And we continue to publish answers to popular winter quizzes. And today we have an interesting question - Do trees grow in winter?

Correct answer number 1 - No, their growth stops in winter

Trees do not grow in winter. It's just that plants that grow in temperature zones with seasonal changes must be able to go into a dormant state for a period when environmental conditions, such as short days and lower temperatures, become unfavorable for growth. Many trees and bushes go dormant, shed their leaves in autumn, stopping photosynthesis and minimizing moisture loss. From autumn, with its shortening days and cold nights, plants begin the process of fighting for survival. which is called "hardening". Since there are no conditions for growth in autumn, the plant spends its energy on accumulating more nutrition in the cells. At the same time, the accumulated water from the cells is displaced into the surrounding space, where, in case of freezing, it will not cause much harm.

How trees and other plants winter: informative stories and fairy tales about trees in winter for children, observations of trees in nature, videos for children.

How do trees winter?

The last month of winter is coming. Outside, frost. People changed into warm winter jackets, fur coats, sheepskin coats. Animals also walk in a fierce cold in warm winter coats. But what about the trees? Do they have coats? It turns out there is! Walking with your child on the street, go up to the trees, stroke their bark and tell us about the unusual fur coats invisible to us that trees wear in winter! 🙂

How trees hibernate: Do trees have winter coats?

In winter, all trees sleep. They stop eating and growing. Sleeping consumes less nutrients and heat, which helps trees survive cold, harsh winters.

Are trees ready for winter? Certainly!

Firstly, in the summer all the trees prepared warm "fur coats" for themselves. What are these coats? A “fur coat” for a tree is a cork fabric under the bark that does not release heat from the tree and does not allow water and air to pass through. It is this "fur coat" that does not allow the tree to freeze even in the most severe frosts.

Secondly, in autumn the trees shed their leaves. Fallen leaves on the ground lay like a warm blanket and protected the roots of trees from freezing - they warmed them.

Where do cracks in tree bark come from?

Probably all of you have seen the cracks in the trees. Review them with your child. I wonder where they come from?

The reason is simple. An unexpected thaw will come in winter, and at night a severe frost will suddenly break out. And the "fur coats" of trees cool and shrink - "shrink" and ... tear. These cracks remain in the tree for its entire life.

Can frost kill a tree?

Discuss with the child on this topic, listen to his suggestions. And then read the answer to this question, which you will find in the story of V. Bianchi

W. Bianchi. Forest in winter

Can frost kill a tree?

Of course it can.

If the tree freezes through and through, to the very core, it will die. In especially severe winters with little snow, many trees perish in our country, mostly young ones. All the trees would have perished if each tree hadn’t cunningly to keep warm in itself, not to allow frost deep inside itself.

Feeding, growing, producing offspring - all this requires a large expenditure of strength, energy, a large expenditure of one's heat. And now the trees, having gathered strength over the summer, refuse to eat by winter, stop eating, stop growing, do not spend energy on reproduction. They become inactive, fall into a deep sleep.

The leaves exhale a lot of heat, down with the leaves for the winter! Trees throw them off themselves, refuse them in order to keep the warmth necessary for life. And by the way, the leaves thrown from the branches, rotting on the ground, themselves give warmth and protect the delicate roots of trees from freezing.

Little of! Each tree has a shell that protects the living flesh of the plant from frost. All summer, every year, trees lay porous cork tissue under the skin of their trunk and branches - a dead layer. The cork does not let water or air through. The air stagnates in its pores and does not allow heat to radiate from the living body of the tree. The older the tree, the thicker the cork layer in it, which is why old, thick trees tolerate cold better than young trees with thin stems and branches.

Little and cork shell. If the severe frost manages to break through under it, it will meet reliable chemical defenses in the living body of the plant. By winter, various salts and starch, converted into sugar, are deposited in the sap of trees. A solution of salts and sugar is very cold-resistant.

But the best protection against frost is a fluffy snow cover. It is known that caring gardeners deliberately bend chilly young fruit trees to the ground and throw snow at them: it is warmer for them. In snowy winters, snow, like a duvet, covers the forest, and even then the forest is not afraid of any cold.

No, no matter how severe the frost - it will not kill our northern forest!

Our Prince Bova will stand against all storms and snowstorms.

Ask the children after reading the story:

• How do trees "cheat" frosts? How do they prepare for them?
• Which trees are more afraid of frost - young thin or old and thick? Why? It is very important that the child understands the logical cause-and-effect relationships, and can explain the reason. And not just memorized the “correct answer”.
• What is the best frost protection? How do people help bushes and trees survive the fierce winter? Do your grandparents help plants in the country before winter - prepare them for wintering? How?

Video for children about the life of trees in winter

There is a video based on my article. Quite by accident, I found it on the Internet. They didn’t take my consent to create this video, they didn’t indicate the authorship either, but the video turned out to be interesting for children, so I decided to post it in the article. In the video - reading my story about trees (which you read above) is given, accompanied by pictures.

Who hibernates how: how do grasses hibernate?

Herbs are annual and perennial. Annual plants produce seeds in autumn and die. And perennials are preparing for winter. They accumulate "food" in the rhizomes for the winter. And they hide under a thick layer of fluffy white snow - they spend the winter there. Snow for them is like a fluffy warm carpet that warms the grasses and prevents them from freezing. When the snow melts in spring, it will water the earth, and the grasses will grow well again.

Some plants keep their leaves for the winter. For example, lingonberries hibernate under the snow with green leaves. Cranberries also hibernate even with berries. And in the spring you can collect overwintered cranberries. They are said to be very sweet.

Listen to how Cowberry and Cranberry talked to each other in winter under the snow.

E. Shim "Cowberry and Cranberry"

And I, lingonberry, have something to eat! Under the snow, I saved the green leaves until spring, and even - hee-hee! - berries...

Think berries! Wrinkled, sour.

Why, spring is such a rarity!

Nothing is rare. Here, at Cranberry, I have a lot of berries under the snow. And not your couple: large, sweet, tender ... Even better than in autumn!

It is difficult for forest dwellers in winter. So the bunny dreams of green grass and juicy leaves. Where can you find them in winter? Guessed? You want to know? The mouse will tell us the secret - vole. Listen to how she talked to the bunny in the winter forest.

N. Sladkov. Hare and vole

Bunny - Frost and blizzard, snow and cold. If you want to smell green grass, gnaw on juicy leaves - endure until spring. And where else is that spring - beyond the mountains and beyond the seas ...

Mouse - Not beyond the seas, Hare, spring is not far off, but under your feet! Dig the snow to the ground - there are green lingonberries, and strawberries, and dandelions. And sniff and eat.

Grasses are the youngest and youngest winterers! Read to the children a story about how young winterers live in winter

V. Bianchi "Young winterers"

Trees and perennial grasses are ready for wintering. And annual grasses have already scattered their seeds.

But not all annuals will overwinter as seeds. Some of them have already sprouted. A lot of annual weeds sprouted in the dug-up vegetable gardens. On the bare dark earth, rosettes of serrated leaves of shepherd's purse are visible, and fluffy leaves of a purple lamb that look like nettles, and a tiny fragrant chamomile, and pansies, and a yarut, and, of course, an annoying wood lice. All these plants are going to winter, live under the snow until next autumn.

Tales and stories about trees in winter

Why do trees lose leaves in winter?

You will find a very unusual and very poetic answer to this question in a wonderful cartoon made by children based on a Danish legend.

Pavlova N. Trees in winter. Story

Everything green that was so pleasing to the eye in spring and summer has disappeared or is hidden deep under the snow.

Pines, spruces and bare crowns of sleeping deciduous trees - that's all that can now be observed from the plant world. Well, what! And it's better than nothing.

If it is pleasant to see a linden, maple or oak in summer, it is twice as pleasant to recognize them when meeting in winter. To learn from afar, as you recognize an old acquaintance by his gait, by some gesture peculiar to him alone.

Here is a tree in the distance, in which all the branches are curved, smoothly roundly curved - in the middle they bend down, at the top they rise again. This is a linden. You can check whether winged linden nuts are probably still preserved on it or under it in the snow.

And here is a powerful tree with dried leaves on the tops of the branches. This is oak. He never has time to drop all the foliage before frost, and the dead leaves remain on the branches.

And it may not be so easy to recognize this small tree from a distance, but you won’t be mistaken from a distance: no other tree has such small black cones as an alder.

And at the ash tree, whole bunches of long narrow fruit-lionfish hang on the branches. Thanks to these long lionfish, you cannot confuse ash with maple. And so they have a common feature that is not found in our other trees: all their branches are arranged in pairs.

This is the best sign to distinguish maple. After all, there are a lot of different maples in gardens and parks, and their leaves are so diverse that sometimes you don’t want to believe that they are all maples.

But one has only to look at how these leaves sit, how the branches are arranged, to make sure.

Here are a couple of young shoots, a second one crossed over it, higher, crossed again ...

Yes, it's maple for sure!

And here's the tree...

However, everyone in his own way can learn to recognize trees and shrubs in winter. It is not difficult, because they have preserved so many signs!

And now I would like to give more advice to those who miss the beauty of nature, who yearn to relive joy, delight and amazement.

I warmly advise you to get on skis and go to a young spruce forest.

No words can convey the charm of a fabulously magnificent magical forest completely transformed by a snow sculpture.

It cannot be conveyed. This must be seen for yourself.

Fairy tale tree. G. Tsyferov

» The Little Bear was friends with a tree. One day the Tree said to him:

- Autumn soon.

- And how did you guess, - Bear cub was surprised, - after all, you don’t even have eyes?

Stop reading the story and ask the kid how the tree knew that autumn had come and winter would be coming soon? How could it feel it if it has no eyes?

And then read Tree's answer:

“But I feel everything,” answered the Tree. “I used to hold hot sun rays in my green palms, now I feel: they have become cold.”

Ask the kid what kind of green palms do trees have? How do they feel that winter is coming soon and it's time to prepare for it? (the day is getting shorter, the air is getting colder)

How trees hibernate: we observe trees on a walk with children

In winter, it is very convenient to view the trees. Here are some ideas for observing with children:

Observation 1. Trees and bushes. Trees have one trunk - large, powerful, it starts from the roots near the ground and goes up to the branches. What is the difference between a bush and a tree? The bush has several trunks, as if thick branches stick out of the ground. Find with your child some trees and some shrubs in the yard and in the park. Name them to your child.

Observation 2. Crown of trees and their bark. How to distinguish trees in winter from each other when there are no leaves on them? By crown or bark. For example, the crown of a birch is different in that its branches hang down - “drooping crown”. And the oak has a sprawling crown, of a different shape - like a tent, a dome, the branches are thick, winding. The bark of trees is also different - stroke it, take a closer look, tell us how you can tell from the bark what kind of tree it is (oak, birch, mountain ash, linden, poplar). In birch and aspen, the bark is smooth, but different in color. Spruce is rough. Ash has cracks. In oak - thick, with deep cracks. In pine - lamellar, with, as it were, lagging plates.

Teach your child to distinguish trees from each other in winter. A fascinating educational fairy tale for kids by N. Pavlova "Winter Feast" will help you with this. And when the children learn to distinguish trees, play a speech game - a riddle. You describe the tree (trunk, bark, branches), and the children guess. Then the children ask you their riddles, and you guess.

N. Pavlova. winter revelry

The hare fed the lame squirrel all summer: the mischievous boy broke her paw. And when the squirrel recovered, she said goodbye to the hare and said:

Thank you, bunny, thank you! Look, don't make any stocks for the winter. In the summer you fed me, in the winter I will feed you.

But since that day the hare has not seen the squirrel. The last grass disappeared under the snow. And the hare was left to devour, only bare twigs and bark. In bad weather, he often went hungry. Then he remembered the squirrel, and he became more cheerful: “I only have to find it, then we will live!” And finally the hare stumbled upon the squirrel. She was sitting on a branch near her hollow.

Hello, - shouted the hare, - what a blessing that I found you! After all, I haven't eaten anything since this morning.

Okay, okay, I'll put a samovar for a friend, - said the squirrel. - If only you would bring me birch branches, I would burn coals from them.

And the squirrel was cunning. She felt sorry for her reserves. And she deliberately sent the hare away. "Someday he will find birch thought the squirrel. “In the meantime, I will slowly drag all my supplies into another hollow and pretend that the marten has eaten me.”

But before the squirrel had time to thread the needle to mend the bag, the hare was right there.

Here, get the birch branches, busybodies!

Why birch is easy to find, - said the hare, - from the edge you can see how the birch tree is turning white.

I will have coals, but I have nothing to kindle them with. If you would bring me aspen branches, I would make matches out of them.

I’ll bring it, I’ll bring it, troublesome, ”said the hare and rushed off.

And the squirrel thinks: “Well, aspen you won’t find it soon in winter: after all, without leaves, all trees are similar to each other, one white birch is different from all.

But before the squirrel had time to put the first patch on the bag, the hare was already right there.

Here, get aspen branches, troublemaker.

You turned around quickly, said the squirrel.

Why aspen is easy to find- said the hare, - the little aspen stands like a palisade. Aspens are thin, straight, gray-green, and their bark is bitter.

"That's right," thought the squirrel. And let's get smarter:

I'll put the samovar, but how will I set the table? Because I don't have a table. You would bring me oak logs, I would saw wood, I would make an oak table.

I’ll bring it, I’ll bring it, troublesome, ”said the hare and rushed off.

And the squirrel thinks: “Well, oak You won’t find it soon in winter.”

But before the squirrel had time to put ten nuts into a bag, the hare was already right there.

Come on, get your oak logs, troublemaker.

You turned around quickly, said the squirrel.

Why oak is easy to find- said the hare, - big, fat and clumsy, and dried leaves hang on the branches in winter, like flags.

"That's right," thought the squirrel. And let's get smarter:

I’ll make a table, but there’s nothing to shuffle around it with. Would you bring me a lime washcloth.

I’ll bring it, I’ll bring it, troublesome, ”said the hare and rushed off.

And the squirrel thinks: “Well, linden You won’t find it soon in winter!”

But before the squirrel had time to tie up a bag of nuts, the hare was right there.

Here, get a fake washcloth, troublemaker.

You quickly turned around.

Why lime is easy to find- said the hare, - each branch in the middle of it bent, as if a bear cub was sitting on it in this place.

"That's right," thought the squirrel. And let's get smarter:

We will feast with you, but what is a feast without music? Would you bring me maple logs. I would make a balalaika out of them.

I’ll bring it, I’ll bring it, troublesome, ”said the hare and rushed off.

And the squirrel thinks: “Well, maple“You won’t find it soon in the winter!”

But before she had time to put the first bag of nuts on her shoulders, the hare was right there.

Come on, get your maple logs, you buster.

You turned around quickly, said the squirrel.

Why maple is easy to find, - said the hare, - all his twigs sit in pairs, that's how a person stands, he raised his hands up: the body is a branch, his hands are twigs. You were the only one who drove me, you troublemaker! Well, nothing, it’s a shame not to try for such a holiday. And my paws are big, strong, not like yours. When I bandaged your paw in the summer, I kept wondering how such paws can withstand your jumps?

Then the squirrel remembered how the hare looked after her, how he fed her all summer, and the squirrel felt ashamed. She felt so ashamed that she blushed all over and went from gray to red again.

Sit a little bit, bunny, - said the squirrel softly and kindly. - I'll cook everything now.

And she quickly made matches out of aspen, lit birch embers, melted the samovar, made an oak table, scrubbed it with a linden washcloth, and set all sorts of things on it. Instructed everything, as for a big feast. And when he and the hare had a little refreshment, the squirrel adjusted the maple balalaika and began to play. And then they had such fun with the hare that even all the nearby trees regretted that they had no legs to dance that evening.

Read this fairy tale at home with your child, and then on a walk, find those trees that are mentioned in the fairy tale. Will the kid be able to complete the tasks of the squirrel - will he find the trees named by her? You can print out the text of the fairy tale and take it with you for a walk to read fragments - how the hare found different trees in the forest.

Observation 3. Show your child frozen branches of trees or bushes (they look glassy on some winter days). Beautiful? For us, yes! But the trees are not happy in such ice! Explain that branches are especially fragile at this time. And so they break easily. Therefore, on frosty days, you need to be especially careful about trees and shrubs - they are easy to break.

Observation 4 Consider the fluffy snow blanket that covers the tree and the snow caps on its branches. Admire the snow caps on the trees during a snowfall. Play a game to develop the imagination “What does the resulting figure look like? "

You will find games about nature in winter, developing tasks, informative stories and fairy tales in pictures in the articles: or on the cover of the course below for free subscription

No, unfortunately trees do not grow in winter. In winter, the trees can be said to fall asleep, only in spring their growth begins. This can be understood by observing the birch. As soon as the sap flow begins, the tree comes to life. People collect birch sap, and then the leaves on the tree bloom.

No, they don't grow. The process of photosynthesis (the formation of organic substances from inorganic substances with the help of light) is impossible, because in winter there are no green leaves where this process takes place.

Some people are interested in the question of whether trees grow in winter? The answer is simple and difficult. It is well known from the school curriculum that trees are at rest in winter, but this does not mean that it lasts the entire winter period. All living organisms, including plants, experience periodicity in development. Trees are no exception, they also have certain periods: two main ones (vegetation, dormancy) and two transitional ones.

It has been proven that trees grow constantly, as long as they live, they grow.

2. Coniferous trees often grow slowly. Therefore, birds need to be fed in winter. These fertilizers will not harm the soils of the Non-Black Earth Region, which are not distinguished by high fertility. However, such top dressing is useful only for those plants that bear fruit well this season. Of no small importance in protecting plants from low temperatures are their adaptive capabilities.

Frost resistance drops in the spring, when sugars begin to be used in vital processes and turn into other compounds. Therefore, spring frosts are so dangerous, although the temperature is far from reaching the level of winter frosts, which trees and shrubs endured perfectly. But resistance to frost is explained not only by the accumulation of sugars in tissues. As studies by our well-known plant physiologist, Corresponding Member of the Academy of Sciences I. I. Tumanov and his students showed, the formation of frost resistance is a complex, stepwise process.

Video for children about the life of trees in winter

In the thaw, lichens also come to life, they swell from melt water and grow a little. It is no coincidence that lichens survive where all other plants are unable to live: on the bare stones of the highlands and in the coldest tundra. How different animals hibernate. Lots of snow, lots of bread. Birds often die of starvation in winter.

For us, yes! But the trees are not happy in such ice! Explain that branches are especially fragile at this time. And so they break easily. Therefore, on frosty days, you need to be especially careful with trees and shrubs - they are easy to break.

Watch with your child the behavior of birds, squirrels, feed them (in the warm season, watch insects). On a walk, clearly explain the difference between deciduous and coniferous trees. In birch and aspen, the bark is smooth, but different in color.

Pines, spruces and bare crowns of sleeping deciduous trees - that's all that can now be observed from the plant world. Well, what! And it's better than nothing. What is the difference between a bush and a tree? The bush has several trunks, as if thick branches stick out of the ground. Find with your child some trees and some shrubs in the yard and in the park. Name them to your child. The roots and the aerial part of the stem grow rapidly, branch strongly and reach large sizes. Under natural conditions, without human intervention, a branched grape bush grows with many vines of various orders, which comes into fruiting late and yields irregularly.

Until January, this period lasts for birch, hawthorn and poplar. Longer dormancy in coniferous trees, maple, linden and oak. It can be up to six months. And the longest - in small-leaved linden, Tatar maple, Siberian spruce, Scotch pine. Wintering lime buds, for example, are unable to germinate for almost half a year. In oak, beech, ash, the buds are in a dormant state until the end of April. And the oak has a sprawling crown, of a different shape - like a tent, a dome, the branches are thick, winding.

Observation 1. Trees and bushes. Trees have one trunk - large, powerful, it starts from the roots near the ground and goes up to the branches. The bark of the trees is also different - stroke it, take a closer look, tell us how you can find out from the bark what kind of tree it is (oak, birch, mountain ash, linden, poplar). Spruce is rough. Ash has cracks. In oak - thick, with deep cracks.

But not all annuals will overwinter as seeds. Some of them have already sprouted. Annual plants produce seeds in autumn and die. And perennials are preparing for winter. They accumulate "food" in the rhizomes for the winter. And they hide under a thick layer of fluffy white snow - they spend the winter there. Snow for them is like a fluffy warm carpet that warms the grasses and prevents them from freezing. The older the tree, the thicker the cork layer in it, which is why old, thick trees tolerate cold better than young trees with thin stems and branches.

Do conifers grow in winter

It is at this time that the primordia of leaves and flowers in the buds (vegetative and flower) are born. This occurs in both deciduous and coniferous trees.

Oak, maple, birch and other deciduous trees have beautiful yellow leaf colors and later lose them. Coniferous trees (spruce, pine) go into winter with preserved green needles. Cranberries also hibernate even with berries. And in the spring you can collect overwintered cranberries. They are said to be very sweet.

Birds in winter ”- Wintering birds do not fly away from us to warmer climes. Others use their reserves. Most conifers overwinter with green leaves. Black woodpecker. In the very frost, very small and helpless cubs are born to the she-bear.

With the onset of winter, the trees go into a dormant state. The metabolism inside the trunk slows down, the visible growth of trees stops. But life processes do not stop completely. During the period of long winter dormancy, mutual transformations of substances occur, however, with much less intensity than in summer (Journal "Chemistry and Life", "Plants in Winter", V.I. Artamonov, February 1979).

Growth is underway, although outwardly it is practically not manifested. In cold weather, the so-called educational tissue actively develops, from which new cells and tissues of the tree subsequently arise. In hardwoods, leaf primordia are laid in winter. Without such processes, the transition of plants to active life with the advent of spring would be impossible. The winter dormancy phase is an indispensable condition for the normal growth of trees during the growing season.

The ability of trees to sink into a state of dormancy has evolved over a long period of evolution and has become the most important mechanism for adapting to adverse and harsh external conditions. Similar mechanisms are involved in other difficult periods of tree life, including summer. For example, in a severe drought, plants can shed their leaves and almost completely stop their growth.

Features of winter dormancy in trees

The signal for the transition to a special winter state for most trees is a reduction in the length of daylight hours. Leaves and buds are responsible for the perception of such changes. When the day is markedly shortened, in plants there is a change in the ratio between substances that stimulate the processes of metabolism and growth. The tree is gradually preparing to slow down all life processes.

In a state of forced dormancy, the trees remain until the end of the winter period, gradually preparing for full awakening. If at the end of February a birch branch is cut in the forest and placed in water in a warm room, after a while the buds will swell, preparing to sprout. But if a similar procedure is done at the beginning of winter, the birch will not bloom for a very long time, because it is already completely ready for rest.

The duration of the winter rest period is different for different types of trees and shrubs. In lilacs, this period is very short and often ends by November. In poplar or birch, the phase of deep dormancy lasts much longer, until January. Maple, linden, pine and spruce are able to be in a state of deep forced dormancy for four to six months. After wintering, the trees slowly but steadily begin to restore life processes, renewing their growth.

Late autumn, soon winter. Occasionally it snows and sometimes does not melt, but covers the ground with a thin layer. What happens to trees and shrubs in late autumn and winter.

After leaf fall, trees and shrubs cease to show any signs of life. This means that they have entered a state of winter dormancy - a period of lack of external activity and a slow metabolism. All winter they will sleep without reacting to external stimuli.

From the outside, this winter dream seems continuous and calm, but in fact it goes through two different states. At first, in late autumn and early winter, the plants fall into a deep dormancy. It is called so because it cannot be interrupted by conventional means. Suppose we transfer an apple tree to a warm greenhouse, but even there it will not wake up. At the time of deep dormancy, the plant does not just wait out the dark days, it undergoes the changes necessary for it for later life. In particular, during this period, trees and shrubs continue to harden - by the time the deep dormancy ends, frost resistance becomes the maximum possible.

Deep dormancy will end when the plant receives the portion of low temperatures it needs. True, the way out of this state is outwardly completely invisible. The difference will become apparent if we transfer our apple tree to heat - the tree will blossom and bloom. Now, before the onset of heat, the plants will be in a state of forced rest, in a dream they are kept only by unfavorable environmental conditions. During forced rest, the kidneys continue to develop - slowly and imperceptibly. Frost resistance will no longer increase, it will even gradually weaken.

The hardiness of berry bushes and fruit trees is severely tested in winter. Whether they will stand the test, no one will tell you ahead of time, because they don’t know. Different crops have different winter hardiness. And even the same specimen reacts differently to frost: stability depends on the conditions preceding the cold snap. In addition, different parts of the plant have unequal frost resistance.

As you know, frost is dangerous because it can turn the water contained inside plant organisms into ice and cripple them from the inside with growing crystals with sharp edges. A small amount of ice between the cells is not bad for hardened plants, but it will be much worse if the cells themselves freeze. To reduce this threat to a minimum, in the process of pre-winter hardening, plants acquire the ability to protect themselves from the formation of ice inside the cells. But each plant achieves only the frost resistance that this variety is capable of under specific conditions. Edible honeysuckle and Ussuri pear easily endure frosts of 40°C, while southern varieties of sweet cherries and apple trees will die even at 20°C.

The above-ground part of trees and shrubs is always more stable than the roots. After all, they live in soil, which cools much more slowly than air and is also insulated with snow. Roots do not need to be as frost-resistant as the crown, which is open to all winds. The root system of seed rootstocks of apple trees can withstand temperatures below minus 9°C (semi-dwarf and dwarf ones - even less), plum roots - up to minus 10°C. And when frost occurs without snow, the roots can be seriously damaged. So the advice “keep your feet warm and your head cold” applies to plants too. Podzimny plentiful watering, which is recommended to be carried out in October in a dry autumn, is aimed at ensuring that the soil retains heat better in winter.

Different parts of the above-ground part have different endurance. Fruit buds freeze more often than growth buds. As a result, in spring, with external health, plants bloom poorly and, which is very disappointing, do not set fruit. The wood also freezes, which is even worse, since the plant will have to spend the rest of its days with dead areas inside the trunk or branches (which means that you can no longer expect a high yield).

Scientists have found that plants reach the limit of their frost resistance by the end of deep dormancy, which occurs approximately at the end of December. In the future, this ability will somehow decrease. It falls both gradually, without depending on anything, and abruptly - after thaws, which neutralize the effect of hardening. At the same time, some breeds and varieties are better adapted to thaws and repeated re-hardening after them, while others are much worse. And the closer to spring, the more destructive severe frosts for your garden.

If the winter is snowy, then fluffy snow will warm the roots, boles, young trees and shrubs well. Only the crowns of some fruit trees will be in danger. But when there is no snow, extreme cold can freeze anything.