Frost Damage to Trees?

[JaneG]

With 5 nights of frost during the past week, I noticed that the small, newly-emerged leaves on a couple trees are completely wilted.

One is an 18-ft tall honey locust and the other is a 5-ft tall japanese maple. Both were planted probably 4 years ago and are very healthy.

My other trees are more fully leafed out and weren't damaged, but these had very small leaves that had just budded out in the past week or so, still less than an inch in diameter.

Trees just make one set of leaves a year, right? Will these leaves recover? If only half the leaves survive will they be okay? Will the tree make new leaves?

Just wondering.

[jay dee]

Your trees will leaf out again for you. It will take a few weeks while the latent buds swell and open up, but they will be fine.

jay dee

[impatience]

This has happened to one of my Japanese Maples a few times (last year I wrapped the doggone thing in sheets with safety pins holding it-DH thought I'd lost my mind). It will get new leaves shortly, but they don't seem to have the color of the first set-IMHO.

[JaneG]

Whew! Thanks, I didn't know there were latent buds in there. As for the Jap Maple, as long as it has leaves I won't fret about color . . . there's always next year for color, right now I was worried about survival!

[ICGardner]

I was wondering the same thing, Jane! I have a redbud that is only 3 years old and all of it's little leaves are all crunchy from the freeze earlier this week. Guess we'll just have to put on our patience hats!

[Old earth dog]

I may be wrong, but I think the Bonsi people strip the first leaves to help keep the trees small. We had a really bad freeze 4-5 yrs ago and the trees all recovered. The nice thing about it was all the @#&*!^ silver maple seeds froze that year, and didn't develope.

[jay dee]

You are almost right OED regarding the bonsai people. You can cut the petioles off the tree and it will make the latent buds become active and the leaves will be smaller when they regrow. This procedure is usually done no later than mid growing season so the leaves have a chance to harden off before winter. Basically, with the leaves being frozen in early spring is the same thing.

If anyone has an ornamental Japanese maple that is very healthy by mid season, try this and you will be amazed with the new flush of growth. The red maples are just as intense in mid year as they are in the spring. However, don't do this if the tree has been stressed in any way, like the frost bitten leaves.

jay dee