Winter Burn on Evergreens
We are anticipating damage to evergreens and some deciduous plants this spring. The hot, dry late summer and fall, followed by this long, cold winter, may cause a lot of die-back.
Thankfully, most people are lucky to be able to go inside to get out of the cold. Plants don’t get any relief.
Evergreens, unlike their deciduous counterparts, hold their foliage through the winter, which makes them much more susceptible to damage. These plants were drought-stressed before the winter, which makes them much more vulnerable. This winter has been so cold and windy, even cold-hardy plants can be damaged.
The US cold hardiness map (below) is a guide for how specific plants will tolerate cold temperatures. Sometimes people will plant species that are border line hardy to our winters. In prolonged cold winters like this can damage or even kill these plants.
The reason it is worse for evergreens is that on sunny days, evergreen plants will try to photosynthesize, which causes a release of water from the leaves. Unfortunately, when the ground is frozen, that moisture cannot be replaced, which leads to desiccation and browning.
Even though evergreens are the most vulnerable, deciduous plants can lose flower buds and even die back. Again, usually the plants that are less cold hardy in New England are most likely to be damaged. The fact that we are seeing winter burn on evergreens now (February 2025) is a bad sign, but we will not have a true picture of the amount of damage until April or May.
Unfortunately, there is little we can do now. The best way to reduce this damage in the future is to keep your plants well-watered, use mulch to insulate the soil, and treat susceptible plants with anti-desiccant treatments in the fall
The pictures below show some very tough and cold-hardy evergreens showing signs of winter dessication.
An inkberry in a very sunny and windy location has lost most of its foliage
Rhododendron leaves will curl when the temperature is below 28 degrees Fahrenheit in an attempt to preserve moisture. This has happened a lot this winter, which means we might see a lot of damage to broadleaf evergreens.
A Mugo pine showing signs of severe dieback in January 2025
A Japanese holly that dropped most of its foliage due to drought and cold
As we always say, being proactive is always the best way to keep your plants healthy & safe
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