TO WRAP OR NOT TO WRAP CEDAR TREES
Commonly-accepted advice to prevent browning isn’t always the right choice
‘Wrap your cedars with burlap to prevent winter browning’
I’ve always found it a little ironic that the solution to preventing a cedar from turning brown is to cloak it in brown burlap.
But I get why people want to do it. Those who wrap reason that having a burlap ‘motif’ for four winter months is a fair trade-off for eight months of gorgeous emerald foliage. Still, one important question remains. Does wrapping a cedar in burlap really protect it from turning brown during the winter or is it just a waste of time, money and effort?
A BIT OF SCIENCE
The first thing to understand about prairie cedars is that they are not true cedars. True cedars are members of the Cedrus family and are not hardy on the prairies. Instead we grow a particularly tough species called Thuja Orientalis, commonly called the white cedar. White cedars have two essential characteristics that allow them to survive in our harsh winter climate. First, they are very hardy in cold weather, and second, they generate a thick layer of ‘epicuticular wax’ that coats their foliage, dramatically reducing water loss.
During the winter, this wax is an essential barrier that helps evergreens hold the moisture accumulated during the growing season. Since white cedars cannot draw water from frozen soil, the thick wax has a huge impact on its capacity for enduring the winter ‘drought.’
Now, a burlap wrap would seem to be a good addition in the battle against water loss. But often the opposite is true. Burlap-wrapped trees have less water loss due to protection from drying winters, but that benefit is offset by increased water loss due to heating of the foliage on sunny days.
WHAT CAN YOU DO?
There are some critical steps to take long before the first snowflake falls.
The first step is to ensure that you have the proper planting site for a white cedar. Cedars grow best in rich, loamy soils that have plenty of space for root growth and water storage. The second step is choosing healthy, prairie-hardy varieties that were well maintained before you purchase them. A stressed white cedar at planting time will become a dead white cedar by spring.
I have close to 40 white cedars in my yard and I have never wrapped any, nor have I lost a single one to winterkill. I wish I could say that I have some extraordinary skill when it comes to growing white cedars, but that would be a lie. I planted highquality white cedars and my soil deserves most of the credit for keeping them in great shape.
Now, before I completely dismiss burlap as a tool for protect- ing white cedars during the winter, it can be a tremendous asset in a few circumstances. In windy areas, burlap can be attached to wood or steel posts and strategically placed a metre or two away from the trees to reduce wind and sun exposure.
Also, wrapping a white cedar may not help in the battle against water loss, but it can help in the war against foliage loss due to hungry deer. Anyone who has grown white cedars in rural areas knows how much deer love eating white cedar. Burlap isn’t perfect for preventing deer damage, but it definitely helps. Spraying some Bobbex animal repellent before applying the burlap is also a good deterrent.
Winter browning is always a threat, and like it or not, burlap wrap will always be a part of our community winterscapes. Who knows? Perhaps it’s time that we looked at burlap from a different perspective. Perhaps brown burlap is really just a blank canvas begging to be painted? Just saying.