Home › Forums › Over the Fence › General Gardening

Japanese maple frost damage

mbp's picture

Japanese maple frost damage (post #9077)

mbp on Wed, 06/06/2007 - 12:59
in

Hi Everyone,


  I'm a new member.  I garden in the Blue Ridge of south western Virginia, around Galax, if anyone is an old time music fan.


We had an unusually early and mild spring that encouraged all the perennials and trees to leaf out early.  Then we had a pretty normal, but long lasting freeze.  Almost a week of warm weather and then another cold snap.  Most things came through all right, but 2 japanese maples, one a bloodgood and the other a crimson queen froze all the way back to the 1st branch.  These are 9 year old trees.  The bloodgood was almost 12 feet ;the crimson queen, well branched.


Now for the question.  Do I cut them back just above the live growth?  Will this result in an ugly, misshapen tree?  Do I cut back to the ground and choose the healthiest regrowth and start over?


Thanks for the help.


MBP

-A +A
smslaw's picture

(post #9077, reply #1 of 5)

by smslaw in reply to mbp [original] on Wed, 06/06/2007 - 14:46

Most likely the frost killed the new leaves, but not anything else.  You can scrape a branch to see if it is still green.  I'd leave the trees alone and see if they set new leaves.  If nothing appears after several weeks, then prune back the dead branches.


Here in Maine, Bloodgood is sort of marginal in cold, dry winters, but even one that was killed right down to the ground eventually resprouted.

hortist's picture

(post #9077, reply #2 of 5)

by hortist in reply to mbp [original] on Fri, 06/08/2007 - 21:56

Japanese maples were perhaps the hardest hit of all in the Easter weekend freeze, probably in a tie with the crape myrtles.  Unfortunately, any limbs that have not leafed out by now probably won't.  What looks dead, is dead.  As for the question of how far to cut them back, it depends on the tree.  Your 'Bloodgood' was probably grafted at ground level, so as long as it's sprouting from somewhere along the trunk above ground level, you can cut it back and hope for the best.  However, it may not ever be a beautiful tree again.  It will just depend on how much tissue damage was done to the main trunk and how much ability the tree has to eventually come back.  With a lot of patience and some careful pruning over the next few years, you might get it back to a decent form.  The other option, of course, is to start again with a new plant that is already well on its way to being a beautiful specimen.  (Still years involved in that process, I know.)


The 'Crimson Queen' maple was probably top-grafted, meaning that the actual trunk is not 'Crimson Queen', just the canopy.  So, if your 'Crimson Queen' has frozen all the way back to the trunk, whether or not you still have 'Crimson Queen' depends on whether or not the graft itself froze.  Even if the graft at the top of the trunk is still alive, you're probably looking at a LONG process of getting the tree back to its former beauty.


Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but the Japanese maples were ravaged by the freeze and the outlook for many of them is not good.  We lost 17 in one client's garden, some of which were more than 20 years old.

Troy

www.troybmarden.com

"The great wonder, in gardening, is that so many plants live!" Christopher Lloyd

 

mbp's picture

(post #9077, reply #3 of 5)

by mbp in reply to Anonymous [original] on Fri, 06/08/2007 - 23:03

Hi Hortist,


  Thanks for the reply.  You confirmed my fears.  Rats.  I may go to something different.  I imagine your client is heart broken.  It changed the mood of my garden just loosing 2.


MBP

hortist's picture

(post #9077, reply #4 of 5)

by hortist in reply to Anonymous [original] on Sat, 06/09/2007 - 13:06

For what it's worth, just keep in mind that this spring's weather event was basically a 1 in 100 year thing.  The last time we had such a dramatic freeze event with unseasonably warm temperatures in March plunging to unseasonably cold temperatures in April over such a widespread area was in the early 1880's--way back at the beginning of accurate weather recording.  If March weather had been normal, the Easter weekend freeze probably would have done very little to no damage at all.  My point is, I wouldn't rule out trees such as Japanese maples, crape myrtles and others that were particularly hard hit this year, as the likelihood of lightning striking twice is fairly slim.  These are some of the most beautiful trees in our landscapes and I certainly wouldn't rule them out just because of this one-time occurrence, heartbreaking as it has been.

Troy

www.troybmarden.com

"The great wonder, in gardening, is that so many plants live!" Christopher Lloyd

 

Candi51's picture

Japanese Maple Frost Damage (post #9077, reply #5 of 5)

by Candi51 in reply to mbp [original] on Sat, 04/14/2012 - 14:07

I too have some nice Crimson Queen's in my garden that are now looking totally lost.  They were fully leafed out as we have had an early spring here in IL.  Last week we had 2 nights below 30.  I was hoping that the folige was the only thing damaged but all the smaller stems are pliable and rubbery all the way back to the main branching.  A few years ago we had a late frost and all the trees turned black but then shed the old for new foliage but the stems weren't turned to mush.

My August Moon, which is a broadleaf Jap Maple, is damaged but only about 1/3 of the foliage is lost.  My sweetbay magnolia and Tiger Eyes Sumac took a hit but look to pull out of it.

I manage a garden center and we moved as much as possible inside but the broadleaf Jap Maples planted at the nursery only took minor damage.

Good Luck with your Jap Maples!

Candi

www.hilltopgardens.com