Rescuing Storm Damaged Trees

Well, it's a good thing we got those apples picked when we did.  A few days later, we had our first snow of the season.  October 4 is early for snow, even for us.  And an early October snow in a year where spring came very late and summer even later, well, it just didn't feel too good. 

Snows that come very early or very late in the season tend to be very heavy, wet snows.  Both are problematic for power lines and other standing structures, but the early fall snows are pretty devastating to trees.  And this one was no exception.  In fact, you'll hear most people say this is the worst, most destructive early season snow we've ever had. 

In the grand scheme of things, with tens of thousands of dead cattle and unharvested sunflower and corn fields broken down to the ground, our damage doesn't seem that significant.  But, to a gardener who has worked 20 years to get a nice stand of trees and a fine fruit orchard started in the Burleigh Country desert, the aftermath of this storm is heartbreaking.  Trees still tend to be fully leafed out this time of year, so all the heavy snow gets caught in the limbs, adding more and more weight until branches, and sometimes the entire tree snaps off. 

I knew we were in trouble when the closer I got to home, the harder and heavier the snow was coming down.  Then I turned in the driveway and realized it had disappeared under fallen trees.  The beautiful arching elm trees that framed the driveway were no more.  I found Gene in the orchard, trying to knock the heaviest part of the snow off the tree limbs.  His efforts saved many of the trees, but he had to quit when our largest plum tree split the trunk into three pieces, to within about a foot of the ground, and large limbs began falling everywhere.


We went inside and listened to the popping, cracking and crashing as more trees came down.  The next day, the final count was seven elm trees completely broken off within about a foot of the ground, along with a plum, pear and apple tree.  Half a dozen more elms, a couple apple trees, another plum, my Prairie willow, and several viburnum shrubs badly damaged and a ton of clean-up work that will need to be done before winter sets in - it was enough to make me cry. 


But, gardening and storm clean-up doesn't get done with tears, so as soon as we determined it was safe to be out walking amongst the remaining trees, we had to start the process of clean-up.  We don't have any overhead power lines on our property, so we didn't have to worry about downed lines, but when trees come down, that is always the first thing to be aware of when going out to survey the damage. 

Any large branches that are completely broken off but are still hanging amongst other branches will need to be removed first to eliminate the danger of them coming down on top of us.  Then we can work on branches that are broken and are likely to break off with any additional pressure.  We'll take these off by first making a partial cut from the bottom of the branch to keep it from tearing more bark off the trunk if it continues to break.  Then we'll cut from the top, a few inches further out on the branch than the one on the bottom, and finish cutting the branch off just outside the raised area where the branch meets the trunk, called the "branch collar".  If the original break is into the branch collar, we will smooth it out as best we can.  It's important to try to eliminate divets and "cups" that will hold snow and water or harbor insects.

We'll have some decisions to make - can this tree be saved or is it best to just remove it?  Many of the damaged trees were young, healthy trees and we hold out a little more hope for some of them.  The elms are old trees that will be harder to salvage.  The larger the limbs that are broken, the harder it will be for the tree to recover.  The larger the size of the wound from the broken branches in comparison to the size of the limb to which they were attached, the harder it will be for the wound to heal.  If the wound is 1/4 the size of the limb or smaller, the wound will likely heal over within a couple years.  If it is nearly half the size of the limb or trunk, it may be very difficult for it to heal before it falls victim to rot, diseases or insect infestations.  The bark of a tree is like our skin and when large pieces of it are disrupted, the tree is vulnerable to all kinds of infections and insect infestations. 

Any tree where the trunk is split is not likely to recover and is much more vulnerable to future damage from snow or wind.  If 50% or more of the crown (top) of the tree is badly damaged or destroyed, there is little hope that the tree will regain its vigor.  There may not be enough foliage left to support the photosynthesis necessary to sustain life.

If a tree is leaning, it generally means that the roots themselves were damaged or loosened.  These trees usually need to be removed because they won't survive well and are very susceptible to being completely pulled out of the ground in future storms.  One of my honeycrisp apple trees was leaning nearly to the ground.  This is a young tree, so we will try to save it by gently pulling it back to a straight, vertical position and staking it until the roots re-grow and stabilize it in the soil.  With young trees, sometimes you can foster new root growth.  With mature trees, this is not likely to work.

One of my plum trees lost its "leader" or the main upward growing branch.  We will trim the damaged area to create a smooth cut and over the next couple years, I will work to retrain another strong upward-trending branch to become the new leader.  This will require diligent trimming of weaker upward trending branches to keep the stronger one dominant in the upward growth.  After the new leader attains some size and strength, the other upward trending branches will assume their supporting role, and hopefully the tree will regain a nicer appearance and a strong form.

Trees should never be "topped", the process where all the top branches are cut back to stubs.  Professional arborists say that topping is the worst insult you can deal a tree.  Topped trees produce a lot of weak branches that are going to be even more prone to damage in storms.  Not to mention that they look incredibly ugly.  If a tree trimming service recommends "topping" trees or has a history of having done that, I would suggest you run them away from your trees as fast and as far as you can.

Hard as it may be, we will need to resist the urge to overprune.  We'll learn to live with trees whose appearance is less than perfect for a while.  Some of them may never look the same, but many will continue to grow, the bare spots from broken branches and limbs will be covered, and we will once again be able to look at our trees and say "oh what a beautiful sight".  And in the meantime, we'll relish those trees that braved and battled the storm to stay upright and whole.

Apple Season

Nothing says autumn to me like apple picking time.  Apples are usually the very last produce to be dealt with, so it is a bittersweet time.  The abundance of fresh fruits and vegetables picked and eaten right out of the garden is coming to an end.  That's the bitter part.  The end of that bounty means I can settle in for nice, relaxing evenings in my recliner beside the fireplace.  That's the sweet part.

I have a good crop of apples this year, with four of my trees putting their heart and soul into growing apples.  Most apple trees bear heavily on alternate years.  Their "off" year, they may not produce any apples or just a few.  Their "on" year, they are sometimes so heavily fruited that the branches seem in danger of breaking.

The Whitney crabapple tree seems to be an exception to the alternate year rule.  It produces heavily just about every year.  The apples from this tree were picked in late August and made into applesauce, juice, and apple butter.  Even though it is a crabapple tree, the apples are large - about the size of a tennis ball - and sweet.  They don't keep well, so they need to be preserved almost immediately after picking.  They are good for pies, especially if used before they are fully ripe.  Mom had a beautiful Whitney crab tree right at the entrance to her vegetable garden.  Each summer, when the apples were fully formed but still green, we were treated to fresh baked green apple pie.  Mm mm good!  Whitneys are a soft apple, so have a mushy texture when ripe, which makes them perfect for applesauce.

Most other varieties of apples don't obtain their sweetness until they are chilled by the cool days and nights of fall, and can even bear a fairly hard frost without damage.  Temperatures as low as 29 degrees, as long as the cold doesn't last over a period of hours, will not damage most fall ripening apples.

My Honeycrisp tree outdid itself this year.  It is a young tree - only four years old- but is in its second year of production.  Last year, it produced six nice, large apples.  Not bad for a tree that was only five feet tall and has a trunk that's less than two inches around.  This year, it was so loaded with nearly softball sized apples that we had to tie the trunk to a steel stake to hold the top branches off the ground.  Honeycrisp is a relatively new variety of apple, developed by the University of Minnesota in the 1960's and available for planting in home orchards for only the last few years.  Officially, Honeycrisp trees are still listed as "in trial" for North Dakota, but so far mine seems to be very hardy, disease resistant, and a good producer.  Honeycrisp apples are crisp, sweet and juicy and can be stored for six to seven months in a cool place.  My baby tree produced two five gallon buckets full of nice, large apples and I am going to enjoy every one of them!

Next came the Haralred tree.  Haralson and Haralred are essentially the same type of apple tree.  Haralson apples were developed by the University of Minnesota in the early 1900's, specifically to be hardy enough to withstand the harsh winter climate of Minnesota and North Dakota.  The Haralred is what's called a "sport" of the Haralson.  A sport is a plant mutation that suddenly produces a new plant that is similar but different from the parent plant.  If the sport produces a desirable plant, it can be propagated vegetatively to produce a new variety.  The Haralred produces apples that are a deeper, more uniform red than the Haralson and also tends to ripen a little earlier than the parent plant.  Both the Haralson and the Haralred produce a medium sized apple that has a nice firm texture, is moderately sweet, and keeps for four to six months.  Both are proven hardy varieties for North Dakota winters.  My Haralred yielded a full bushel of apples.  The Haralson did not produce any apples this year.  I think it is quite considerate of them to work out this nice schedule...they make the best pies, but even I don't need two trees full of apples for pies.

The final picking was what I call my "bird poo" apple tree.  It's a tree that started in the very corner of one of my flower gardens about 5 years ago.  A bird conveniently dropped the seed in a location where I wanted a tree anyway, so I just let it grow.   Last year, it produced a few apples that were on the small side, so I still wasn't able to tell what kind of tree it might be.  This year, we picked and picked and picked from that tree, until we'd filled three bushel baskets with apples.  They are a nice, , medium sized apple, red with slight striping.  The apples are sweet and have just a touch of a vanilla-like flavor, so I suspect it's a Sweet Sixteen.  

I also have an older Sweet Sixteen apple that produced a couple apples this year.   Sweet Sixteen is another very hardy apple tree developed by the University of Minnesota in the early 1970's.  Sweet Sixteen is marketed to be hardy to 50 degrees below zero.  The taste of the Sweet Sixteen apples is unique and very flavorful.  That hint of vanilla and maybe even a slightly nutty taste make it a great apple for eating fresh, pies, applesauce - pretty much anything you want to do with an apple.  The downside is that it just isn't a good keeper.  You can store the Sweet Sixteens for up to two to three months, but quality declines rapidly after the first six to eight weeks.

Dakota Gold was developed by North Dakota State University in the 1960's.  It's hardiness here is well proven.  Dakota Gold produces large yellow fruit that is good for eating and cooking, but it stores even less well than Sweet Sixteen.  My Dakota Gold tree is only in its second growth year, so no apples yet, but I'm looking forward to them in a few more years.

Hazen and State Fair are two additional varieties that are hardy in northern climates, producing nice sweet apples, however, both are poor keepers.  Wodarz is a very sweet apple that does well in harsher climates and also stores well for four to six months. 

Zestar is a fairly new release of the University of Minnesota that is heralded as being a "new taste" in apples, with its brown sugar overtones.  While Zestar is rated as hardy to zone 3b, it's durability for climates like North Dakota hasn't been fully proven yet. 

The state universities are always working on new varieties that combine the best features that people want in their home apple orchards.  I'm not sure if we'll ever see commercial apple orchards in North Dakota, but we can sure grow a lot of yummy treats in our home orchards.