A Blurb about Winter Burn

WINTER BURN

2023 was a snowy winter in Western Montana and winter injury/needle burn is visble on many evergreens around town (end of March). When its primarily concentrated on south facing foliage, it’s probably desiccation from sunlight reflecting off snow on the ground. In this case, the buds and wood are unaffected and the plant is able to put on new growth which for conifers is around mid May to end of June. The shrub or tree will look fine once growth is complete.

There are also a number of evergreens that have gone totally brown this winter. There is a good likelihood that this was caused by salts spread on roads and/or sidewalks, dissolving and then running into beds. There is little that can be done for these plants but this risk should be kept in mind to avoid in the future.