Video and text Ahto Täpsi
Photos Arne Ader
Translation Liis
The weather in Estonia has been quite changeable lately. The wet snow that fell meanwhile stuck to young trees and bent the trees almost to the ground with its weight. A pretty and picturesque view, is it not? Sadly such trees will not have a long life, their chances to grow into tall trees are very small. Mostly they will be felled in the next forest maintenance occasion, making space for the next forest generations.
Glaze ice on barberry fruits
Comment:
Among weather phenomena that threaten forests may be mentioned weighing down by snow, sleet that we saw a week ago, also frost if the thickness of the layer is more than 2 centimetres; a frost layer of more than 5 centimetres becomes particularly risky.
The snow, frost or ice layer lying on trees and shrubs is an additional burden on branches – large trees with thick trunks survive these snow phenomena, but the ice or snow layer should be shaken off from valuable ornamental trees and shrubs. Knocking on the tree trunks with the back of an axe should be avoided: this may damage the cambium layer under the bark seriously. The tree may develop diseases from the damage or even die. Pyramid or globe-shaped varieties of Thujas are particularly sensitive to such damage. In case of a short-term weighing down the trees manage to straighten up again in spring.
Hoar frost on pine
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