A tree planted in the last year or two goes into its first winters with a root system that has not yet spread past the original root ball, and University of Illinois Extension calls drought stress the leading killer of newly planted trees and shrubs. Winter adds three more risks that extension services address: bark that cracks after sunny winter days, rabbits and voles that gnaw the trunk, and roots left without moisture through a dry spell. Each has a fix that takes a few materials and an afternoon in November, using guidance from extension services in Illinois, Nebraska and Colorado.

What you need

  • A hose or a 5-gallon bucket, and a tape measure
  • Wood chip or shredded bark mulch
  • Light-colored, paper-based tree wrap for thin-barked trees
  • Hardware cloth with quarter-inch openings, at least 2 feet tall
  • Tin snips, wire or zip ties, and work gloves

Step 1: Water before the ground freezes

Illinois Extension's November 2025 guidance is to keep watering newly planted trees and shrubs as needed in the weeks before freeze-up, so the root ball does not dry out before roots can spread in spring. The check is to pull the mulch aside and feel the soil; if it is dry, water. Colorado State University Extension gives a rule of thumb for how much: about 10 gallons per inch of trunk diameter, measured 6 inches above the ground, applied slowly so it soaks about 12 inches deep, spread across several spots under the branch spread and beyond. A tree with a 2-inch trunk takes about 20 gallons per watering. In dry-winter regions, CSU adds watering once or twice a month from October through March during long dry spells, only when air and soil are above 40 degrees Fahrenheit and there is no snow cover, and at midday. CSU says newly planted trees need about one year of establishment for each inch of trunk diameter, so a 3-inch tree is in this category for about three years.

Step 2: Refresh the mulch, and pull it back

Wind, rain and animals move mulch over a season, and Illinois Extension recommends topping it up before winter, since it holds soil moisture and insulates fine roots against freezing. The other half of the step is distance. Nebraska Extension's guidance is to pull mulch about 6 inches away from the trunk: mulch piled against bark gives voles and mice winter cover right where they chew, and keeps moisture against the root flare. Illinois Extension says to keep the trunk open to the air down to the soil line and to pull grass and brush away from it for the same reason.

Step 3: Wrap thin bark against sunscald

On a sunny winter day, the trunk of a thin-barked tree warms quickly and then freezes again, which can crack the bark. Illinois Extension names maples and beeches among the trees at risk and prefers paper-based wraps over plastic because paper breathes; the wrap only has to block sunlight, not keep out water. Nebraska Extension recommends a light-colored wrap, which reflects light and limits warming, started at the base of the trunk and wound upward with each layer overlapping the one below. Both say the wrap comes off in spring once hard freezes are over, so it does not constrict a trunk that is growing.

Step 4: Cage the trunk against rabbits and voles

Nebraska Extension recommends a cylinder of quarter-inch hardware cloth around the trunk, at least 2 feet tall, with its bottom edge sunk a few inches into the soil so voles cannot tunnel under it. Illinois Extension puts the height at about 20 inches so a rabbit cannot easily reach over the top. Leave room between the cage and the bark so the tree can grow and air can move, and close the seam with wire or zip ties.

Step 5: Note the spring jobs

Wraps come off in spring. Cages can stay through the year but should be checked so they never press into bark. Mulch gets pulled back again if it has drifted toward the trunk. The timing for all of this shifts with the climate: the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map gives the zone for any ZIP code, based on the average annual extreme minimum winter temperature, and a county cooperative extension office can say when the ground usually freezes locally and which species there are most prone to sunscald.

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