Green By Chance: Distorted Conifers Abound As Winter Continues Its Natural Pruning

Don’t try and remove the white burden from your Leyland Cypress, White Pine, or Eastern Red Cedars just yet. Another mixed precipitation will coat the existing winter weight shortly.

I remember the permanent distortion on native cedars from an ice event three winters ago. The evergreens still show the rearranged branches on current walks. Interestingly, the Blue and Norway Spruce, as well as most firs, will shed the water-weight with their evolutionary conical shape that allows slow, angled melting.

White Pines aren’t so lucky and have suffered massive limb-drop. In mid-April, try and lasso the wounded branch and tie it to an existing, stable source above.

This was an epic winter event with the thundersnow and intense Wednesday evening accumulation. We may experience more severe pruning by nature this February to record rare back-to-back brutal winter seasons.