Keeps Deer Away: The primary reason for tree wraps is protection from sun scald. Sun scald is when bark on a tree is damaged by its freezing after being reactivated from dormancy. This often happens during winter when temperatures decrease, causing the tree's cells to become dormant. Wrapping plants in winter does not keep them warmer. Do not use brown paper tree wrap or black colored tree guards as they will absorb heat from the sun. When to wrap: Researchers at the University of Minnesota recommend wrapping your trees after the first hard freeze of the year, which usually occurs from late October to the end of November. Insects and disease-causing fungi are dead or dormant, but larger, furrier animals now pose a threat. Before winter reaches its lowest temperatures, follow these four steps and wrap your trees so they survive the winter weather. Kraft paper is a paper that is soaked in tar. This topic has been dealt with in a previous post. Tree wrap before the winter will prevent hungry animals from gnawing on the bark and exposing the tender wood on the inside of the trunk. Reduces Moisture Loss: This topic was discussed in Keep Plants Warm in Winter. Put the wrap on in the fall and remove it in the spring after the last frost. In other winter tree wear, there are sprays that make trees taste bad to furry animals. Wrap newly planted trees for at least two winters and thin-barked species up to five winters or more. Wrapping trees for winter with burlap, or using burlap to cover plants in the cold season, is an effective and economical strategy, especially in northern areas of the United States. You can do this by: Ensuring your trees are well-watered throughout the year; And then there’s cold weather to dry out or sunscald the trees. The new trees should be protected with wrap for 2 winters; the thin-barked trees should be protected for 5 or more winters. However, the greatest way you can aide your trees is by promoting their health and vigorous growth. Tree wrap will also prevent boring insects form entering the tree flesh and laying eggs. For large projects or large, tall palm trees, wrapping and unwrapping the palm trees becomes more unpracticable, it's dangerous, and almost impossible to do. A similar situation can occur with evergreens during the wintertime. Tree Wrap Materials. Use a white commercial tree wrap or plastic tree guards. Purchase special tree wrap available at your local nursery or home improvement store and ensure that you have enough for all your newly planted or thin-barked trees, such as maples and willows. Where tree wrap can help in winter months is to *assist* in protecting the tree trunk from extreme temperature swings, which the trunk would be exposed to when allowed to warm up in direct sunlight during the day, followed by severe drop in temperature over night. Because these animals are vegetarians, many of these sprays are … My young trees are decked out in their winter finery: arboreal attire, perfumes and cosmetics that will protect them through the winter. Tree wrap can be made from a number of materials. Deer, rabbits and mice are eager to gnaw on succulent stems, bark and roots. 1. Using tree wraps and guards is an effective way to preserve your trees’ health in their youth. However, if you wrap your more delicate trees, you an help to protect them from this condition. On a sunny winter day, the heat may reanimate some of the cells. See Are Wrapped Trees Warmer in Winter for more details. Reducing moisture loss is important for some plants and a wrap can reduce moisture loss. They will soak up the sun on a warmer winter day, but when things cool off once again, the foliage is going to become dry, and go from a pretty, fresh green, to an ugly brown. If you wrap the tree so thick that all sunlight is not allowed in to the tree, then you must uncover the palm tree again after the freeze warnings are over. Winter Tree Protection.