Don't Bury the Burlap

Last week I went out on a home visit to look at some evergreen trees that were planted last spring.  The home owner was a bit concerned because they looked very orange and had shed a lot of needles.  I have to admit, if they were my trees, I would have been worried too. Here is what they looked like:

The funny thing is that the plants were greener on the South facing side.  Also, on the North side, which this picture shows, the undersides of the needles were greener than the topsides of the needles.  I asked her about her water regimen.  She watered with a soaker hose during the summer.  She also told me that the landscaper planted them with the burlap still on. 

So, I had a pretty good idea at that point what was wrong. 

There were 2 common misconceptions at play here. 

1. The first is that it is ok to leave burlap on at planting because burlap will decompose.  Well, yeah, eventually.  But in the meantime that burlap is a barrier to water getting to the root system, and a barrier for the roots to be able to spread out and anchor the plant.  
2. The other misconception is that you don't have to water plants in the winter.  While it is true that plants typically need less water in the winter, that is not the case with newly transplanted material.  Additionally, TN has received less than average rainfall this winter.  We are in a water deficit. 

Ok, but how did I explain one side looking better than the other, and one side of the needles looking worse than the other?  I asked the plant pathologists in Nashville for their opinion as well.  They confirmed what I had suspected.  Winter burn from the wind was obviously going to be worse on the North side, and the orange side of the two-colored foliage was facing the direction of the prevailing winds.    So, their recommendation was to check the soil for moisture a foot deep, and water thoroughly if dry.  As for the orange color, that should green up as the plant recovers from moisture loss and the air temperature rises in the spring.  In fact, I drove over there again yesterday and the trees were starting to look better already!