Winter Damage in the Nursery

We have been part of several discussions with customers & other growers about what damage is now showing up in the landscape & our nursery from this past harse winter here in the Midwest.  Here is what we are finding in our nursery:

• Dead – All Zelkova & most Frontier Elm as well as small liners planted last fall before the winter
• Damaged or set back – some but not all of these varieties show spotty damage throughout the nursery – Sweetgum, London Planetree, Tulip Tree, European Hornbeam, Parrotia
• Winter Burn – all Spruce under 24″ – seem to now be bouncing back well with their new summer growth
• Frost Crack – several of our Crabapples suffered some frost crack – not consistent though between certain varieties or locations in the field

We had 2 record low recordings this winter of -21 & -16, with many extended days of below zero temps & snow cover.  These conditions lead to our normal Zone 5 winter looking more like a Zone 3-4 winter.  Many of the plants we saw the most damage in were Zone 5 plants, which technically should have been fine.  We are currently deciding if we plan to proceed with growing some of these varieties.  The verdict is still out here on a few of them but many we will continue to grow. 

In the landscape we are seeing many dead or suffering Maples with either new or old frost cracking from the past several years of extreme conditions.  We are also starting to see massive death of Ash trees now from EAB.  The extreme winter seems to be finally accelerating the decline of trees that were previously under stress.

We would love to hear from our customers or other growers about what you are experiencing after last winter.  We think it is important to share what is going on in the landscape with our industry since we are all working in this business together.  If you have ay comments or questions to pass along to us, please feel free to share.  We will continue to update this dialogue in our blog for anyone who would like to follow it. 

Let’s hope that next winter is a little more kind to us!