Winter sun, wind and cold temperatures can bleach and dry out evergreen foliage damage bark injure or kill branches, flower buds, and roots. Snow and ice can break branches and topple entire trees. Salt used for deicing streets, sidewalks and parking lots is harmful to landscape plants. Winter food shortages force rodents and deer to feed on bark, twigs, flower buds and leaves, injuring and sometimes killing trees and shrubs.

Apply Winter Mulch
During the winter, mulching landscape evergreen shrubs insulates the soil and roots.

Mulch maintains a steady soil temperature to prevent temperature extremes because it acts as an insulating blanket. Bare ground in winter causes temperature fluctuations that can force plants out of the ground exposing the roots. A warm spell can also do more damage by forcing plants out of dormancy triggering new growth that will ten be damaged as soon as temperatures plummet again.

Spray Anti-Desiccants
Anti-desiccants, also known as anti-transpirants, are landscaping sprays that supply protective coatings to evergreens during the winter months. Spray an anti-desiccant product to reduce moisture loss on evergreens.

When the ground freezes, plants are unable to absorb moisture so they take moisture from their foliage, causing it to dry out. This can damage or kill your beloved rhododendrons, andromeda, hollies and more.

When sprayed on the evergreen foliage, anti-desiccants hold in the moisture during winter. They provide a protective coating on the foliage to reduce the water that escapes.

Wrap Your Shrubs
Wrapping shrubs creates a wind barrier and traps some warmth.
Use a porous material, such as burlap or sheets. There are many benefits to wrapping prized evergreens, including protection from deer damage, salt damage, ice damage and sun damage.

When clearing snow, leave it around the roots. Don’t blow the snow away from around your evergreens, although brushing it off the foliage is a good idea, to prevent breakage. Snow is a great insulator, so it helps to keep the soil warm and so less likely to freeze hard.