Snowpack, Ground Frost and Sap Flow

[SilverLeaf]

Had an interesting chat with my dad yesterday. We've a couple trees, just starting to flow today, with the rest of our trees still dormant. The ground around the flowing ones is clear of snow (and never did have too much snowcover this year, due to location in our yard). The trees still dormant, however, are surrounded by lots of snow, anywhere from a foot to, in some cases, 8 foot-high drifts. (I live on the edge of the prairie; what can I say?)

My comment to my dad was, the frost must've gone out faster where the ground was open. But his comment was that there was probably a lot less frost under the snowdrift, so he would've expected it to be the other way around.

Thoughts, anyone? This is my first "real" tapping season, so never paid attention to ground frost before...

[Homestead Maple]

The base of the tree needs to be fairly clear of snow and ice so that it can be warm for good sap flow. You'll get some sap flow even if the tree has snow up around the base of it but nothing great.

[KenWP]

Most of my trees still have snow right up to the tree and those ones produce non or such a tiney bit of sap its hardley worth the bother. If it ever gets warm enough for those trees to warm up I expect them to produce. MY best trees right now have bare ground around them or are out in the open with no trees close by.

[3rdgen.maple]

I have had this discussion with my dad alot over the years. He says it snow so soon here that the ground never freezes. So I took a shovel one day dug to the ground and sure enough he was right. I'm sure it varies from place to place but that is how it is here. As far a sap flow, well the trees where there is a melt ring around have been running for a week. The trees without just dribble until today. There is still a good 2 feet of snow pack here and the trees without the melt rings just woke up today all had full buckets on them.

[PerryW]

During the winter, snowcover will insulate the ground from the cold weather. We can usually drive wood stakes in the woods all winter long in high snow winters. Hovewer, if the snow is removed or packed down by snowmobiles, the ground will freeze solid.

But during the maple season (and as mentioned in previous posts), the trees that have their bases exposed will run sooner than trees that are still buried. Of course, this also has to do with the fact that the trees that have no snow around them and usually in a warmer, sunnier location than their counterparts buried in snow.