Tree life in winter slows down. In their natural environment, trees grow precisely in those climatic zones, the conditions of which they are genetically capable of surviving until spring. But even in these cases, there are frequent injuries to trees in the winter, leading to dire consequences, including the death of trees. Moreover, the sunnier the winter, the higher the likelihood of, for example, frost. The mechanism is simple: on the sunny side of the wood is warming up, on the other hand, the wood tissue remains cold. Due to the temperature drop and breakage of fibers of wood tissue occurs, leading to the appearance of deep wounds on the trunk of a tree. And the tree is not able to heal them on its own.

Tree life in winter: highlights

For the winter, the majority of hardwood trees shed their leaves - this is a kind of protective mechanism and a transitional stage to the state of hibernation. By the time of leaf fall, the tree accumulates enough nutrients to survive the winter period. In addition, with the foliage leaves and excessive load on the branches, which is extremely important at the time of snowfall. Under natural conditions, fallen leaves also protects root system  from freezing.

Why, then, does conifers remain on conifers in most cases? The fact is that the needles, which are essentially modified leaves, are covered with a protective layer of wax. It does not allow the needles to dry and freeze.

The buds of trees in winter: a role in the life of the plant

Buds of trees in winter - It is the body that helps them to endure adverse conditions. Moreover, their dormant period is completely dependent on climate. Before the winter season, active growth of the apex of the shoots ceases - they are covered with renal scales, becoming winter buds at rest. First, it gives them frost resistance. Secondly, it prevents the loss of the shoots of life-giving moisture.

Fruit trees in winter: how to ensure their safety

How fruit trees can overcome the winter depends largely on the degree of their preparation for the rest period. First, they must be fed in the end of autumn. At this time, exclusively phosphorus-potassium fertilizers are used, so that all parts of the tree are strengthened and sufficiently hardy. Moreover, it is desirable not to be limited to fertilization in the soil - foliar top dressings are also welcome. Spraying the crown with potassium monophosphate increases its winter resistance.

In addition, it is important to take care of the safety of the root system of fruit trees in winter. The roots of fruit crops tolerate cold weather to -16 degrees of frost. For young saplings, this limit is 3 degrees higher. And snow alone cannot provide such a temperature, as a rule.

To the note: a tree with a frozen root system will not die immediately. You will notice something amiss by the end of spring - at best. And in the summer the plant usually dies.

A tree is not considered to be prepared for winter unless it is cleared of dead bark and not whitened. In addition, in a muddy plot near fruit trees in winter there is less chance of survival.

If the winter in your region is harsh, be sure to temper the trees in the fall. Hardened trees will calmly survive even a very frosty, snowless winter. In the middle of autumn, remove a 5-centimeter layer of soil in the ring wheel and put it in the utility room before the first frost. As soon as the temperature drops below zero, immediately return the ground to its place. By this time, the roots will have time to harden.

To the note: hardening is most important for pears and apple trees, since it is they who are particularly sensitive to severe frosts.

In winter, the roots are saved by the mulching, which is necessarily carried out at the end of November. In principle, any dry material can be used as mulch. Before mulching, do not forget to conduct water recharge irrigation, the importance of which has been repeatedly discussed.

In winter, trees are often attacked by rodents in search of food. Naturally, protection of trees is vital. In winter, the tree should enter with the trunk already wrapped. For winding, you can use laptice, special craft paper or even old tights. Moreover, as the experience of gardeners has shown, the last option is one of the most effective, and the most economical. Although, of course, it is not worth refusing from tar, ruberoid, reeds and plastic grids, if the wallet allows.

To the note: the insidiousness of such protection lies in the fact that it must be removed in time - as soon as it gets warmer. Otherwise, the stinging of the bark will begin.

Fruit trees in the winter are not afraid of pests only if immediately after the leaf fall you have carried out preventive treatment, for example, with copper sulphate. Otherwise, there may be very unpleasant surprises in the spring.

And, of course, you should shelter fruit trees for the winter. You can use spruce branches or garden shields, purchased or homemade.

Important: if you plan to cover the trees with garden shields, it is not necessary to whiten them.

Coniferous trees in winter: how to help them

Interestingly, conifers in winter, as a rule, normally tolerate all the hardships prepared for them by the harsh winter climate. Their main scourge is drought and burns. This is facilitated by the superficial location of the root system of the main mass of conifers. For coniferous trees, water recharge irrigation for the winter even is probably more important than for fruit, because the thick needles reliably protect the tree trunks from rain. So after a dry autumn it is better to water coniferous plants, because the needles will actively evaporate moisture until frost occurs.

In addition, conifers often die after sharp thaws. And you will notice their death only by the summer, when nothing can be fixed anymore. As soon as the air temperature rises, the needles begin to evaporate moisture again. And the soil has not yet been thawed out - accordingly, the roots do not replenish the moisture in the plant. In fact, the plant comes to almost complete dehydration. Therefore, as soon as the snow melts in pristvolnom circle, water coniferous trees.

Coniferous trees in winter suffer from radiation, so their protection in this regard must also be taken care of. In mid-February, be sure to tie the plant with twine or twine and wrap the bottom of it - you can take burlap or kraft paper. Keep a shelter in a tree until the snow melts. If you are sorry for crushing the needles in order not to give the tree an untidy look, install reflective screens on the most illuminated side of the tree.

To the note: such shelters are relevant until the plant reaches the age of 5, after which it becomes practically insensitive to radiation.

Young trees in winter: a special approach

Young trees should be sheltered in winter.! This is the “number one” rule! and it is better to shelter young trees, without further sophistication, with spruce branches, since it perfectly lets air through and prevents the rodents from being bothered by the seedlings. If you trust the covering materials more, their density should be at least 42 or even 60. Coniferous young trees in the winter are wrapped with twine in the lower part without fail. In winter, manure can be laid out in a circle around the shelter: in the spring, as the snow melts, the seedlings will immediately receive good nutrition.

If the young seedling is unstable, wintering it does not survive. Its roots are not yet sufficiently developed to withstand strong wind and snow loads on the branches. Be sure to provide young trees with support for the winter - these can be poles, slats, thick twigs or even ordinary poles. The rest of the care of saplings is no different from preparing adult trees for wintering. When whitewashing can add to the paint a small amount of  alabaster, so that it is not so quickly washed off the trunk under the influence of precipitation.

Pruning trees in winter: when and why

Winter pruning is necessary, first of all, actively fruiting plants. Moreover, the pruning of trees in winter involves certain conditions, including air temperature and even the density of snow that fell. If the temperature drops below 10 degrees below zero, it is better to postpone cutting, because the branches become so brittle that it is easier to harm the tree than to bring real benefits. In addition, in severe frost, woody tissue at the site of the cut is loosened, and the healing processes are almost in place.

To the note: for stone fruit, winter pruning can be only sanitary in nature, and young trees should be pruned in the spring in order to avoid annual growth.

Do not forget to handle all the cuts with garden barb! Do not leave infections straight to the inside of woody tissue.

Cropping depending on region:

The southern part of Russia: autumn and winter;
- middle band, Siberia, the Urals: the end of winter is the beginning of flowering.

And remember that in wet weather it is impossible to carry out pruning on stone fruit cultures, otherwise the processes of geography are activated.

How trees and other plants winter:  informative stories and fairy tales about trees in winter for children, observation of trees in nature, videos for children.

How do trees hibernate?

The last month of winter is coming. It's cold outside. People dressed in warm winter jackets, fur coats, sheepskin coats. The animals also go to the fierce cold in warm winter fur coats. What about trees? Do they have fur coats? It turns out there is! Walking with the child on the street, go up to the trees, stroke their bark and tell us about what unusual fur coats invisible for us to wear in winter! 🙂

How trees winter: Do trees have winter coats?

In winter, all the trees are asleep. They stop eating and growing. In the "dream" consumes less nutrients and heat, which helps trees survive the cold and harsh winters.

Are trees being prepared in winter? Of course!

Firstly, in the summer all the trees prepared warm “coats”. What kind of fur coats? “Fur coat” for wood is cork fabric under the bark, which does not release heat from the tree and does not allow water and air to pass through. Such a “fur coat” does not allow the tree to freeze even in the most severe frosts.

Secondly, in the fall the trees threw off the leaves. Fallen leaves on the ground formed like a warm blanket and protected the roots of trees from freezing - they warmed them.

Where do cracks on tree bark come from?

Probably all of you saw cracks in the trees. View them with your child. I wonder where they come from?

The reason is simple. An unexpected thaw will come in winter, and at night a severe frost will suddenly break out. And the "fur coats" of trees are cooled and compressed - they "shrink" and ... break. These cracks remain on the tree for the rest of his life.

Can frost kill a tree?

Discuss with the child on this topic, listen to his suggestions. And then read the answer to this question, which you will find in the story of V. Bianchi

V. Bianchi. Forest in winter

Can frost kill a tree?

Of course it can.

If a tree freezes through, to the very core, it will die. In especially severe, snowless winters many trees, mostly young ones, perish. All the trees would have disappeared, if every tree had not been cunning in order to preserve warmth in itself, not to allow frost deep inside itself.

To feed, grow, produce offspring - all this requires a large expenditure of strength, energy, a large expenditure of its heat. And now the trees, having gathered strength over the summer, by winter refuse to eat, stop feeding, stop growing, do not spend strength on reproduction. They become inactive, sink into deep sleep.

Many exhale heat leaves, down with the leaves for the winter! Trees throw them off, discard them in order to retain the warmth necessary for life. And by the way, the leaves, thrown from the branches, rotting on the ground, themselves give warmth and protect the tender tree roots from freezing.

Little of! Each tree has a shell that protects the living flesh of the plant from frost. All summer, every year, trees are laid under the skin of their trunk and branches of a porous cork fabric - a dead layer. Cork does not let in either water or air. The air stagnates in its pores and does not allow heat to emanate from the living body of the tree. Than older tree, the thicker the cork layer is in it, which is why old, thick trees tolerate cold better than young trees with thin stems and branches.

Little and cork shell. If the bitter cold can make it under him, he will meet in the living body of the plant a reliable chemical defense. By winter, various salts and starch, converted into sugar, are deposited in the sap of trees. A solution of salts and sugar is very cold-resistant.

But the best protection against frost is a fluffy snow cover. It is known that caring gardeners purposely bend down to the ground chilly young fruit trees and throw them with snow: it is warmer for them. In the snowy winters, snow, like a duvet, covers the forest, and even then the forest is not afraid of any cold.

No, no matter how hard the frost is - not to kill him our northern forest!

Our Bova-korolevich will stand up against all storms and blizzards.

Ask the children after reading the story:

• How do trees "cheat" frost? How are they preparing for them?
• Which trees are more afraid of frost - young thin or old and thick? Why? It is very important that the child understands the logical causal relationship, and could explain the reason. And not just remembered the "correct answer."
• What is the best frost protection? How do people help bushes and trees survive the fierce winter? And your grandmother and grandfather in the country help plants before winter - are they preparing them for wintering? How?

Videos for children about the life of trees in winter

According to my article there is a video. Quite by chance I found it on the Internet. Consent to the creation of this video was not taken from me, authorship was also not indicated, but the video turned out interesting for children, so I decided to post it in the article. In the video - reading my story about trees (which you read above) is given accompanied by pictures.

Who winters like: how do herbs graze?

Herbs are annual and perennial. Annual plants in the fall produce seeds and die. And perennials are preparing for winter. They accumulate in the rhizomes "food" for the winter. And hiding under a thick layer of fluffy white snow - and winter there. Snow for them is like a fluffy warm carpet that warms the grass and prevents them from freezing. When the snow melts in spring, it will give water to the earth, and the grasses will grow well again.

Some plants retain leaves for the winter. For example, lingonberry winters under snow with green leaves. Cranberries also overwinter, even with berries. And in the spring you can collect overwintered cranberries. They are said to be very sweet.

Listen, as they talked to each other in the winter under the snow Lingonberry and Cranberry.

E. Shim "Lingonberry and Cranberry"

And at me, at Lingonberry, that is! Under the snow, I and the leaves are green until spring saved, and even - hee-hee! - berries ...

Just think, berries! Shriveled, sour.

Why, spring and such a rarity!

Nothing is rare. Here I have, Cranberries, full of berries preserved under the snow. And not your couple: large, sweet, gentle ... Even better than in the fall!

It is difficult in winter for forest dwellers. Here and bunny dreams of green grass and juicy leaves. And where can they be found in the winter? Have you guessed? You want to know? The secret will tell us a mouse - a vole. Listen to her talking to a bunny in a winter forest.

N. Sladkov. Hare and vole

Bunny - Frost and blizzard, snow and cold. You want to smell green grass, gnaw juicy leaves - be patient until spring. And where else is that spring - just around the corner and beyond the seas ...

Mouse - Not over the seas, Hare, spring, just around the corner, and under your feet! Dig the snow to the ground - there is a lingonberry green, and strawberries, and dandelion. And sniff and fill up.

Herbs are the youngest and youngest winterers! Read to children the story of how young wintering campers live in winter.

V. Bianki "Young wintering men"

Trees and perennial grasses prepared for wintering. And annual grasses have already scattered their seeds.

But not all annuals will overwinter in the form of seeds. Some have already sprouted. A lot of annual weeds emerged in the dug up gardens. Rosettes of notched leaflets are visible on the bare dark earth. shepherd's bag, and nettle-like fluffy leaves of a purple claret tree, and a tiny fragrant chamomile, and pansies, and a twig, and, of course, annoying woodlouse. All these plants are going to spend the winter, live under the snow until next fall.

Tales and stories about trees in winter

Why do trees have leaves fall by winter?

You will find a very unusual and very poetic answer to this question in a wonderful cartoon made by children based on a Danish legend.

Pavlova N. Trees in winter. Story

All the green that so pleased the eye in spring and summer, disappeared or hidden deep under the snow.

Pines, spruces and bare crowns of sleeping deciduous trees - that's all that can now be observed from the plant world. Well, so what! And this is better than nothing.

If it is pleasant to see linden, maple or oak in the summer, it is twice more pleasant to recognize them when they meet in the winter. Learn from afar, as you recognize an old acquaintance by gait, by some peculiar gesture to him.

In the distance, a tree, in which all the branches are curved, is curved smoothly and rounded - in the middle they bend downwards, and above they rise again. This is linden. You can check on it or under it in the snow, probably still preserved winged linden nuts.

But a powerful tree with dried leaves on the tops of the branches. This is an oak tree. He never has time to lose all foliage before frost, and dead leaves remain on the branches.

And this small tree from afar can be found not so easily, but you will not be mistaken in the vicinity: no one else has such small black cones as the alder has.

And at an ash-tree on branches hang the whole clusters of long narrow fruits-krylatok. Thanks to these long winged cherries you cannot confuse ash with maple. And so they have a common feature, which is not found in our other trees: they have all the branches arranged in pairs.

This is the best sign to distinguish maple. After all, there are a lot of different maples in gardens and parks, and their leaves are so diverse that sometimes you don't want to believe that these are all maples.

But you just have to see how these leaves sit, how the branches are arranged to be sure.

Here are a couple of young shoots, across from her the second, above, again across the cross ...

Yes, this maple is undoubted!

But the tree ...

However, each in his own way can learn to recognize trees and shrubs in winter. It is not difficult, because they have so many signs left!

And now I want to give more advice to someone who misses the beauty of nature, who longs to relive joy, delight and amazement.

I warmly advise you to get up on skis and go to the young spruce forest.

No words can convey the charm of a fantastically magnificent magical forest completely transformed by a snow sculpture.

It does not convey. It is necessary to see for yourself.

Tale "Tree". G. Tsyferov

"Friends of the Bear with the tree." Once the Tree told him:

- Autumn soon.

“And how did you guess,” Little Bear was surprised, “you have no eyes, do you?”

Stop reading the story and ask the kid where did the tree know that autumn has come and will soon be winter? How could it feel if he had no eyes?

And then read the answer of the Tree:

“But I feel everything,” answered Wood. “I used to hold hot sunbeams in my green palms, now I feel that they have become cold.”

Ask your baby what green palms trees have? How do they feel that winter will come soon and it's time to get ready for it? (the day gets shorter, the air is colder)

How trees overwinter: we observe trees while walking with children

In winter, it is very convenient to consider the trees. Here are some ideas for observing with children:

Observation 1.  Trees and bushes. The trees have one trunk - large, powerful, it starts from the roots near the ground and goes up to the branches. And how does a bush differ from trees? At a bush some trunks as though thick branches from the ground stick out. Find a few trees and a few bushes in the yard and in the park with the child. Call them baby.

Observation 2.  The crown of trees and their bark. How to distinguish trees in the winter from each other when there are no leaves on them? Crown or bark. For example, the birch crown is distinguished by the fact that its branches hang down - “hanging crown”. And in oak, the crown is spreading, of another form - like a tent, a dome, the branches are thick, winding. The bark of the trees is also different - stroke it, look more carefully, tell how you can find out from the bark what kind of tree it is (oak, birch, mountain ash, linden, poplar). Birch and aspen bark is smooth, but the color is different. In spruce - rough. At ash - with cracks. Oak - thick, with deep cracks. The pine - plate, with a kind of lagging plates.

To teach a child to distinguish trees from each other in winter. A fascinating cognitive tale for babies N. Pavlova “Winter Revel” will help you in this. And when children learn to distinguish between trees, play a speech game - a riddle. You describe the tree (trunk, bark, branches), and the children guess. Then the children give you their riddles, and you guess.

N. Pavlova. Winter Feast

The hare fed the lame squirrel all summer long: a mischievous boy interrupted her paw. And when the squirrel got better, she said good-bye to the hare and said:

Thank you, bunny, thank you! See no stocks for the winter do not do yourself. In the summer you fed me, in the winter I feed you.

But from that day on, the hare did not see the squirrel. The last grass disappeared under the snow. And they stayed for a hare to eat, only bare twigs and bark. In bad weather, he often went hungry. Then he recalled the squirrel, and it became more fun for him: “As soon as I find her, then we will live!” And finally the hare came across the squirrel. She sat on the bitch at her hollow.

Hello, - shouted the hare, - what a blessing that I found you! After all, just today I ate nothing in the morning.

Okay, okay, I will set up a samovar for my friend, ”said the squirrel. “You’d just bring me birch branches, I’ll have coals of them.”

And the protein is tricky. She felt sorry for her stock. And she deliberately sent the hare away. "Once he will find birch tree- thought squirrel. - Meanwhile, I will slowly drag all my reserves to another hollow and pretend that I have been eaten by a marten.

But she did not have time for the squirrel to thread a needle into the needle to repair the bag, and the hare was right there.

On, get the birch branches, bustling!

After all birch is not hard to find- said the hare, - from the edge you can see how the birch tree is whitening.

I will have embers, but I have nothing to ignite them. If you brought me aspen branches, I would make matches of them.

I will bring, I will bring, troubledness, - the hare told and rushed off.

And the squirrel thinks: "Well, aspenyou will not soon find it in winter: for without the leaves, all the trees are alike, one white birch is different from everyone. ”

But before the squirrel had enough time to put the first patch on the bag, the hare was right there.

On, get aspen branches, bothersome.

“You turned around quickly,” said the squirrel.

After all it is not difficult to find an aspen- said the hare, - aspen as a palisade stands. Osinki are thin, spike-like, gray-green, and their bark is bitter.

“That's right,” thought the squirrel. And let's cheat further:

I will put the samovar, but how will I cover the table? After all, I don't have a table. Would you bring me oak logs, I would cut a little wood, make an oak table.

I will bring, I will bring, troubledness, - the hare told and rushed off.

And the squirrel thinks: "Well, oakyou will not find it in winter. ”

But she didn’t have time to put the protein of ten peanuts in a bag, and the hare was right there.

On, get oak logs, bothersome.

“You turned around quickly,” said the squirrel.

After all an oak is not hard to find- said the hare, - big, thick and clumsy, and on the branches in winter, like flags, dried leaves hang.

“That's right,” thought the squirrel. And let's cheat further:

I will make a table, but there is nothing to rummage around. Would you bring me a lime washcloth.

I will bring, I will bring, troubledness, - the hare told and rushed off.

And the squirrel thinks: "Well, linden treeyou will not find it in winter! ”

But before the squirrel had time to tie the bag of nuts, the hare was right there.

On, get a lime washcloth, bothersome.

Quickly you turned around.

After all it is easy to find a linden, - said the hare, - every branch in her middle was bent, as if a bear cub was sitting on top in this place.

“That's right,” thought the squirrel. And let's cheat further:

Feast we are feasting with you, but what kind of a feast without music? Would you bring me maple logs. I would make of them a balalaika.

I will bring, I will bring, troubledness, - the hare told and rushed off.

And the squirrel thinks: "Well, mapleyou will not find it in the winter! ”

But she did not have time to load the first bag of nuts on her shoulders, and the hare was right there.

On, get the maple logs, bothersome.

“You turned around quickly,” said the squirrel.

After all   maple is not hard to find, - said the hare, - he has all the twigs sitting in pairs, that's how a person stands, arms raised up: the body is a branch, the arms are twigs. Only you were driving me, you bustle! Well, nothing, it's a shame not to try for such a holiday. Yes, and my paws are big, strong, not like yours. When I tied up your paw in the summer, I was surprised how such sweeties can withstand your jumps?

Then the squirrel remembered how the hare was caring for her, how she had fed her all summer, and the squirrel became ashamed. She felt so ashamed that she blushed all over and turned gray again from gray.

Sit down a little, bunny, - said the squirrel quietly and tenderly. - I'll cook everything now.

And she quickly made aspen matches, pressed birch coals, melted a samovar, made an oak table, splashed it with a lime washcloth and guided all kinds of things on it. All-all instructed, as for a big feast. And when he and the hare had a little refreshment, the squirrel arranged a maple balalaika and began to play. And then he and the hare had such merriment that even all nearby trees that evening regretted that they had no legs to dance.

Read this tale at home with a child, and then, on a walk, find those trees that are told in the tale. Will the kid be able to complete the tasks of the squirrel - will he find the trees named for her? You can print the text of the fairy tale and take it with you for a walk to read fragments - like a hare found different trees in the forest.

Observation 3.  Show your child the icy branches of trees or bushes (they seem glassy on some winter days). Handsomely? For us, yes! But the trees are not sweet in such ice! Explain that at this time the branches are especially fragile. And so it breaks easily. Therefore, on frosty days, you need to be especially careful with trees and shrubs - they are easy to break.

Observation 4. Consider a fluffy snow blanket that covers a tree and snow caps on its branches. Admire the snowcaps in the trees during a snowfall. Play the game to develop the imagination “What does the resulting figure look like? "

About nature in winter, games, educational tasks, informative stories and fairy tales in pictures can be found in the articles: or on the cover of the course below for free subscription

To answer it is simple and difficult. It is well known from the school curriculum that the trees are dormant in winter, but this does not mean that it lasts the entire winter period. Any living organisms, including plants, are experiencing periodicity in development. Trees are no exception, they also have certain periods: two main ones (vegetation, rest) and two transitional ones.

Vegetation and dormancy

The state of the growing season does not need to be explained. It is during this period, which is the longest, that the budding and development of the flower and leaf buds, from which leaves, ovaries, flowers, and the growth and ripening of fruits take place, takes place. In there is a significant increase in the root system. By the time the leaves are formed, it is very important that a lot of small suction roots appear.

In the period of winter dormancy, the trees seem lifeless, but it is worth noting that this external manifestation. Their active functioning continues, although it is not as intensive as in summer, a certain amount of useful substances and water enter the plant. Is it true that trees grow in winter too?

When the dormant state comes

It is considered that the state of rest comes in winter. This is not true. It starts very early. To do this, there is a certain signal that nature gives trees - reducing the length of daylight hours. At this time there is a warm weather, sunny days, but the trees begin to fall into a state of rest. It is at this time that the preparatory period begins, which precedes the state of rest. It is characterized by the onset of a slowdown in metabolism, yellowing and subsequent foliar discharge.

From December, an increase in daylight begins, and the vital activity of trees is activated. The preparatory period preceding the growing season begins. That is, the formation processes begin. All this gives the full right to give an affirmative answer to the question of whether trees grow in winter.

It is noticed that a tree growing near a lamppost or near a house where the light is on in the evenings does not drop foliage for a long time. This is a direct confirmation of the dependence of the state of rest on the length of the daylight hours.

What happens at rest

Do trees grow in winter? It can be said unequivocally that in the initial period of rest the growth of trees stops, as the metabolism and apparent growth is slowed down. But this does not mean that life activity stops. Processes continue, and they are important enough for growth. Starch accumulated during the growing season, turns into sugar, which is consumed during breathing.

Growth processes invisible externally continue. There is a preparatory period. Without it, active growth is not possible in the spring and summer. It is in winter that the formation of educational tissue (meristem) is active, new cells and tissues are created from it, which are so necessary for growth. Can this information answer the question of whether a tree grows in winter, why does it not freeze?

Maybe yes. After all, these processes prepare the tree for growth. Without an educational fabric, tree growth is impossible. It is at this time that the budding of leaves and flowers in the buds (vegetative and flower) occurs. It occurs in both deciduous and coniferous trees.

Rest period

So do trees grow in winter, why do some of them enter the growing season earlier and others later? The duration of rest in all trees and shrubs is different and occurs non-simultaneously. If you take lilac, honeysuckle and black currant, then they have a period of rest, coming in October, the shortest. When grown in greenhouse conditions, they behave like evergreens. In these situations, the buds are dissolved in November. This suggests that in the process of evolution, these trees and shrubs have adapted to cold conditions and have learned to shed their leaves.

Until January, this period lasts for birch, hawthorn and poplar. Longer dormancy time in conifers, maple, linden and oak. It can be up to six months. As a result, it is possible to doubt whether conifers grow in winter. The preparatory processes they begin late, but still they go, which gives the right to give an affirmative answer.

Why trees do not freeze in winter

How do trees stand up to the cold? Small plants, covered with snow, feel good. But why don't big trees with bare branches freeze out? What helps them to resist the cold? The fact is that they have natural antifreeze, which allows them to withstand significant frosts. These are sugars that trees produce from starch stored in the summer. Sugars play a special role in the cytoplasm, preventing proteins from coagulating (coagulation) during a decrease in temperature. The more starch stored, the more sugars. They give the trees the opportunity not to freeze in winter.

The need for a rest period

People often ask whether trees grow in winter, why we don’t see the growth process itself. But if the tree has not increased visibly, then this does not mean that it does not grow. It is in winter that the most important process of future growth begins, as described above. Without it, the spring vegetation of the tree is impossible.

It is noticed that if the winter is warm, snowless and short, then the trees do not grow well in spring and summer. This indicates the importance for them of the cold season, which provides an opportunity to prepare for active development and growth.

If you dig up snow in a deciduous forest in February, you can see small sprouts near the trees. In the summer of them formed the so-called shoots. This suggests that trees grow in winter. Under the snow, the temperature is about zero, which creates normal conditions for life.

Candidate of Biological Sciences V.I. Artamonov
Chemistry and Life №2, 1979, p. 36-39

Enchantress in winter
Bewitched, the forest stands -
And under the snowy fringe;
Motionless, mute.
A wonderful life he shines.
And he stands bewitched, -
Not dead and not alive, -
Dream magically fascinated.
All is shrouded, all is bound
Light chain down ...
F. I. Tyutchev

Plants in the winter forest seem lifeless to us. And meanwhile, and in the winter, in the most bitter frosts, life does not completely leave the trees and shrubs. Plants at this time only rest, accumulate strength, so that with the onset of spring, they lose their winter shackles. "What we call the dream of nature," wrote S. Pokrovsky, "is only a special form of life, full of deep meaning and meaning." This form of life of plant organisms is called a state of rest.

"NOT DEAD AND NOT LIVE ..."

In a state of deep rest, the plant has a sharply inhibited metabolism and stops visible growth. However, this does not mean that all vital processes have completely stopped there. Some of them go during the winter rest. For example, starch is converted into sugars and fats, sugars are consumed during respiration. True, its intensity in winter is 200-400 times less than in summer.

Growth processes occur at this time, only they do not manifest themselves externally. The state of winter dormancy is a period of particularly intensive activity of the so-called educational tissue, or meristem, from which new cells and tissues arise. Both in evergreen and deciduous plants, at this time, leaf buds are laid in vegetative buds and elements of flowers in flower buds. Without this, the upcoming spring transition of the plant organism to active life activity would simply be impossible. That is why for a large number of plants, and above all for all perennial forms, rest is an indispensable condition for normal growth during the growing season.

The ability to dive into a state of rest developed in plants in the course of evolution is an important adaptation to the periodic onset of adverse external conditions. This is once again confirmed by the fact that plants sometimes stop growing not only in winter but also in summer. For example, in a drought, some of them shed their leaves and completely stop growing - just like in the fall. Such peace was called forced. In the forced rest, forest trees and shrubs are at the very end of winter - at this time their condition is explained only by unfavorable external conditions. If in January-February a birch branch is cut in the forest, it is brought into the room and put into the water, then the leaf buds will soon begin to grow and give rise to sprouts.

However, if the same branch is cut or brought into a warm room in October or November, then it will not bloom for a very long time. At this time, the plant is in a state of so-called deep dormancy, which even the onset of the most favorable conditions for growth cannot disturb. Deep rest - the necessary phase of development of a plant, replacing the vegetation period.

Duration, rest period in different trees and shrubs is different. Some plants - elder, honeysuckle, buckthorn, lilac, black currant - are distinguished by a short rest period; they have a deep peace in natural conditions ends in October. If you grow them in the greenhouse, they behave like evergreens: the buds, which were supposed to sprout in the spring of next year, bloom in November, long before the plant sheds old leaves. Perhaps these plants in the past and in fact were evergreen. In the process of evolution, as the climate cooled, they adapted to new conditions and began to dump leaves for the winter, but retained the ability to go through a period of rest at relatively high temperatures.

Much longer - until January - the dormant period of the wart birch, hawthorn, white poplar lasts. And the longest dormant period is at the small-leaved lime tree, Tatar maple, Siberian spruce, Scots pine. Wintering linden buds, for example, are unable to germinate for nearly half a year. In oak, beech and ash buds are in a resting state until the end of April.

SIGNAL TO THE REST

Trees and shrubs fall into a state of deep rest very early - when the weather, it would seem, still allows them to grow normally. For example, in the European part of the USSR, many of them go into a state of rest back in July and August.

A signal to rest is for them to reduce the length of daylight. A change in the length of the day is perceived by leafing through the plants, and in the absence of them - by the kidneys. When the days become shorter, the ratio between phytohormones, which stimulate and inhibit the growth processes, changes in plants. The leaves increase the content of the most important natural growth inhibitor - abscisic acid, which inhibits the synthesis of hydrolytic enzymes (amylase, proteinase and others) necessary for bud break, seed germination and other plant growth processes. From the leaves, the abscisic acid is transported to the kidneys and "lulls" them. Perhaps there are other inhibitors that, when the plants go into a state of rest, perform the same function. At the same time, the content of natural growth stimulants, such as gibberellins, decreases in plant tissues.

Some southern plants, if you try to grow them in northern latitudes, do not survive here only for the reason that in new conditions for themselves they do not catch the signal to dive into a state of rest in time: after all, they are accustomed to a completely different length of daylight. When they finally figure out that winter is on the nose, it turns out to be too late: the plant tissue, caught in frosts in a state of active growth, is dying. And knowing the factors that affect the entry into a state of rest, you can ensure that these plants wintered in the north. To do this, for example, every day, before dusk, cover them with opaque covers. Shortening the natural daylight in such a way, we will force the plant to start preparing for the winter in time.

Many readers probably paid attention to the fact that trees growing near street lamps do not shed their foliage in the fall longer than others. This was first noticed at the beginning of this century by the Austrian physiologist G. Molish. He tried to explain this phenomenon by the peculiarities of leaf evaporation of water. In fact, the late leaf fall in plants illuminated with lanterns is due precisely to the artificial extension of daylight.

Temperature also affects the transition of plants to rest: for some species (mainly of southern origin - ash, horse chestnut, lilac, cherry) lowering of night temperatures is the main signal to rest.

In a natural setting, lowering the temperature usually occurs just at the time when the light day is noticeably shorter. It is not surprising that the life rhythm of plants is regulated by the joint action of these two factors. The change in illumination perceived by plants through the phytohormone system serves as the first stimulus to the reorganization of physiological processes, which is then completed under the effect of temperature shifts.

Low temperatures are simply necessary for some plants during dormancy: only after considerable cooling (not less than 0 ° C for 3-4 weeks) can they subsequently resume their growth normally. It was known in ancient times; For example, Pliny wrote in his “Natural History”: “The onset of cold weather greatly contributes to the strengthening of trees, which then develop excellently, and otherwise, if they are caressed by the austras [warm southerly winds. - V. A.], they are exhausted, and at the time of flowering. " This is confirmed by experiments. For example, if the same blueberry bush is divided into two parts in autumn and one is grown all winter in a greenhouse, and the other is left in a natural setting, then that half of the bush that spent the winter in greenhouse conditions will grow much worse in the summer. For the same reason, pear and peach trees, constantly grown in a heated greenhouse, often die.

In the tropics, it would seem, an ideal place where it is warm all year round, most deciduous plants of the temperate zone grow no better than at home. And here again, the point is that the "greenhouse" conditions do not allow them to plunge into the state of rest necessary to accumulate strength for rapid development in a relatively short growing season.

NATURAL ANTIFREEMS

Plants that are covered with snow in winter, under its warm fur coat, are not that cold. But how do trees and shrubs resist frosts whose bare branches penetrate the cold? Why do not their buds and shoots die?

Plant resistance to low temperatures is created mainly due to internal changes in the cells, and above all changes in their chemical composition.

The role of antifreeze, a substance that lowers the freezing point of solutions found in cell vacuoles, is played by sugars: they accumulate in the cell sap during preparation of the plant for winter. Sugars also have an important protective function in the cytoplasm: they protect its proteins from coagulation (coagulation) as the temperature decreases. The more sugars the plants have accumulated in their cells, the better they are prepared for the action of low temperatures. It is well known that if in fruit trees, for example, apple trees, fruiting in the summer was especially abundant, in winter they turn out to be less frost-resistant. In this case, the nutrients are spent mainly on the formation of fruits, and there is little deposited sugars in reserve. It is not surprising that such trees are easier to freeze.

Frosts do not tolerate well and those plants that grew intensively in the fall - for example, as a result of prolonged warm weather or as a result of abundant feeding with nitrogen. The reason is the same here: the plants are poorly prepared for winter, their nutrients were used for the growth of vegetative organs (stems, leaves), and were not deposited in the form of stored carbohydrates.

The frost resistance of plants also drops in the spring, when sugars begin to be used in vital processes, to turn into other compounds. Therefore, spring frosts are so dangerous for plants, although the temperature does not reach the level of winter frosts, which the plants endured well.

But the resistance of plants to frost is explained not only by the accumulation of sugars in their tissues. Studies have shown a well-known plant physiologist, corresponding member of the USSR Academy of Sciences, I. I. Tumanov and his students, the formation of frost resistance is a complex, stepwise process. Hardening of winter cereals and fruit trees begins in the autumn sunny days, when photosynthesis is still quite intensive, and the respiration processes are already weakened. Due to this, sugars and other protective substances accumulate in the tissues, the cells become poorer in water.

After this, the cytoplasm is ready for the second hardening phase, which passes through regularly repeated cold frosts (from -2 to -5 ° C). At this time, the cytoplasmic ultrastructure changes, the enzyme apparatus of the cells is rebuilt, as a result of which they acquire the ability to tolerate a significant decrease in temperature. Now the plant is not afraid of cold.

SPROUTS UNDER SNOW

In February, when frost is not uncommon, it is possible, after digging up snow in a broad-leaved forest, to find pale yellow shoots that have broken through the fallen leaves with folded leaves and sometimes buds. In the fall of these shoots were not here ...

The fact is that in the deciduous forest the soil does not freeze through in winter. This is due to the presence in it of a large amount of humus and deep snow cover, creating excellent thermal insulation. Due to this, the soil temperature here remains around 0 ° C throughout the winter. In such a soil remains unfrozen moisture available to plants.

As for the nutrients, which are equally necessary for growth, the development of plants under the snow takes place at the expense of ready, previously deposited stocks. For example, in the case of lungwort and anemone, these stocks are in the rhizomes, in the scilla and goose onions - in the bulbs, and in the scrub - in the tubers.

Intensive use of these deferred nutrients in the process of breathing increases the temperature of the plant itself. Often snow even melts around it. For example, in February shoots of a coltsfoot, which were planted in the fall, begin to grow under the snow. If you dig up a plant at this time, you can see that a tiny cave thawed around it in the snow cover.

Severe frosts still crack, and spring is already beginning under the snow ...

The trees in the snow-covered forest seem dead and completely lifeless. However, this is not the case. Even in severe bitter cold life does not leave these magnificent plants. In winter, the trees rest and accumulate energy in order to throw off the shackles of themselves with the onset of warm days.

How the trees tolerate winter

Features of winter dormancy in the trees

KakProsto.ru

Winter tree planting

Winter tree planting has recently become increasingly popular. After all, only this way you can plant krupnomery - trees and shrubs outside the standard large sizes. In this case, you can immediately create a beautiful landscape on your plot, without waiting for the small trees to grow.

What is the basis for winter planting, or rather, plant transplantation? With the advent of autumn, all life processes slow down, the tree goes into a state of rest, plunges into a deep sleep. Therefore, it, unlike the young, planted in the fall, seedlings, practically does not suffer from transplantation. Winter planting is indispensable when it comes to transplanting adult trees. The older the tree, the more difficult it is to transplant it to another place: a large crown, a huge leaf surface evaporates a large amount of water per day, which the damaged root system is unable to replenish. In winter, the plant has all its life processes slowed down, besides there are no leaves, which means there is almost no evaporation and the tree does not suffer from draining. Therefore, during the summer planting, you can use deciduous trees no higher than 4-5 m, conifers - 3.5-4 m, while in winter it is possible to replant trees up to 14 meters high.

Trees for winter planting

  When planting in winter, Siberian larch, spruce and pine take root best. Then follow the mountain ash, linden, birch, American maple, poplar, elm, and Norway maple. But their transfer is allowed at a temperature not lower than 15 degrees of frost.

Saplings during winter planting should be taken in the nursery - only they have a well-formed root system and an earthy pool specially prepared for the winter transplant. To this end, in the nursery, the selected specimens dig in the trench in the summer and fill it with fertile soil. Gradually trimmed roots are restored, and by the autumn the tree is ready for transplanting. It is dug in again and left to freeze, and in winter it is transported to a new place and put in a well prepared in advance. Its size depends on the age of the seedling. So, for saplings up to 1 m in height they dig a hole of 100x60 cm, and for plants of more than one and a half meters - 150x85 cm.

Preparation of planting pit and planting seedlings

  Before embarking on the winter planting of trees, it is necessary to prepare a planting pit in autumn. When preparing the seat, fold the upper fertile layer separately from the lower one. Then deposit dry manure or humus to the bottom of the pit and return the fertile soil layer. If the soil at the site is poor, then when filling the landing pit it will have to be mixed with humus or fertile soil. Do not forget about fertilizer. After all, the tree will grow for a long time, and to bring food into the soil to a sufficient depth is a difficult task. Therefore, make a reserve for the future. It is better to use complex fertilizers with a complete set of macro and microelements that are poorly soluble in water. These fertilizers saturate the soil with nutrients gradually and therefore are suitable for autumn application. If at hand there are no complex fertilizers, they can be replaced with potassium chloride in combination with ammoniated superphosphate. If soils are acidic, add deoxidizing materials (lime, chalk, dolomite flour).

When planting, the root neck of the seedling should be deepened no more than 2-3 cm, taking into account the shrinkage of the ground in the pit. Pit out the ground with a pit, and then mulch the tree trunk circle with mulch.

greeninfo.ru

Does a tree grow in winter?

Margot

In plant organisms, periods of vegetation and intensive growth alternate with dormancy. In a state of deep dormancy in plants, the metabolism is sharply inhibited and visible growth stops.

However, this does not mean that all vital processes have completely stopped there. Some of them go during the winter rest. Growth processes are also taking place at this time, only this does not manifest itself outwardly.

The state of winter dormancy is a period of intensive activity of the so-called educational tissue, or meristem, from which new cells and tissues arise.

Both in evergreen and deciduous plants, at this time, the rudiments of leaves are laid in vegetative buds and the elements of flowers are in flower ones. Without this, the upcoming transition to active life in the spring would simply have been impossible.

That is why for a large number of plants, and above all for all perennial forms, rest is an indispensable condition for further normal growth during the growing season.

The ability to dive into a state of rest developed by plants in the course of evolution is an important adaptation to the periodic onset of adverse external conditions.

This is once again confirmed by the fact that plants sometimes stop growing not only in winter but also in summer. For example, in a drought, some of them shed their leaves and completely cease visible growth - just like in the fall.

This phenomenon is called forced rest. In this state, forest trees and shrubs are at the very end of winter.

If in January - February to cut a birch branch in the forest, bring it into the room and put it into the water, then the leaf buds will soon begin to grow and give rise to sprouts. However, if such a branch is cut off in October or November, then it will not dissolve for a very long time. At this time, the plant is in a state of deep rest, which cannot be disturbed even by the most favorable conditions for growth.

Deep rest is a necessary phase of plant development, replacing the growing season.

The length of the rest period in different trees and shrubs is different. For example, with elderberry, honeysuckle, buckthorn, lilac, black currant - the period of deep rest is short, it ends in October.

If you grow them in greenhouses, then they behave like evergreens: the buds, which were supposed to sprout in the spring of next year, bloom in November, long before the plant sheds old leaves.

Perhaps these plants in the past really were evergreen. In the process of evolution, as the climate cooled, they adapted to new conditions and began to dump leaves for the winter, but retained the ability to go through a period of rest at relatively high temperatures.

Much longer - until January - this condition lasts for wart birch, hawthorn, white poplar.

And the longest "rest" - at the small-leaved lime tree, Tatar maple, Siberian spruce, Scots pine. Wintering linden buds, for example, are unable to germinate for almost half a year. In oak, beech, ash, buds are in a resting state until the end of April.

Aphrodite

As I think, the trees in the winter are asleep, being in complete peace, everything wakes up with the first rays of spring.

masha 1

winter trees are sleeping

Do trees grow in winter?

Irina Zueva

Trees do not grow in winter. Simply, plants that grow in temperature zones with seasonal changes should have the ability to move to a state of rest for a period when environmental conditions, such as short days and low temperatures, become unfavorable for growth. Many trees and bushes become dormant, shed their leaves in autumn, stopping photosynthesis and minimizing moisture loss. With autumn, with its shortening days and cold nights, the struggle for survival begins for the plants. which is called "hardening". Since there are no conditions for growth in the fall, the plant spends its energy accumulating in the cells more power. At the same time, the accumulated water from the cells is forced out into the surrounding space, where in case of freezing it will not cause any special harm.

Lika

no, they do not grow! they are sleeping

SVetik

In winter, trees sleep, therefore, inside a tree, all processes slow down, but at the same time it continues to live and develop.

Anvagora

S s

They can not grow on the street, because without leaves it is impossible. But room always grow (if they are watered and give light).

Nadezhda Starkova

How can they grow if there is no sap flow.

Vladimir Mole

They grow, but very slowly, for example, bears, hedgehogs and other insects, as it were, sleep, but this is not quite so they grow. Similarly, trees, especially spruce trees, pine fir trees, etc. when cutting a tree, you can count the rings and find out how old it is.

Chucky

No, they do not grow. The process of photosynthesis is impossible, because in winter there are no green leaves where this process takes place. Since there are no nutrients, it means there is no energy for cell division, which actually determines the growth process.

Vladimir Kushniruk

Valery Alexandrov

Lyubov Lyubimova

no .... they freeze ... Awaken every spring ...

Are the trees cold in winter? Do they feel cold? Why?

Rain Duck

Directly frost, that is, low temperature, does not cause suffering to plants. But the frost creates ice crystals in the tissues of plants, which damages living cells. Also very important is the thawing mode. For a hardened plant, deep freezing is not terrible, if cooling takes place under conditions of slow ice formation, and thawing will also be slow.

It is noticed that different parts of the same plant may react differently to frosts. In fruit trees, the most unprotected part is the roots, usually the temperature at 9-10 degrees of frost becomes critical for them, but this indicator depends on the crop and rootstock. Have fruit plants  buds are always more tender than growth trees, their wood freezes over more often than bark.

During the autumn, the plant passes through a kind of hardening, during which the frost resistance increases. In a state of deep dormancy, winter resistance continues to increase. Approximately by the end of December, for most of the plants in the middle zone, deep rest is over, at this time the winter resistance is maximum. In the future, frost resistance begins to fall, and it does not even depend on the weather, each thaw only intensifies this phenomenon. The duration of a thaw has an influence and duration; the longer and warmer it is, the faster the frost resistance falls.
  Therefore, you should not be surprised if a tree suffers a frost of 35 degrees in early December and will suffer from a thirty-degree cold in early March. Yes, and an unexpected frost of 5-6 degrees in March can cause blackening of the blooming leaves.

SWEET_LANKA

of course. Therefore, it is necessary to sprinkle the roots with foliage in the fall, and wrap up snow in the winter.

Natasha Torgovitskaya

Yes, it is cold, especially for those who decorate the New Year's illumination. they heat up and prepare for the spring, but it is still there and there.