The real world of the Canadian Prairies is very cold in the winter with very dry air and plenty of wind. All of these conditions make living for a young tree very hard. Another weather condition which is very hard on your trees occurs in March. As a result the cells die and bark becomes discoloured leaving the tree with only part of its conducting tissue. The condition is called sunscald and occurs on the south and west sides of the tree.
Some trees die from their injury, other struggle along and do poorly.
You can help protect your tree by using white plastic tree guards which reflect the heat of the sun, and the tree remains inactive until the real spring weather comes. These devices are available from garden suppliers and are usually put on in late fall. Other activities which may help include the use of white latex paint on the south and west sides of the trunk, or the leaning of boards against the tree to help shade the trunk during the month of March. The foil can be removed in the spring and reused next year. The control of sunscald using the foil or the tree guards also is effective in controlling another winter problem, that of mouse damage.