snow and ice / "leaning" southern pine trees! (grass, magnolia, north)

[Tennesseestorm]

We have had several snows already this season - which is unusual, as we only average 13 inches of now per winter on average. We have already seen more than that.

This started when we had an ice storm before Christmas... it bent down my Loblolly pines, Sand Pine, and Slash lines.... down like rainbows! They are anywhere from 4-6 years old, some as tall as 12 ft, even those bent down big time with a heavy ice on them. My Longleaf pines had some branches broken, but they didnt bend down.

I dont recall our White pine trees bending like this. NOW, since they are all bent already, these snows we have been getting are pulling them back down big time. I finally decided it was high time to drive some stakes and tie them up with more snow in the forecast! I have a feeling its going to be a very snowy winter. They may have straightened up themselves, but I was not sure, so I went ahead and tied them up.

I know that ice is heavy, but it seemed to effect these trees more than anything and they have an easy tendancy to bend! I am wondering, is this charactaristic of these trees? How do the rest of these in the rest of southeast survive the storms?

Here are some pics from the December 2010 ice storm we had here in northeast Tennessee...

Florida Sand pine...


Slash pine (this is about a 13 ft tall tree....


these are a mix of Sand Pines, Loblolly pines and Slash pines...


Loblolly pine and Southern Live Oak...


Another of my Southern Live Oaks... (has recovered)


Longleaf pine...




Needle palm... (has recovered)


Southern Magnolia...


On the cars...

[Tennesseestorm]

[suzy_q2010]

Yes, that is typical. We saw it here in Georgia with the blizzard of 1993, which kept us trapped in our subdivision for about a week. The weight of the ice is also a good way to prune dead limbs off trees --- which is the reason the utility lines get taken out.

The pine saplings do not tend to recover very well.

[Tennesseestorm]

Thanks Suzy... well mine are tied up now and well supported, so they wont do this again this year anyway. lol.

With all of the heavy snow in the deep south tonight, I bet many of them are leaning now!

[Dusty Rhodes]

Originally Posted by Tennesseestorm

Thanks Suzy... well mine are tied up now and well supported, so they wont do this again this year anyway. lol.

With all of the heavy snow in the deep south tonight, I bet many of them are leaning now!

Ah yes.....Pine Bondage----It does seem to be a Southern thing, I don't recall seeing any tied up trees in Alaska, or Delaware, or Upper New York State. Methinks we worry over-much at times, down here, in the sunny south. I have often heard of sleet being refered to as "Natures' Pruning Shears".

[JQ Public]

It's sad to see southern trees succumb to winter weather. That's why you don't see most of these species up north.

The longleaf pine pic is really cool! I really enjoy those trees when they transition from their grass phase to their "bolt" phase.