do you have the latin name of the tree??? .. its cold tolerance might make a difference ...

we usually have to buds from cold damage.. if we want a spring flower show ...

sun scald.. on the other hand is a trunk issue ...

i have used 4 inch corrugated drain pipe ... to protect from vermin and sun .. but it allowed a lot of empty space for air movement ...

but you have a tight nestled trunk ... am i correct in presuming your noodle is tight on the trunk ... i worry about trapped moisture.. and bugs ...

im also wondering .. if within that temp range ... whether temps are not really an issue ...

WC is bulletproof in my MI ... but flower production can be variable due to spring deep cold affecting the flower buds ... and i am positive it get a lot colder than 26 ... and if i could spell it.. i would tell you i have a kwanzan cultivar ...

ken

Sorry to go OT but those mid-elevation towns in Arizona are fascinating to me. Do you have any palms in your town? Probably only Trachycarpus, if that. The highest elevation Phoenix I saw was in Globe, AZ at 3500', and it had been severely burnt by the freeze of 2011. (well, I should say highest elevation in Arizona. I saw one in El Paso that was higher elevation, saw lower temps, and still survived)

Mike, really interesting about there being Sequoia sempervirens there. I once speculated they could grow in high elevation parts of AZ, if given enough water.

Anyhow, that should work, but not sure if it is really necessary. As Ken said they are tough trees. You know more about the local conditions, obviously.

If you have some specific reason to think this kind of tree (weeping Japanese cherry) will get trunk damage from winter sun exposure you will want to install adequate protection and leave it in place the entire time it may be needed. And not keep taking it away and then putting it back - an unnecessary bother.

If you find your Sunset Climate Zone in the Sunset Western Garden Book and then look up your tree in the plant encyclopedia section of the book you can see if it is listed for your climate area there, read other regionally generated comments about growing it (Sunset Publishing has a long history of being based in California, writing for the western half of the country specifically).

I AM CURRENTLY USING A "Pipe insulation" tube on a small Live oak, so I don't think any harm will result of you using a "pool noodle" I used 1 in the first year of protecting my Live oak, so I don't see any harm. It should'nt overheat and explode, or anything like that. Just remove in spring of course. I know your tree is hardier (likely) and Arizona is likley much warmer OVERALL than my Pa yard, but, since (I imagine) Arizona is hot as hell in the day and colder at night, that pool noodle should be fine, anyone who may know that the Weeping Cherry will explode with that pool noodle on the trunk, please speak up. But, it's likely if that area with the Weeping Cherry is a zone 7b even at night in winter and gets no colder than a zone 7b, that pool noodle isn't needed, but, hey, if it makes you feel better, it should be fine.

I have used the pool noodles or even foam pipe warmers from lowes..work great

Pool noodle?

GreenLarry, they are foam forms for playing in a swimming pool, (floaties) long and hollow in the middle, maybe about 4 feet long, you just cut them lengthwise, and pull to cover the trunk of small-ish trees. Like a pipe insulator long (for lack of right words)" thingy".

Maybe most of the UK doesn't get cold enough to freeze pipes? I do think there are some zone 7 zones in Scotland, or the UK in general, which get 10-0 F or - 12- -18 C I hope I figured that F to C correctly.

It's helpful to observe, as a way of comparison: that almost no one lives in the zone 7 parts of the British Isles, most of it is zone 8 to 9; likewise almost no one lives in the zone 8 parts of NZ, most of it is zone 9 or 10. (though I have been to the zone 8 part of NZ. It's shockingly barren compared to most of the country, although even in that town there was a lone, small Cordyline australis with a thick trunk. Sadly, it had no seeds.)

Hey Davidrt28, okay, nice to know you've stayed on this long with the temperature comparisons of the Uk, BUT, really, there are mostly agreeable conditions in some parts of the Uk or other parts of the UK for most plants, except for the most sun loving plants.

But, I think that the plants that will be the understory of the zone 8 forest in the UK should just hang on there, until someone goes along with it, and/or agrees that it's all the right timing, I will just say that many times a group of folks agree on the best or worst of someones career, and though, if that person judges wronge than everybody will make it all known as the wronge thing.