The real question is how long will if be below freezing. It took multiple freezes/frosts and input from others to realize that is the critical point. It can hit 27 for a couple hours and be fine. There is still a mystery as to what the low for me was on Tues night. My therms. said 21 and 23. The official recorded low was 28. Bottom line is that my trees in leaf where subjected to below freezing temps for about 9 hours. 5' Emperor One...black leaves the next day 4' Red dragon...extremely wilted and limp leaves 2' Fireglow...black leaves the next day 7' Katsura...black leaves the next day 6' Sangu Kaku...extremely wilted and limp leaves My shirs haven't leafed out yet...no wonder so many say to stick with this species in zone 5. I've been told "most" decidious trees bounce back. However, Acer palmatum is one that can have more casualties than others.

Ok, a couple of additional thoughts: 1. In the backyard.... between those 2 spruces, I have 3 black lace elderberries.... 2 years in a row, they died to the ground, but came back. This year, with all the snow cover, they maintained their wood and are leafing out. But this winter, to me, seemed more like a zone 5 winter. 2. If I container plant, can someone please recommend a good potting medium and/or fertilizer regime to keep the tree looking its best?

Thank you, Leslie! Stephen, I'm retired and most of my spare time is spent working in the garden. Not all ten acres is worked on. Some of it is left natural with a minimum of interference. Most of my work in the garden is maintenance even though I've tried to keep that to a minimum. I don't grow anything I would have to spray to keep it healthy. Nothing that self seeds to the point it's a pain. The only plant I shear is the Crocagator and I'm usually behind on that. I don't even grow any trees with large leaves I have to rake up. Small leaves are absorbed by the groundcovers or chewed up by the lawnmower. My lawn has been reduced to the size of the average living room. A certified arborist drops his chips off here and I use them as much as I have time for. My wheelbarrow has more miles on it than my truck and my tiller has more miles on it than my lawnmower. I am landscaping a new area of about 6000 sq. ft. and should have it done by this Fall. There's a lot of prep work involved consisting of stumps, old logs, roots, rocks, grade change, and blackberries. Water is available and the rock wall is finished. The work is going smoothly, albeit slower than I'd like. At 72, I'm slowing down a bit. That, and my wife keeps dragging me away on vacation. The work is fun and it keeps me young. If I had stayed behind a desk at Boeing, I'd be dead by now. Mike

Personally I never re-pot any plants in the winter, when I was just starting out with plants many year ago, I would re-pot any time and I'd loose so many,fast forward to learning more about plants, I now know late Spring is the best time to re-pot. If you do decide to go ahead and re-pot be very careful with disturbing the root system.