"Icing on Cupcakes ... Icing on Conifers!"

Here's a cool & refreshing tip on our warm "spring-like" day.

Remember weather can always change in Wisconsin!

"Icing on cupcakes… icing on CONIFERS!"

Envision a delectable cupcake topped with a mound of fluffy white icing… a perfect marriage of delicious cake and creamy topping.  But icing on conifers??? Although the scene shown here is rather typical during winter in Southeastern Wisconsin, ice glazing definitely is not beneficial to conifers.

Frequently, springtime provides our area with a plethora of weather conditions—particularly snow and ice storms.  Because March/April temperatures can hover near 32º F.  any precipitation that falls has a high moisture content, often creating a thick ice/snow load on conifer branches.

As a homeowner, you may elect to brush excess snow from branches, but please do so very gently, with special care.  Before beginning the snow removal process, inspect branches to determine if icicles have formed at branch tips as shown here.  If icicles appear, do not be tempted to remove snow and ice from brittle branches!  My tree care teacher instructed this action could cause serious damage to conifers’ branches.  Since new growth occurs at branch tips, removing snow (and underlying ice) can cause damage to terminal buds, which are preparing to break dormancy with the arrival of springtime.  

Solution:  Be patient!  Allow sun to melt those ice-encrusted branches slowly. Conifer branches should be resilient enough to recover from a temporary icing condition and will generate fresh growth as warmer spring days arrive.

M. Lynn Schmid,   Certified Master Gardener
A.A.S. Landscape/Horticulture/Arboriculture