Mother Winter’s Pranks
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“Mother Winter’s Pranks”: what to do if you encounter unusual natural phenomena this winter.
Once again, the coming winter did not leave us without surprises. Abnormally sharp temperature changes cause unusual natural phenomena, such as freezing rain. How do these phenomena affect the nature around us and how can we help birds in trouble? What can be done in your summer cottage to help fruit trees and shrubs in unusual natural conditions? This is what will be discussed today.
A rare winter, unfortunately, is not complete without contrasting temperature drops. The negative effect of this is felt by all living things.
One of my vivid acquaintances with such a phenomenon as a sharp temperature drop, I had a very long time ago at a hunting base in the Kostroma region. We arrived in the afternoon, the temperature was about zero degrees. Damp and windy weather makes it uncomfortable to stay in nature. I wanted to sit in warmth and comfort at the base by the fireplace with a dog, sip hot tea. By evening, the temperature began to drop sharply. At night, there was such a crackle in the forest from trees that could not withstand such temperature changes that it seemed that a shootout was going on. And in the morning the sunny, quiet and frosty weather called us to go skiing.
What happens to trees during a sharp change in temperature?
Trees and shrubs of the middle lane, such as birch, linden, spruce, pine and elderberry, are physiologically resistant to severe frosts.
But abrupt changes in temperature cause a violation of these processes in plants. Hardening of plants begins in autumn. The air cools down gradually. Adaptation to the cold takes about a month for trees and shrubs, and when frost sets in, they can already withstand temperatures up to 30 degrees below zero. Hardening continues at the beginning of winter, the plants become even more hardy. This is a natural process. And if people feel a sharp cold snap, then the trees do not, because they have long been prepared for it. At the end of January, clear sunny days begin to give way to frosty nights. And this is fraught with great danger for both the forest and the garden. The southern and south-western side of the trunks during the day can heat up to plus 15 degrees and more. Tricked by the heat, the cambial cells under the cortex will begin to grow and divide. A night temperature of minus 1 degree (and even zero) is detrimental to them. Such temperature fluctuations will last until March. Uneven heating of the tree trunk from the south and north sides, as well as inside and outside, exacerbates the effect of frost – as a result, vertical cracks form on the trunk. Fortunately, frost-resistant trees and shrubs often have a well-developed protective layer of bark. It serves as an insulator, smoothing out temperature fluctuations in the barrel.
Another insidious misfortune that increasingly began to arise in our country, “freezing rain” is not just a temperature drop, but also heavy rain, almost with hail, every drop of this rain is like a dragee, with ice on the outside and a drop of water inside. After such a rain, frost encases all wet branches of trees in ice. Under the weight of these icy garlands, the trees bend and are no longer restored.
And sometimes they even break.
Birds sometimes also experience insidiousness from a temperature drop. So, this year, in mid-January, there were cases in Moscow parks when people saw bullfinches and waxwings lying on the snow without signs of life. What happened to them? Due to the rise in temperature, mountain ash fermented on the branches of trees. And the birds just got drunk.
Alcohol quickly enters the bloodstream, but it is also quickly excreted, the birds even lose consciousness for a short time. If you saw a bird lying without signs of life, you can pick it up, breathe on it to understand how serious its condition is. But most importantly, you need to protect it from dogs and cats, put it in a secluded place that is inaccessible to animals. It is not worth taking such a bird home. After all, when she comes to her senses, panic will begin and she can hurt herself.
To our joy, in the middle of winter there are also unusual, pleasing to the eye phenomena, such as, for example, a rainbow. But we are more concerned about the impact of negative phenomena that can harm our trees and bushes in the country.
From the January rains, the near-trunk part of the earth near fruit trees can become bare. It must be covered with snow to prevent freezing of the roots. And the first to suffer from the lack of snow cover are strawberries and other berry crops. They don’t have deep roots like trees.
Experienced gardeners have methods that are used in preparation for winter anomalies:
- In autumn, it is necessary to carry out water-charging irrigation to accumulate moisture in the soil, since moist soil freezes much more slowly.
- If the trunks and bases of the skeletal branches have not been whitewashed or painted in advance, then this can be done in winter.
- It is necessary to ensure that the snow does not blow out from the site and accumulates under the bushes and near-trunk strips – spruce branches or non-woven covering material will help here, with which you can wrap the trunks so that there are air pockets between the layers, that is, do not tightly wrap the plants, but literally cover them like a downy scarf.
- First of all, you need to whitewash all the trunks and skeletal branches with garden paint in order to minimize the heating of the trunk by the sun’s rays.
- You can water the plants with ice water or lay ice in the base, which will not melt at a weak negative temperature. Ice can be covered with sawdust.
Of course, the forced rest of the plant may be disturbed by heat, the buds may begin to burst. And if this is followed by frost, then it is quite possible that the kidneys will die. To avoid the risk of unwanted activation of the kidneys, nitrogen fertilizers should not be applied in the fall.
Well, props that are installed under heavy branches, as well as gently brushing snow from the branches with a simple device, as my neighbor in the country does, can partially save from wet, sticky and heavy snow – a broom tied to a long wooden pole.
Alina Fedorova.
Author’s photo
Message Mother Winter’s Pranks first appeared on Moscow truth.
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