TN Freeze: KILLED my Japanese Maple :cry:

mesh2011 · Jun 18, 2007

Some history: Sometime ago I posted asking about this Japanese Maple:

http://www.arboristsite.com/showthread.php?t=33754

Well, a bit later, and a horrible record breaking late season freeze in TN, my wonderful Japanese maple (I just loved that tree) now looks like well, ... see attached.

So, what to do?? Here is the advice I've received from various sources:

1) Water it alot. Wait till next year to trim the dead limbs.
2) Trip the dead limbs now. Water it alot.
3) Wait till next year. The tree is probably not going to recover anyhow. Ha ha. You bought an expensive tree. Don't do that again! :cry:

thanks in advice to all the helpful people here!

mesh

rbtree · Jun 18, 2007

Go ahead and cut out the dead now. I'm guessing that the roots are OK. While it will take many years to regain a semblance of it's glory, I'm thinking that it will.

I recall one in a customer's yard that was crushed by a falling tree. there was little left of it but the stump. Years later, it is fine, though lower and flatter than it had been. Prolly would have been better had it been trained.

Ed Roland · Jun 18, 2007

Grafted variety. Be sure to remove the sucker growth coming off the section below the graft union. They will steal energy best reserved for crown rejuvination.

Prune out the deadwood. Remain cognizant of the direction of the bud directly below your cut. That is the direction of growth after the cut.

Soil test to determine fertility and ph.

Fertilize according to test results and/or adjust ph.

Shade during the hottest part of the day.

Monitor for pest or pathogen.

Ensure proper water regime. Saturate, allow to dry (depending on soil 1-4 days), saturate, etc.

There are companies in VA that have a plant diagnostician on staff. I worked for one in Roanoke/Salem before relocating to zone 8a. Sometimes its best to hire a professional to set up a monitor program for key and feature plants. If not, at least, look up information about scouting and treating for scale insects.

treeseer · Jun 19, 2007

Losing leaves is sad but temporary. Scratch the bark to see if the branches are dead. You have little to gain and much to lose by pruning too early if you are not SURE they are dead.

woodweasel said:
Grafted variety. Be sure to remove the sucker growth coming off the section below the graft union. They will steal energy best reserved for crown rejuvination.

Prune out the deadwood. Remain cognizant of the direction of the bud directly below your cut. That is the direction of growth after the cut.

Soil test to determine fertility and ph.

Fertilize according to test results and/or adjust ph.

Shade during the hottest part of the day.

Monitor for pest or pathogen.

Ensure proper water regime. Saturate, allow to dry (depending on soil 1-4 days), saturate, etc.
hire a professional to set up a monitor program for key and feature plants. .

Great advice. Also, cover tender plants when it gets cold.

Kneejerk Bombas · Jun 19, 2007

woodweasel said:
Grafted variety. Be sure to remove the sucker growth coming off the section below the graft union. They will steal energy best reserved for crown rejuvination.

.

You should remove shoots that grow up from below the graft, but not because they steal energy.
They should be removed because they are a different type of tree. You want only the type of tree that is growing above the graft.

Shoots and branches are not parasitic! They do not steal energy, they add it! :buttkick:

When in doubt about removing what you think are dead limbs, wait until the bark starts to fall off. It will be clear at that point exactly what is dead.
It's also good to leave dead limbs for some time to allow the tree to use food reserves that are stored in the wood of those dead and dying limbs. Even after leaves have fallen, the tree can still extract starches from the xylem.

Ed Roland · Jun 19, 2007

Mike Maas said:
You should remove shoots that grow up from below the graft, but not because they steal energy.
They should be removed because they are a different type of tree. You want only the type of tree that is growing above the graft.

Shoots and branches are not parasitic! They do not steal energy, they add it!

When in doubt about removing what you think are dead limbs, wait until the bark starts to fall off. It will be clear at that point exactly what is dead.
It's also good to leave dead limbs for some time to allow the tree to use food reserves that are stored in the wood of those dead and dying limbs. Even after leaves have fallen, the tree can still extract starches from the xylem.

This tree has lost all its foliage. There is a finite amount of glucose stored in the roots for refoliation. Some trees can not recover from being completely defoliated. It is wise to remove sucker growth.

Mr. Maas would lead us 2 believe these suckers grew without using any of that stored energy. He is wrong.

treeseer · Jun 19, 2007

woodweasel said:
This tree has lost all its foliage. There is a finite amount of glucose stored in the roots for refoliation. Some trees can not recover from being completely defoliated. It is wise to remove sucker growth. .

weez, it's not clear whether you are talking about root suckers or above-the-graft suckers. I don't think you and Mike differ on this.

Ed Roland · Jun 19, 2007

Ah. I sent him some rep to try and diffuse my abrupt post. I was in a hurry earlier when I replied.

Either way, I submit, any growth on this plant has to be fueled by whats available. Why waste available resources on extraneous growth? Any growth below the graft union is, certainly, extraneous.
.ed

Kneejerk Bombas · Jun 19, 2007

woodweasel said:
Mr. Maas would lead us 2 believe these suckers grew without using any of that stored energy. He is wrong.

Of course some stored sugars are use to initially start the growth of new shoots. What is amazing is how little is used and how short a time a new shoot is an energy sink. As soon as the first buds start to break open, the flow of energy reverses.

We don't want those shoots originating from below the graft to stay there long term, but they are not energy sinks. From a strictly "plant health" point of view, one could argue that even if there were shoots growing from below the graft, we might want to leave them to feed the system until the top of the plant fills in. Perhaps manage them as temporary limbs.

I don't call fast growing shoots suckers because they do not suck, they feed the tree. They are, in fact, a highly refined mechanism designed to help a plant in case of a loss of foliage. They work by growing quickly, surrounding every surface with cells capable of photosynthesis, and making more food than they use. Once covered with leaves, they have a very high ratio of cells containing chlorophyll to total biomass.

In the case of a tree that has lost a large percentage of foliage, instead of removing these "suckers", we should be thinking of ways to get more to grow!

Kneejerk Bombas · Jun 19, 2007

I wouldn't be surprised if the frost just knocked the leaves off, and the tree will resprout. Do not do any cutting just yet!

Kneejerk Bombas · Jun 20, 2007

TreeCo said:
I would be hesitant about letting the sprouts from below the graft grow. They are feeding the rootstock and the rootstock did not get cold damaged.

Uhh...That's like saying you shot him in the head, but the bullet didn't hurt his foot. :dizzy:

There is a balance between root and shoot. When a large part of the top of a tree is lost, a large part of the roots are affected. There is a very linear connection between the roots and stems of a tree.
If what we see, in the newly posted picture, is all dead wood, the roots will also mostly die, and at that point replacement makes the most sense.
If we are trying to keep the tree alive, and there are sprouts, they are like little IVs, to again give a human analogy. So for now, I'd leave or manage them.

TreeCo said:
These shoots may become dominant and the tree may 'decide' to direct energy to these shoots and tend to shed the desirable damaged section above the graft.

These shoots won't become dominant unless you let them. And if the above-graft parts of the tree are so sparse that some basil shoots can dominate the tree, then reduce the shoots (in number, size, or both), or at that point consider replacement.
If the above-graft parts have filled back in enough to look like the tree is a keeper, then remove the basil growth.

My main point here was to get woodweasle (and others) thinking about the fact that branches are not parasitic, even if they are low, fast growing, big, small, upright or hanging. All limbs make more food than they use, or they die.

Elmore · Jun 20, 2007

I agree with Mike Maas on this...he's the man!

grizzly2 · Jun 20, 2007

In my opinion, Mr. Maas is right on the money. The key words are monitor and manage. Yes, sucker growth is not desirable from our perspective, but we need to focus on the tree's perspective, which at this point is survival. Monitor the tree, and manage any sprouts. Do not be fertilize blindly, you can easily do more harm than good.

Good Luck!

mesh2011 · Jun 20, 2007

treeseer said:
weez, it's not clear whether you are talking about root suckers or above-the-graft suckers. I don't think you and Mike differ on this.

How do I determine where the graft is in this tree??

Regarding some other comments: As best I can tell almost all the upper limbs are dead. I broke a few at the end and they are dry, dead limbs.

Elmore · Jun 20, 2007

mesh2011 said:
How do I determine where the graft is in this tree??

Regarding some other comments: As best I can tell almost all the upper limbs are dead. I broke a few at the end and they are dry, dead limbs.

Typically you will find a diagonal line of demarcation between the understock and crown or grafted part. It often resembles the form of a "V". Most always there is some patern difference, texture or color.

Here is a graft union on a Loquat.

Here on an Acer. This is why I graft something like 'Sang kaku' as low as possible

Elmore · Jun 22, 2007

my take

Here is my take on it from another thread

Elmore said:
Sorry to hear of your maple problem. It was wide spread and unusual to have such a late freeze. I have hundreds of Japanese Maples, most in containers, and most experienced some damage. Overall all they are okay. I lost a few, mostly from secondary problems associated with the freeze and affecting those that were more susceptible due to lack of timely cultural practices on my part. The problem that most worried me was pseudomonas resulting from freeze damage. As a precaution I sprayed my trees with copper hydroxide just prior to the onset of frigid temps. Some of mine sustained tip die back, the new tender growth was damaged. I was torn between a long tedious job of pruning the necrosis out or just letting the trees compartmentalize. I opted on the latter and things look okay. I would just supply adequate irrigation and supply a good fertilizer soon. Avoid hot fertilizers that incorporate muriate of potash a.k.a. potassium chloride in the blend. A complete fertilizer with a micro package such as Pennington Nursery & Landscape 14-7-7 has always worked well for mine. A liquid feed of something like Monty's or fish emulsion w/ kelp would be good. An organic granular such as Nature Safe Natural & Organic Fertilizers or ESPOMA would be good also. Feed the roots or more accurately, the soil micro organisms that make nutrients available to the plant. Humates are good and foliar feeding is also. Keep an eye on it and give it the necessary cultural practices as needed but don't over do it. Keep it watered and don't apply much fertilizer after...say July 15th. I am sure that there may be subsequent symptoms of freeze damage that will show up later. Good luck and check out this thread on the very same subject:

http://www.arboristsite.com/showthread.php?t=49995

TN Freeze: KILLED my Japanese Maple :cry:

Help Support Arborist Forum:

mesh2011

ArboristSite Lurker

rbtree

Addicted to ArboristSite

Ed Roland

Addicted to ArboristSite

treeseer

Advocatus Pro Arbora

Kneejerk Bombas

ArboristSite King

Ed Roland

Addicted to ArboristSite

treeseer

Advocatus Pro Arbora

Ed Roland

Addicted to ArboristSite

Kneejerk Bombas

ArboristSite King

Kneejerk Bombas

ArboristSite King

Kneejerk Bombas

ArboristSite King

Elmore

Addicted to ArboristSite

grizzly2

ArboristSite Operative

mesh2011

ArboristSite Lurker

Elmore

Addicted to ArboristSite

Elmore

Addicted to ArboristSite

Similar threads

Latest posts

TN Freeze: KILLED my Japanese Maple :cry:

Help Support Arborist Forum:

ArboristSite Lurker

Addicted to ArboristSite

Addicted to ArboristSite

Advocatus Pro Arbora

ArboristSite King

Addicted to ArboristSite

Advocatus Pro Arbora

Addicted to ArboristSite

ArboristSite King

ArboristSite King

ArboristSite King

Addicted to ArboristSite

ArboristSite Operative

ArboristSite Lurker

Addicted to ArboristSite

Addicted to ArboristSite

Similar threads

Join the conversation!

Join today and get all the highlights of this community direct to your inbox. It's FREE!