Hi had a similar experience ,not with hail but bac k to back hurricanes. There was not a single leaf in the entire yard lol. Just as things started to leaf out again ,Jeanne hit and repeated the whole process. Pool and plants were flatened. Total of 32 days without electricity. Not only did everything survive within three months it was difficult to tell anything had happened at all. I removed as much broken debris as possible which turned out to be a good idea as we had a third that year and the trees needed pruning for sure .lol. Only one tree still has scars from the storms but everything survived including us lol. I did lose 6 birds from the aviary from escape when the side was torn out and the Marine aquarium crashed . Decided not to replace it due to the expense. About the only thing you can do is remove as much broken material as possible from the pool . Hopefully there'll be enough time to recover before cold weather sets in??? gary

Sorry to hear that, john_in_nc111. Continue watering to achieve 'constant' soil moisture as best as you can and maintain 3-4" of mulch. Then observe what the plant does. Does it leaf out some more and from different places? Etc? Do not fertilize as this may stress out the plant some more. Try not to overwater. If unsure whether or not to water, insert a finger into the soil to a depth of 3-4" and water when it feels almost dry. Make a note on a wall calendar every time that you water. Do this daily for 1-2 weeks. Then review the information on the calendar and determine how often you watered. Set your sprinkler or irrigation to water the same amt of water (1g/2g/etc) on the same frequency (every 2/3/4/5/etc days). Re-check using the finger method if the temps change 10-15 degrees and stay there. Remember to water during winters too when the plant is dormant but it is dry and the soil does not freeze. You could then prune the dried out section in 1-2" increments and stop when you get to parts that are still alive. But, I would rather wait until the spring to prune out decidedly dried out sections. As you noticed, the roots may be ok and it may grow from the bottom again. But there could other areas from the 8' tree where it might also leaf out. Wish those blue flash lights used in CSI Episodes would tell us that. Finally, determine what caused the lack of moisture ("operator error", forgot to turn 'on' the sprinkler, etc) and then appropriate steps to prevent the problem in the future.

All excellent points. I am not at all saying that things should always be equal and even. Like I said, we DO try to abide by the "fairness isn't everyone getting the same but everyone getting what he/she needs" mentality. But, and unless you do have two children the same age, this can be hard to understand---there IS a competitiveness between them. I think it is exacerbated by the fact that we are a stepfamily, so there is always that under current of "well, she is favored" or "he is favored." It's also simply because they are the same age so their interests/needs/wants are often quite similar. It would be easier in many ways if one were older. IE--if DD were twelve, for example, I highly doubt she'd care one iota that SS were getting a bunk bed. Her interests would be different and she'd be more concerned about getting this or that. But she is still at that age where she thinks bunk beds are super cool! As far as big gifts and such--for Christmas and birthdays, we DO match things up equally. They get a variety of different presents BUT if we know it is something they both want--they each get one. IE--each got a Nintendo DS for Christmas two yrs ago, each got a new bike another Christmas, etc. Those are the "big ticket" items that we keep even. There is just no way we could justify saying "oh, that's too bad that Santa brought SS a new bike and not you" or "that's too bad DD got a DS for her birthday but you didn't." Not only are they both 8 but their birthdays are only six weeks apart! Now--like Ima pointed out--there are other things not within our control, like DD goes to a private school, SS to public, SS with dad half the time, DD all the time. (It's funny, Ima, that you stated it like DD "doesn't get" to see her dad; I view it in a positive light, like she is fortunate she has DH as her full time dad, fortunate she has one stable home. I know at some point she will be curious about bio-dad but for now, I see it as a blessing that she doesn't see him.) I don't know. Some of this is MY own issue, I guess, too. I do feel like we *more often* bend over backwards to make sure that SS doesn't feel slighted and we *more often* take the approach that DD can suck it up. Not all the time, but I feel like it is like is more that way than it is the reverse. A lot of that IS because DD IS just generally more reselient to that stuff. And THAT is partly her personality, but also partly because I don't think she HAS a sense of being left out the way SS sometimes does--due to his going back and forth. SS is very jealous by nature, and I think some of it is the divided homes. For example--he WIGGED OUT a couple weeks ago b/c he talked to his mom on the phone, and she mentioned she had taken his 2 yr old sister to the dollar store. He loves the dollar store and he spent a good 30 mins sobbing at our house about how unfair it was. :( When he gets like that, there is just no consoling him, no pointing out all the fun things he does with us---like vacations and camps and circuses and pool trips, etc. He just get so emotional about these things. DH spoke with BM about it at length after that and both agreed it is a problem for SS but neither knows what to do about it. It's one of those sad things---he has two families but he only spends 50% of time with each--and he, as a result, is kind of always left out a bit. On the upside, he gets two of everything. I guess? Anyway, I guess that is maybe what is irritating ME more than anything. If it were DD getting the new bdrm set, SS would be devastated, no doubt, and DH even agreed with me about that. I think he would be really concerned about how SS would react in that case. BUT b/c we know that DD is pretty laidback about these things, it's like it just doesn't matter and DH isn't concerned. Kind of like the prodigal son story. Does that make sense? I am glad I vented this b/c I am now seeing it's really more MY issue and communication with DH than it is about the bedroom set.

Oh yes, it will survive and probably come back even bushier than before with a thicker trunk. You'd be surprise how good a tree reacts to a hard cut back, or should I say 'chew' back. Make sure to thank your dog a year from now when it's full in all its glory after keeping it in a very sunny window, in a well draining mix, watered properly kept clean of pests. Without these needs , it will look worst than it does now) Mike