If you haven't tried watering it, that'd be the first thing I'd do and continue to due.

Dax

But that's the strange part, the ground is still soft from the saturated conditions of the winter and March. We went from record flooding to Red Flag Conditions virtually overnight!!

Could there be a break/snap in the trunk that you might have overlooked or a scarring of the bark, even a piece of string girdling the bark?

At any rate, (we as a group) on the forum have a date of June for a plant to recover or show some beneficial sign. If nothing is happening during mid-june, start a new leader & tree, from the basal branches...

Girdling whether from mechanical injury or other seems to be as sound of a reason as anything. The other system involved, is the roots, ...it is possible the roots are rotting and the delayed effect is now being shown. That's also as easy to read as, anything else. Digging it up would be the only way to find out...

Dax

as I posted on the other one, my dawn redwoods (and thier seemingly close cousins bald cypress and nanjing beauty) did not like this recent bunch of weather in northern alabama.

they are all young, but the dawn redwoods were the first I planted as approx 2' bare root seedlings in early 09.

the DR's foliage didn't like last spring, didn't like this fall and sure don't like this spring. last spring, they turned yellow and got stressed. this fall, they all shot new shoots and a few got frost burn. this spring, in spite of record rain, as soon as we hit that warm dry spell, all these decidious conifers looked "dried out".

i just watered them, and they perked up and went back to that lush green.

also, through casual observation, i noticed the ones in back, protected from the wind seem to be doing much better than the ones out front

fwiw, i live in an old cotton field, it's clay, and none of my neighbors have trees of any size, so i'm fighting the odds for now :-)

can you .... with 100% certainty rule out a frost a week or two back????

it can hit one plant.. and only part of a plant ....

i had one that used to flush.. get frosted.. reflush.. and get frosted again.. for 5 years in a row ... so i would give it plenty of time to recover ....

i am not real familiar with your zone.. at all actually.. lol ... but frost is the thing that comes to my mind.. long before drought in spring ... but for the whole pot thing....

ken

The coldest it has been since early March was 27F. on March 27th. Otherwise, temps have been mild to occasionally hot (93 F. was the highest under windy, arid conditions). I'm hopeful that it will recuperate this season, it's just that it has never happened before. A bald cypress nearby was unaffected and looks good to go for the season. I recall reading somewhere that Dawn Reds were better adapted to the more subdued light of prehistoric climates that were subarctic in latitude (above 50 N.) but had a subtropical climate. We've had a lot of high UV days recently. (Bald cypresses were better adapted for subtropical latitudes and higher light levels.)

If the tips turned brown and crispy, the cause is dessication (drying out)...this is an extremely drought susceptible species until established. If the foliage was still green but flacid and wilting, the cause is root damage (either abiotic or due to rot) or some sort of vascular interference (i.e. girdling, massive gash in trunk, etc.). Simple as that.

"If the tips turned brown and crispy, the cause is dessication (drying out)...this is an extremely drought susceptible species until established. If the foliage was still green but flacid and wilting, the cause is root damage (either abiotic or due to rot) or some sort of vascular interference (i.e. girdling, massive gash in trunk, etc.). Simple as that."

Forest primeval, the ground in much of the East and South is far from dessicated. We have had a year's worth of precipitation so far (one foot of rain in March alone). This followed a Winter of record snows and rains. March was unusually mild then April saw a few days of upper 80's-mid 90's under sunny, windy and DRY conditions. It was right after the heat that I noticed this. The buds were just beginning to open and unfurl when they turned crispy brown (the bottom branches of the tree did not burn). I did not consider watering given that there is still flooded forest land around me. PS., The tree is not gashed, girdled, or show any evidence of insect damage.

27 is a low enough temp for frost

ken

Sure sounds like dessication to me. How wet the previous season's weather is is irrelevant if the tree can't access it - say if its in clay or has just been planted from a container and the ratio of roots to shoots is still insufficient. A few hours of hot, dry weather and some winds is all it takes if such is the case...either way, keep it wet and it will recover fast.

I also have a problem with my Dawn Redwood trees. They look like they have been burned. The branches are all black. They survived -40 last year. Am wondering if they are dead. Only a few little green buds showing.

Forestprimeval, thanks for the words of encouragement--this is one of my favorite trees. It might have been the hot, dry windy weather or the late March frost. The tree has been in the ground for a few years now--not a recent transplant. I guess what surprised me is that other hardy and even subtropicals went through the same weather, excessive wet, then cold snap and then near record heat but do not show stress. I don't see damage on my Japanese maples for example, and it is in full leaf now and leaves were developing about the same time as the DR's. In the meantime, cool and showery weather will be dominating for a while--hopefully aiding in recovery. Good luck!

I say its the hot and windy. Same thing happened to a new batch I received in the nursery recently. New foliage just emerging, then just one afternoon of gusty wind and low 80's. And believe me, the trees were well watered.

Of course, your tree is a relatively established plant, whereas my stock was young. Nonetheless, it is the most likely explantion.

Of more importance is the consequence. I'm quite sure my trees will re-leaf within a couple of weeks. My informed guess is that yours may also.

brian

I see this conversation is 5 years old but relavent to my situation. I have a DR that I planted in May. (I know this was a little late but it was a replacement for a tree I planted in March that, after spending time in the ground and never waking, I determined was shipped dead.) This tree is a little over a foot tall and looked promising and healthy until our July heat kicked in. (North Texas, 50+ days of temps 95°-105°, zero rain.) At the first sign of showing stress I upped the water to every other day. Prior to that it was watered twice a week.

This seems to have been futile as it never showed any indication of improving and it is now completely brown and shriveled. We have lots of 20'-30' DR at work and they range from green, partially green, to completely brown and shedding, I'm guessing thanks to the persitant heat.

Considering this tree never had time to establish, is there any hope it will come back? I have not stopped watering it. I am trying to determine if I should plan to replace it this fall.

why not start your own post.. about your own tree.. in your own garden

and post a pic of your tree ...

i might bet my shiney nickle.. it was a plant from arbor day ... and 99% dead when you got it..

ken

It was easier to just click "reply" since I was sitting in my car, waiting to go to work, and Googling information concerning heat stressed Dawn Redwoods...

The first tree, shipped dead, was indeed Arbor Day. Good guess. My first and last purchase from them. The second tree was an online nursery but I don't recall the name. Odd that DRs are growing all over around here, commercial and residential, but local nurseries don't carry them because "they don't do well in our climate".

My personal thought is that North Texas is too extreme for the temperament of this tree. If you look at areas of the US where the oldest and tallest specimens are established, they tend to have relatively high annual precipitation (over 40 inches) and moderate heat in summer (which comes with humidity and decent rainfall). I know they have quite a range in the East from Nova Scotia to North Florida. They like moist to wet soils in fact.

May was too late to plant it in North Texas; too late to plant it in New England for that matter. I do think that it will come back next spring but am not sure of the long term success of this species in your area. I know you said that even establish trees were suffering, so that is a sign.

What about Bald Cypress (Taxodium)? Are they doing any better? BTW, there is an evergreen species of Taxodium from Mexico that should offer better drought tolerance. Maybe someone will chime in regarding the Mexican species and success in your area.

I went back to read my original posting. I recall at the time, the new leaves were just emerging and not hardened off when a premature early April heatwave struck (with wind). That tree has long since been replaced, and it amazes me how big the replacement is (planted after the demise of the one in 2010)! The earlier one was one of those golden yellow varieties, nice, but I get the idea that the regular species is more robust and faster. Good luck!

My established Arbor day metasequoia came back from 90% defoliation one terrible Texas hot and dry summer with ALOT of water. I am better poor planting time, a week in a box leafed out and non ideal weather have killed yours. Just get a new one in the fall. Try Musser forest. I got a bundle of 100 from them one spring six or seven years back. They all leafed out.