Plant Damage Stll Showing Up From Last Year's Freeze

2 years ago

Has anyone else had this happen? The Feb 2021 super freeze killed everything in pots, no matter how thick the pots were. But, everything in the ground recovered, or so I thought. I live just north of Dripping Springs, TX, and have fairly deep soil.

I had an elm that budded out early at the end of Jan 2021 due to the zone 9 winter we were having. A week later snowmageddon hit and killed it back. It did leaf out, though that was thin, and it grew like that the rest of the year. This year the tree shows no sign of budding out. It's normally the first tree to break dormancy, but my cottonwood buds are swelling, and it's usually 2 weeks later than the elm.

Two other plants are also late to show any growth: Mimosa borealis (Fragrant Mimosa) and Viburnum tinus "Spring Bouquet". The Mimosa is hardy through Oklahoma into Kansas and was still dormant. It came out and bloomed as normal, though it did put out one side shoot from the root which also bloomed. The Viburnum is an evergreen only hardy to zone 8, so it was killed back. New growth appeared and it grew well last year.

This winter of 2021-2022 was a near normal 8b with a few freezes into the teens and the rest in the 20s. Most importantly, there were no early warmups. So, I was hopeful that my elm would leaf out better this year and continue to recover. But it's not looking that way. It's possible the shrubs will recover, but the Mimosa is normally budding now as it blooms early to mid April.

Comments (5)

B in 8a DFW
2 years ago
Not sure if it's the same situation, but most of my trees (chinkapin oak, shantung maples, Japanese maples, ginkgo, caddo maple), daffodils, creeping phlox, candytuft, jackman clematis, and true lilies are behind budding or leafing out by at least 3 weeks. No actual damage this year, though.
memetexas
2 years ago
last modified: 2 years ago
My Bay Laurel tree that was about 20 feet tall lost all of the old limbs which froze and died but most of the new growth limbs survived and it's put out new growth from the root.

My oak trees did loose their leaves 4 months late this year. I don't know why...
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It would help to know what the "bushes" are, but the first looks like a conifer, and the second looks deciduous. The damage looks like freeze damage to me. Absent the presence of any nesting insects, or colonies of insects, I'd say it's freeze damage. Commonly, the treatment is to prune out the damaged areas as soon as they appear. This stimulates new growth which will fill in the area fairly quickly. You probably should have done this pruning earlier, when it first started to show, but it's probably not too late to do it now. I'd go in with pruners, and trim out all the affected branches, back to good looking wood and foliage, on both types of bush. It'll leave holes, but they will probably fill in before fall. Mix up a solution of bleach/water, 10/90, and dip your pruners, then wipe them off with a paper towel between each cut.
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Luckily, I got away with 26F instead of the 23F called for - weather.com is now calling for 29F at the airport in Greer, so I SHOULD get 26-27F - I hope. I have had a number of things get frosted back, but hope I haven't permanently lost anything. Maybe the flowers on my hydrangeas - too big to cover, and too cold for too long - and a few other things - I am HOPING the lilies will flower fully this summer. After tomorrow, the 10-day forecast is for night-time temps in the 40's, so we can hope. I would say that the worst of the damage should be clear by Tues. or Wed., and much of the start of recovery seen by the end of the week. I wouldn't be too quick to prune back any of your woody plants - the leaves may have died, but the stems may still leaf out from ancillary buds. I would wait on them (shrubs and trees) until the end of next week, or even a bit longer, to be sure the stem or branch is truly dead. Soft stems that are black or limp, you can take off as soon as you can or want. If you have a question, scratch the stem lightly - if it shows green, it will probably recover. Any perennials that died back to the ground, I would wait a week or more, to be sure they won't come back from the roots. Don't forget that many of the plants we grow in our gardens evolved in a climate not too different from this, and can handle a frost without dieing. I don't guaranteee you will have as beautiful a plant this year as it might have been, but most of them should live.
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mindshift
Original Author
2 years ago
03-25-2022 My cottonwood is flowering, and I've still not seen any sign of life in the early flowering elm or fragrant mimosa. My pecan is leafing out, which seems early considering the cottonwood is flowering. All the trees were given me by my mom as seedlings. I rescued the fragrant mimosa seedling from a county recycling yard where they put a storage building.

I will keep checking for signs of life, but it's not looking good, especially for the elm.
buttoni_8b
2 years ago
last modified: 2 years ago
My 25' loquat tree finally died. The fair amount of new lush green leaves it put out last spring slowly started dying off. Bark peeling worsened. Peeled completely off to the ground, in fact. No new growth has come out since last April. We removed it yesterday and put it out of its misery. Don't think the roots have any life left in them, but maybe a shoot will emerge one day, so we didn't have him grind out the stump. Not very hopeful a tree will regrow there. The arborist that removed it yesterday also concurred it was fully dead. Really changes the look of the front of the house for that to be gone. :(
mindshift
Original Author
2 years ago
@memtexas and @buttoni, I'm sorry you also experienced damage or loss of mature and treasured specimens. I hope your plants manage to recover. Of the plants I listed only the elm has finally leafed out, but it looks worse than last year. Most branches haven't put out a thing. Sadly, it looks like I will end up having to remove it. It's strange to me that plants would have done OK immediately after this incident and fail the following year. Thanks to all for sharing your experiences.

Plant Damage Stll Showing Up From Last Year's Freeze

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B in 8a DFW

memetexas

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Plant Damage Stll Showing Up From Last Year's Freeze

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B in 8a DFW

memetexas

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