Due to CFIA regulations we cannot ship plants outside of Canada and cannot ship fruit trees or grape vines to BC.
You are $500.00 away from a 10% discount
Posted by Jake Ward on March 20, 2025
Latest Updates
What a heart break! In the light of day I could easily spot the damage from a distance. My four year old Holstein apple tree, covered with fruiting buds last fall, was winter feed for rabbits. This old-fashioned winter with lots of snow piled almost a metre of snow in my backyard and set the local rabbits above the height of my tree protectors. They have feasted on their favourite winter feed—apple bark.
No doubt, this deep snow pack was a welcomed blessing for snowmobilers and the environment, but it has not been beneficial to young fruit trees that we thought were protected by winter wraps and chicken wire.
What do I do now? Assess the damage. Has the trunk or branch been “girdled”? Girdled means the bark and vascular tissue of the branch has been chewed off ALL THE WAY AROUND the trunk, exposing the white heart wood. Even if they left the smallest amount of bark that connects in a continuous line from the lower trunk to above the damaged area, your tree has a chance of surviving. But when the trunk is girdled, it’s as if someone cuts out all the tree’s arteries and veins. Paint or tree wound dressing will not help in the long term. Everything above the girdled damage will eventually perish. What a heart break to lose all that wonderful upper structure and fruiting wood.
The silver lining in this cloud is that under the winter wrap or chicken wire, your tree is probably safe and can regrow as a healthy apple tree, true to chosen variety. Damaged trees will be set back about 2-3 years, but there is great hope.
What can be done to save them? Nothing for the trees that have been girdled. However, if upon close examination, you find that some of the trunks are not totally girdled, you can add more winter wraps, chicken wire or snow fence to protect that is left. We also recommend covering the chewed off bark area with Lac Balsam tree wound dressing as soon as there is a nice sunny day with above freezing temperatures. This paste will speed up the healing process and prevent the area from drying. The key factor here is connecting bark tissue all the way from the bottom to the upper story. Look for a continuously connected, vertical life-line of bark.
What about trees with a “short” section of girdling? If you find some trees where the girdled area of the trunk is less than 3 inches, you might attempt what is called a “bridge graft”. Again, using the vascular analogy, a bridge graft is the equivalent of heart bypass surgery. Bridge grafting is not an entry level grafting skill! It requires dormant bud wood, careful timing and a meticulous procedure. Check it out on YouTube or a grafting textbook (Susan Poizner) or hire a professional.
What about the girdled trees? After the snow is gone but before your tree breaks dormancy, cut it back. Sever the trunk at the point where the girdling begins. Apple trees are resilient and, thankfully, the Creator has designed them to have “hidden buds” embedded in the bark for just such an emergency. In early spring the chopped off trees will push out some of these hidden buds and begin to grow new branches. By end of May, you will need to select one of these new sprouts to become your new “central leader”. Then, break off all of the other growth. You will be surprised how quickly the tree regrows a new central leader!
Anything else to do? We recommend that you support the new leader with something like a bamboo stake tied to the trunk and up past the new growth. This can reduce the crook that will inevitably appear at the site where the new central leader takes off. After it’s done it’s job, remove the support.
Any other suggestions? Plan how you can better protect your fruit trees for next winter. Maybe, if you have the appetite for it, prepare some rabbit stew!