We’ve all been there – the Christmas lights are down, but the snow is still falling, or maybe the snow is over, but the ground is as frozen as a rock and the days are still so short that you’re going to and from work in the dark every day. When you’re in the depths of winter, and you’ve gotten over the beauty of a frosty morning, it can start to feel like spring will never arrive.
But take heart! After every winter, spring does EVENTUALLY follow. And if you’re hoping for the faintest signs of the end of winter, your trees can provide you with some clues that longer, warmer days are on the horizon (and they can show you that your trees have weathered the winter well, too)!
Fresh Buds and Shoots
New growth on your branches is the surest sign that spring is on its way! But long before your trees get a green hue around the edges, or before new leaves are obviously sprouting, you can see the little buds of new growth – often just tiny nubs that are easy to overlook. From a distance, this new growth can give trees – or even an entire forest – a slightly pinkish tinge that isn’t always easy to see but can be easier to notice if you compare the view from one day or week to the next.
More Creature Traffic
As we move towards spring, and the days get longer, birds and even insects start to come out on and around the trees in our yards. A single slightly warm afternoon might get the bugs crawling and buzzing around, and you’re more likely to see an increase in the number of birds in your trees and in their activity level.
More Sunlight = More Warmth
Even when the air temperatures are still cold, the sunlight starts to get a bit more intense and the days start to get longer as we move towards the end of winter. This means that the bark, branches, and trunks of your backyard trees are absorbing more of the sun’s warmth, which means that the branches will shake off the snow faster, and frost is less likely to form on the trunks and branches. This means that even on a very cold night, you could wake up to trees that are surprisingly frost-free.
Sticky New Sap
Over the winter, when trees go dormant, their sap stops flowing. Early in spring, even before you start to notice fresh buds, you may notice oozing sap from any wounds on the tree or places where you trimmed branches over the winter or late in the fall.
New Growth
When we talk about new growth for spring, we don’t just mean leaves, flowers, and fruit. Your trees’ branches will begin to grow again as your tree comes out of its winter hibernation and prepares for spring. If you’re paying close attention, you will see the branches beginning to grow longer and thicker as spring begins.
With any luck, you’ve started seeing these hopeful little signs of spring in your trees! That means that warmer days are on the horizon and that your trees have weathered the winter well and are ready to flourish in spring. If you are concerned about the health of your trees, don’t hesitate to call your local tree service company for a check up on your trees’ well-being. And if you’re in the Cincinnati area, you can call us here at Tree Images for our expert input on your trees’ health.
