering is essential to help your living landscape plants thrive. Roots actually start to stretch before any top growth is essential. Water begins to flow up the trunks to nourish swelling buds and crispy evergreen needles. It is very stressful on the trees if the ground is bone dry, so drag out the hoses and water if we’ve gone a week or two without any rain or snow. Just be sure to disconnect your hose from the tap to prevent any overnight freeze damage.
Warm temperatures create heavy, wet snow. As it collects on tree and shrub branches the weight can bend or break loose limbs. Gently wrap multi-stem trees and shrubs with garden tie, twine, strap, or even bungee cords in the Fall. This will help support the trees and prevent breakage. Don’t cinch the bundles tightly, just loosely wrap so the limbs have some support under heavy snows. Get out and gently shake the snow off tender plants as best you can as well.
Hopefully your trees retain some flowers and the leaves can withstand the dip in temperature. Some years bring much greater late freezes, and these can damage the leaves of early bloomers. Fret not, evolution and nature has gifted trees with “latent” buds. These are leaf buds held in reserve for just such an occasion. Hormones are triggered upon the sudden loss of leaves, and most trees should recover beautifully within a few weeks.
You can safely remove trunk wrap once the leaves emerge on your trees. The wrap does not keep the trees warm, it protects the trunks from sunburn, just like a long sleeved shirt. At this altitude, intense sunrays can penetrate the soft tissue of young trees. Continue to do this every year until the trees develop a corky protective bark.
Good luck and get out to bag some late season skiing! And now is a great time to plant!