The Preserve at Stone Oak HOA

3 weeks ago

Got tree damage questions? Read Neil Sperry’s post first: www.facebook.com/NeilSperryTexas/posts/10165627880980427Garden Tip: LIVE OAKS, SHUMARD RED OAKS, CRAPE MYRTLES AND VITEX. "Patience" is still the key word here.

I have spent 6 hours talking to and e-mailing some of the state's finest arborists and foresters. The consensus opinion is that we do not know the extent of any damage or dieback with these tree species, and that we may not know it for several more weeks.

That confirmed what I've suspected. As I've been driving around my hometown of McKinney and North Dallas in general, trees that had no leaves one day have been showing strong signs of growth just a day or two later. Trees are leafing out one branch at a time. Or top growth and no bottom growth. Or just the reverse. That's all odd, but not in this year. And the sequence of which species are leafing out first seems to be altered as well. Nothing is normal this year – but you already knew that.

Unless there are reasons to suspect hazards are present, the certified arborists say they're strongly discouraging tree take-downs for now. The veterans among them say that they've seen this before – for example, that following prior extreme winters live oaks generally leafed out and recovered.

As one of the founders of The Crape Myrtle Trails of McKinney, I have more than just passing interest in the fate of the thousands of crape myrtles in our city. Many have been reluctant to bud out for spring, but variety by variety they're now beginning to grow. We will continue to watch and record them. It's part of the reasons we wanted the Trails – so we could compare the varieties' winter hardiness.

So for the next couple of weeks, when you post questions asking why your live oaks, Shumard red oaks, crape myrtles or vitex aren't leafing out normally, I'm going to beg your understanding. Neither I nor the tree care professionals have the final answers just yet. Our bet is that they will become obvious over the next several weeks.

Please do not post questions about other types of plants as Comments beneath this Garden Tip. Please scroll down in the "Community" thread. There's a very good chance that I've already addressed them there.

PHOTO CREDIT: Beth K. DFW area. Her live oaks illustrate the variable re-leafing perfectly. And look at the neighbor's tree across the street, too. Arborists and foresters tell us that all of these will probably catch up with one another. ... See MoreSee Less