Salvage tree ravaged by very late freeze
I have a male fruitless weeping mulberry that I planted in the fall. It was budding out beautifully this spring. Then we had a very late very hard freeze. Complete with inches of snow and everything. The freeze killed all the buds. It has put out a few new buds but as of today the buds still haven't leafed out. I'm thinking there really isn't much I can do except to just wait and see if it makes it. The only thought I had was that maybe I could try watering it every day for a week to see if that will coax it to breakbud. Something sort of like sweating a tree I guess. But I'd also want to be careful not to over-water.
Here are a few pictures of the current bud situation. You can see some buds look like there just about to go. But they've been about like that for a while now.
Comments (7)
Daniel Central IN, Zone 6a
2 years agoI wanted to share an update. Here's a picture from today. It's finally putting on some leaves. They are just opening up and still small but look promising. Hopefully June 26th is not too late for to put down some roots and store up energy for winter. Once all the buds fully open up I'm thinking I'll come in and prune all the dead wood off. It looks like there are a number of branches that either totally dead or the ends are dead.
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encourage leafy growth after bad late freeze ???
Comments (4)Fertilizing would help them recover - if they need it. You should really sample your soil and have it analyzed, otherwise you are just assuming a particular product is appropriate. Those ratios you listed all represent different amounts of primary nutrients, often a soil only needs to have one of these supplemented - let along a payload of multiple nutrients, a few or more in high amounts. Soilless potting media are much more apt to become badly leached of multiple nutrients than an actual soil, thus 19-6-12 etc....See MoreCicada or late freeze, Whats worse for trees?
Comments (1)When I worked at a nursery growing most of its own plant material here in KS we experienced the damage of 17 year cicadas. Our damage occurred on goldenrain tree, honeylocust, certain oaks (not all), and a few other species. The damage seemed to almost always be on the underside of the branches, but branches larger than you describe - say 1/2" or slightly larger. The latent effect was to create welts on either side with small dead strips on the branch underside that emmulated the appearance of "winged" sweetgum bark around the dead strip, but on basically smooth barked trees. I know that this is a poor description, but that is how these wounds appeared. After another season on our young nursery stock most of these had closed, but the raised welts on the branches caused a few customers to question the health of the trees. I might add, the trees grew quite well with no unusual problems after this anomaly. Bottom line: freeze damage recovers the first season, cicada damage takes a couple of years and looks bad for retail. Either isn't a big deal in the long run....See MoreCicada or late freeze, Whats worse for trees?
Comments (0)(I have also posted this in the tree forum) Two years ago we had a very late freeze after all of my trees, except for the beech, had leafed out and last year we had the 17 year cicadas. To my surprise the cicadas seem to have done far more damage to some of my trees than the late frost did. All of my 4-8' japanese maples, kousa dog woods, stewartia and american holly have significant damage with many losing over 50 percent of their branches. I have a 7' x 7' 'Gold Star' kousa that is almost dead and several others that will look terrible for years to come. It seems like the cicadas damage the plant's smaller branches enough to cause desiccation of the branch. Because the cicadas like pencil size wood only smaller trees seem to have been effected to this degree. Very small younger plants and plants with thin banches such as acer palmatum Murasaki Kiyohime were also unharmed by the cicadas. Did any one else see a similar pattern of damage? David...See MoreCan I salvage mole-ravaged Japanese maple?
Comments (1)It's very possible, maybe even likely, that your tree could survive, but it's a good question whether there is enough remaining root structure for it ever to have a strong foundation. You could probably prop/stake it up for the time being, but the bigger it gets, the more likely it will be to come crashing down. Sorry. In the meantime, whether for the sake of this tree or the next one, it looks like you're preparing to go to war with varmints! Are you certain that you have moles, or are you using the term loosely to indicate some type of burrowing pest? Moles did not do the damage to your roots, as they are carniverous only. They dig long tunnels and then patrol them waiting for bugs and worms to come crawling through. Gophers are vegetarians and may well be the culprits, or possibly voles that have taken up residence in an abandoned gopher or mole tunnel. Each requires a different extermination method because of their different lifestyle and diet. The sap and bark of Japanese Maples are extremely sweet, and once the little boogers have figured out what a banquet you're providing, they will continue to cause you trouble. A good garden center or your county ag/hort extension agent should be able to help if you need it. Good luck!...See Moreken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
2 years agoDaniel Central IN, Zone 6a thanked ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5Daniel Central IN, Zone 6a
2 years agoDaniel Central IN, Zone 6a
last yearFor everyone who has been following along on this here is a picture from this morning (the following Spring). The tree survived the winter and is leafing out. Though it appears to have lost a few more limbs. Hopefully it will start recovery this summer.
Daniel Central IN, Zone 6a
last yearFor everyone who has been following along on this here is a picture from this morning (the following Spring). The tree survived the winter and is leafing out. Though it appears to have lost a few more limbs. Hopefully it will start recovery this summer.
Daniel Central IN, Zone 6aOriginal Author