Winter Tree Care: How to Protect and Maintain Your Trees Through Cold Weather

Most homeowners stop thinking about their trees in November and don’t start again until April. That’s five months of neglect during a season that can kill young trees, crack bark, desiccate evergreens, and let rodents girdle trunks. Winter tree care doesn’t take much time, but the few things it requires are the difference between a tree that thrives in spring and one that comes out of winter damaged or dead.

This guide covers everything your trees need from November through March. For emergency frost protection during sudden cold snaps, see our frost protection guide. This is about the full season of winter care.

Frost-covered bare tree branches creating a serene winter atmosphere

Winter watering

Trees need water in winter. Deciduous trees are dormant, but their roots are still alive and can desiccate in dry soil. Evergreen trees lose moisture through their needles all winter, especially on windy, sunny days. A long dry spell in January or February kills more trees than most people realize.

Deciduous trees: Water once every 3-4 weeks if there’s no rain or snow melt for an extended period. Soak the root zone deeply when temperatures are above 40F. Don’t water when the ground is frozen solid.

Evergreen trees: Water every 2-3 weeks during dry winter periods. Evergreen trees transpire year-round and are especially vulnerable to winter desiccation (browning needles in spring caused by moisture loss during winter that dry roots couldn’t replace).

Newly planted trees (first winter): Water every 2-3 weeks through winter. New trees haven’t established enough root spread to access deep moisture. This is the most critical group. Many trees planted the previous fall or spring die during their first winter not from cold but from drought. Follow our new tree watering schedule through the full first year, including winter.

When to water: On a day when air temperature is above 40F and soil isn’t frozen. Water in the morning so it soaks in before a nighttime freeze. A slow trickle from a hose for 20-30 minutes over the root zone is enough.

Close-up of red wood mulch pieces for garden bed protection

Mulching for winter protection

Mulch is your tree’s winter blanket. A proper mulch ring moderates soil temperature, prevents freeze-thaw root damage, retains soil moisture, and keeps lawn mowers and string trimmers away from the trunk (a year-round benefit).

Apply in late fall (November in most zones), before hard freezes start. Spread 3-4 inches of organic mulch (wood chips, shredded bark, or shredded leaves) in a ring 4-6 feet in diameter around the trunk. Keep mulch 3-6 inches away from direct contact with the bark. Mulch piled against bark traps moisture and causes rot.

No volcano mulching. A cone of mulch heaped against the trunk is the single most common mulching mistake in residential landscapes. It causes bark rot, root girdling, and creates a rodent habitat against the trunk. Flat, doughnut-shaped mulch rings only.

For detailed mulching technique and other ways to protect the area around your trees, see our landscaping around trees guide.

Trunk wrapping and sunscald prevention

Sunscald (also called southwest injury) happens on cold, sunny winter days. The afternoon sun heats bark on the south and west sides of the trunk, causing cells to come out of dormancy. When temperatures drop at night, those active cells freeze and die, creating vertical cracks or dead patches in the bark.

Which trees are vulnerable: Thin-barked species (maples, cherries, crabapples, ashes, honeylocust, lindens) and all young trees under 5 years old. Thick-barked trees like oaks are less susceptible.

Prevention: Wrap trunks with commercial tree wrap (white or tan paper wrap) in November. Start at the base and spiral upward to the first branch scaffold, overlapping each layer by half. Remove the wrap in April after the last hard freeze. Alternatively, paint the trunk with white latex paint (interior paint diluted 50/50 with water). The white color reflects sunlight and prevents heating.

Young trees: Wrap every fall for the first 3-5 winters until bark thickens enough to self-protect. Our tree sapling protection guide covers this in detail.

Salt damage protection

Road salt (sodium chloride) and de-icing chemicals damage trees in two ways: spray from passing traffic coats branches and buds with salt, and salt-laden meltwater saturates soil in the root zone.

Symptoms appear in spring: Brown leaf margins, stunted growth on the roadside of the tree, branch die-back, sparse foliage. Salt-sensitive species (sugar maple, white pine, dogwood, redbud) show damage first.

Prevention strategies:

Burlap barriers: Wrap burlap on stakes between the road and vulnerable trees to block salt spray. Remove in spring.
Alternative de-icers: Use calcium chloride or calcium magnesium acetate near trees instead of sodium chloride. Both are less toxic to plants.
Spring flush: In early spring, deeply water the root zone of trees near salted roads to flush accumulated sodium through the soil profile.
Choose salt-tolerant species near roads. Honeylocust, bur oak, red oak, black cherry, and Austrian pine tolerate road salt. Sugar maple, white pine, dogwood, and hemlock do not. For more on selecting trees for these conditions, see our guide to trees for sidewalk planting.

White-tailed deer standing in a snow-covered winter landscape

Rodent and animal protection

Voles, rabbits, and deer all damage trees in winter when other food sources are scarce.

Voles tunnel under snow and gnaw bark at the soil line, girdling and killing young trees. You often don’t see the damage until snow melts in spring and the trunk is stripped of bark all the way around.

Prevention: Pull mulch 6 inches away from the trunk (mulch is vole habitat). Install a wire mesh cylinder (1/4-inch hardware cloth) around the trunk base, buried 2-3 inches into the soil and extending 18 inches above the anticipated snow line.

Rabbits chew bark higher on the trunk, typically 12-24 inches above ground or snow level. Wire mesh cylinders extending 24 inches above the expected snow depth prevent access. Plastic spiral trunk guards also work for rabbits.

Deer browse on branches and buds, and bucks rub antlers on trunks (September-November, not technically winter, but the damage shows up over winter). Fencing or deer repellent sprays applied in fall protect vulnerable trees. Wire cages around young trees are the most reliable option.

Gardener holding pruning shears near dormant shrub branches in autumn light

Dormant pruning

Winter is prime time for structural pruning on most deciduous trees. The tree is dormant, the branch architecture is visible without leaves, and disease organisms are less active.

Prune in late winter (February-March):

Oaks (winter pruning avoids oak wilt beetle season, April-July)
Maples (minimize sap bleeding by pruning before sap flow starts in late February)
Most deciduous shade trees
Crabapples, hawthorns, and other ornamentals

Wait for summer to prune:

Plum trees (silver leaf disease risk in winter)
Cherry trees (bacterial canker risk in wet seasons)
Spring-blooming trees like dogwood, redbud, magnolia (prune after bloom to avoid removing flower buds)

Never prune:

During active freezing (fresh cuts are vulnerable to cold damage)
When wood is frozen (frozen branches are brittle and cuts don’t heal cleanly)

For species-specific pruning timing, see our seasonal pruning guide and our detailed guides for apple, pear, and peach tree pruning.

Winter inspection

The absence of leaves makes winter the best time to inspect tree structure. Walk around each tree and look for:

Cracks and splits. Frost cracks (vertical splits on the trunk) and branch crotch splits are visible in winter. Note them for spring evaluation by an arborist.

Dead branches. Branches without buds or with peeling bark are dead. Mark them for late-winter removal. Dead branches are more likely to fall under ice and snow loads.

Crossing and rubbing branches. Visible without leaves. Plan to remove the weaker branch in each pair during late-winter pruning.

Structural defects. V-shaped branch crotches (narrow attachment angles), co-dominant leaders, and heavy branches extending far from the trunk are all failure points under snow and ice. An arborist assessment can evaluate whether cabling, bracing, or removal is needed.

Fungal conks and cankers. Bracket fungi on the trunk or branches indicate internal decay. Cankers (sunken, discolored bark areas) may indicate disease. Both are more visible without foliage. See our tree fungus guide for identification.

Snow-covered trees with heavy frost on branches in a winter forest

Snow and ice management

Heavy snow and ice break more tree branches than any storm except hurricanes.

After heavy wet snow:

Gently brush snow off branches of small trees and shrubs with an upward sweeping motion from below. Don’t shake or pull branches downward.
Evergreen trees with flexible branches (arborvitae, juniper) can be wrapped with twine in fall to prevent snow from splaying branches apart.
Don’t try to remove ice from branches. Pulling or shaking ice-coated branches causes more breakage. Let it melt naturally.

After ice storm damage:

If branches are hanging or partially broken, cut them cleanly back to a branch collar or lateral branch. Torn, jagged breaks don’t heal well. Clean pruning cuts do.
If a major branch or the leader is broken, call an arborist. Improper pruning of large storm-damaged branches can cause more damage than the storm itself.
For comprehensive storm response, see our tree care after storms guide.

Dormant oil and pest prevention

Late winter (February-March, before bud break) is the time for dormant oil sprays. Horticultural oil applied during dormancy smothers overwintering insect eggs, scale insects, and mites.

Target pests: Scale, mites, aphid eggs, and some overwintering caterpillar eggs. One application per year. Spray when temperatures are above 40F and below 70F, and no rain is expected for 24 hours.

Species that benefit most: Fruit trees, crabapples, dogwoods, magnolias, and any tree that had pest problems the previous season. For pest identification and treatment beyond dormant oil, see our tree boring insects guide and aphid treatment guide.

Preparing newly planted trees for their first winter

A tree planted in the spring or fall faces its first winter with a limited root system. Extra protection makes a measurable difference in survival.

Checklist for first-winter trees:

Mulch ring: 3-4 inches, 4-6 foot diameter, away from trunk
Trunk wrap: white tree wrap from base to first branch
Rodent guard: wire mesh cylinder at base
Winter watering: every 2-3 weeks during dry periods
No pruning (save it for next year unless removing dead/broken branches)
No fertilizer (wait until second spring)
Stake check: if staked, ensure ties aren’t too tight and plan to remove stakes after one year

Month-by-month winter care

Month	Key tasks
November	Apply mulch, install trunk wraps and rodent guards, one last deep watering
December	Water if no rain/snow for 3+ weeks, inspect for animal damage after first snows
January	Check moisture, brush heavy snow from small trees, inspect for frost cracks
February	Begin dormant pruning (late month), apply dormant oil spray, resume watering if dry
March	Continue pruning, remove trunk wrap after last hard freeze, assess winter damage

Winter tree care is quiet work. A few hours across the season keeps your trees healthy and sets them up for strong spring growth. For year-round maintenance planning, check our spring tree care guide for what comes next and mklibrary.com’s seasonal maintenance calendar for the full annual schedule.