[jamesn162]

I was at a tree farm today picking up some wreatheas for some of my good customers today and i noticed 3 arborviate 8ft tall, and 7 douglas fir about 6-7 ft......and for the past three days the temps have been below freezing and that would mean the balls of the trees would have been frozen....wont that cause death of the tree??????????????

[John Palasek]

Originally posted by jamesn162
I was at a tree farm today picking up some wreatheas for some of my good customers today and i noticed 3 arborviate 8ft tall, and 7 douglas fir about 6-7 ft......and for the past three days the temps have been below freezing and that would mean the balls of the trees would have been frozen....wont that cause death of the tree??????????????

It depends on the tree. Some trees in containers or B&B have no problem dealing with cold temps for days at a time, while others can't take a single night in such conditions.

Generally, most northern nurseries begin to heel-in their excess stock around September or October and it is unusual to see trees out of the ground and unprotected at this time of year.


-JP

[mdvaden]

In our area, if we're just talking 32 degrees or a bit less for the night, it's okay, but most have them half buried in compost or chips.

There are two aspects at least:

1. Root kill temps, and 32 is not that low usually.

2. Dehydration - frozen water can't move up into the tree.

But if it's just overnight, and just hovering around "freezing" - probably no big crisis for a while.

[AZTLANLC]

I might look like a dumb whit this question but what happens when the ground is frozen deep down? is that compost and chips stop the ground from freezing?

[scl]

AZ you hit it on the head. In our area frost was down 36" for 2 months or better last year. B & B stock is pretty safe when froze, especially decid. trees. Evergreens can be dicy, but I've never lost any, probably just jinxed myself.

Scott

[site]

If they freeze and stay frozen it's no big deal for most plants. If they freeze and thaw a buch of times they'll die.

[jamesn162]

i have taled to a few guys about this and this may only be news to a few of you but the freezing anf thawing rips apart the root system......and to clear up the original thread i made when i saw the douglas fir they were just laying out of the ground...they were not in a row of mulch....so with that being said what happens when the ball has been exposed to freezing temps for more than thre days

[FungusMudGrub]

Well, how do roots survive in the ground when it freezes down 4' ? I don't really know the biology of it all, but I think dehydration is really what you need to worry about, not simple freezing.