Michigan State University Extension
Ornamental Plants plus Version 3.0 - 00001643
11/12/99
Ice
Ice causes two types of injury to branches and trunks.
The weight of the ice causes trunks and branches to break.
If the limbs do not break, the conductive tissues inside
the stem may be injured, resulting in dieback of the plant
in the summer.
Plants that are regularly bent over by ice can be
supported. Smaller plants can be supported with a bicycle
tire inner tube looped loosely around the stems but larger
plants require cables. The supports need to be flexible
-- rigid supports may cause breakage at the point of
support. Such breakage commonly occurs when wooden props
or stepladders are placed under ice-laden branches.
Do not try to remove the ice. It normally melts in a
short time. Ice-covered branches are heavy, so trying to
remove ice is likely to cause additional damage.
This information is for educational purposes only. References
to commercial products or trade names does not imply
endorsement by MSU Extension or bias against those not
mentioned. This information becomes public property upon
publication and may be printed verbatim with credit to MSU
Extension. Reprinting cannot be used to endorse or advertise
a commercial product or company.
This file was generated from data base ZZ on 01/19/00.
Data base ZZ was last revised on 11/12/99.
For more information about this data base or its contents please contact
heatley@msue.msu.edu . Please read our
disclaimer for important
information about using our site.