Broken tree branches in winter probably nothing to worry about
Q:I moved into my house last summer and all the trees in the yard looked fine. Now, in the middle of the winter, I am finding broken branches under the maples. The branches are so dry that when I picked them up, they just broke. My large white pine also has two branches on the ground. They have been ripped off, right at the trunk, but the big spruce right next to it has no damage at all. What is killing the branches and tearing off others? Is this some kind of animal or insect or disease problem?
A:You can exclude your three possibilities. What’s behind door number four is environmental in nature.
If the branches you picked up broke easily, they have been dead a long time. Winter did not kill them.
Even healthy trees have branches that die. They are often shaded out by the rest of the tree. Or they could have been damaged by strong winds during the summer.
The canopy can look good even if there are a few dead branches. With the rest of the foliage, a couple of dead branches are rarely noticed. Dead branches in deciduous trees, especially maples are quite common. Snow, ice and high winds do nature’s version of pruning by knocking out the brittle dead wood.
For evergreens, it’s all is dependent on their shape. As evergreens age, the branches become heavier as they get longer. Pines often retain their horizontal
branching. But spruces usually have downward sloping branches. Some, like Norway spruce, have
developed this growth pattern from centuries in their land of origin. Sloping branches allow large
snow loads to slip off the branches with little or damage.
The horizontal branches of pines cause the heaps of snow to sit there until something gives way. These branches usually tear at the place where the branch and the trunk meet. It does not shear away but tears a rounded hole into the trunk. If the branch does not tear completely free, you will need to use lopping shears or a saw to cut it loose.
As trees get older, some damage is inevitable.
Q:
I have a vegetable garden every year. Since the garden is growing vegetables for just two of us, I don’t usually plant entire packages of vegetables. Is there a way that I can harvest in smaller amounts or make the small amount that I grow last longer in the garden?
There sure is.
One way is to