In the winter when it is hard for plants to grow, a special technique was used by a certain plant. It grew its roots in the autumn and hid them underground. That way it could earn some food for itself during the cold months.

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Do tree roots grow in the winter? Yes, they do, but only a special type of plant does this. The plant uses a unique method to survive during the winter months when it is hard for plants to grow.

Tree Roots Grow in Winter

When it is difficult or impossible for a living organism to carry out life processes, it adapts to its environment in order to survive. In the case of trees growing in the winter, their need for food and sunlight necessarily decreases when temperatures decrease and days shorten. However, this presents a problem: If the above-ground portions of the tree die-off completely for an extended period of time, how can they be regenerated?

To solve this dilemma certain trees have developed unique ways of remaining alive during the cold winter months. One such method is illustrated in the diagram below:

Winter Tree

The roots of a tree growing in winter extend far above its normal root zone and growth area, winding around other plants and rocks for stability. These roots will remain alive even if temperatures drop to several degrees below zero, by producing enough sap to keep them from freezing solid. This sap must be produced at a high enough rate to provide nutrients for both the tree’s leaves and its roots throughout winter. Yet this presents another problem: How can these trees obtain nutrient-rich water while their own root zone remains beneath the surface?

As it turns out, many of these root systems are self-irrigating. In the summertime, prior to the onset of winter, they grow out and around surface rock formations or other plants so that long roots stretch high up into the air. At this time, their growth pattern begins to resemble a tree’s branches more than its roots. As winter approaches and temperatures begin to drop below freezing, these exposed portions of the root system die off while simultaneously beginning to divert water from water molecules in the surrounding atmosphere. The moisture in this air condenses on these outer branches and trickles down through the ice and snow collecting at points where it encounters still-living woody tissue. When reaching living woody tissue, it freezes causing even more ice to form around them, but with enough room left for water molecules within these ices to move freely between the ice and the woody tissue, providing it with water.