Michael J. McGroarty
Perry, Ohio Copyright 2011
How much cold weather, or severely cold temperatures will Japanese Maples tolerate before they suffer winter damage?
1. Japanese maples can be sensitive to extreme cold and being that I am in zone 5 I know that there will be severe winters when damage will occur. Makes no difference to me. I so love these splendid trees that I am willing to take that chance. I’ve been involved with the landscaping and nursery industry for about forty years now, and only one winter that I can remember did I see what I’d consider to be serious damage to Japanese Maples.
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We had one of those winters where it got down below zero F. and stayed there for too long. That winter a lot of plants here in northeast Ohio were damaged. Things like well established privet and hollies were devastated. Some Japanese maples were damaged as well, and this is what I observed. There were two, well established Acer palmatum dissectum (lace-leaf weeping JM) that I saw with severe damage. My sister and brother-in-law had a large dissectum in their backyard that a few years earlier I actually rescued from an old dilapidated house that was about to be burned. That was a beautiful tree that was only about 48″ high but had to be at least 10′ wide. I’m sad to report that their beloved tree died completely that winter.
This tree, the one shown below, was on the back corner of my house and suffered severe damage. But you’d never know that looking at this photo, which was actually taken several years after that devastating winter.
The story behind this tree.
When I first landscaped our house in 1989 to say that I didn’t have much money would have been an understatement. But I wanted a lace-leaf weeping Japanese maple in my landscape. So I went to one of the local wholesale nurseries to see what they had. All of the trees that Bill showed me were at $150.00 or more and I really couldn’t afford that. But off the side I saw a small tree that was pretty much broken in half. Half of the tree was gone and left was a large gaping wound. I looked at Bill and said; “Whaddya want for that one? You certainly can’t sell it.” He said; “twenty bucks.”
I handed him a $20 bill and headed home with my sad, sad looking little tree. It was really a small tree to start with before it got damaged in shipping, so the piece that I had left was about 24″ tall and scary looking. I planted it with the wound to the back and figured it deserved a chance.
It took a few years, but finally with carefully pruning and a lot of patience my little hobo of a tree started to take shape. Before I knew it that little tree had become a breathtaking specimen that caught everybody’s eye. I was so proud and happy with that tree. I just loved looking at it every chance I got.
Then along came Mr. severely cold winter. It was so cold for so long that when spring arrived I realized that almost all of the bark on the stem of my tree had actually been frozen right off the tree. I was sick. The bark literally fell right off the tree exposing the cambium layer. I knew the tree couldn’t survive. And I also knew there was nothing I could do but wait. The tree leafed out as if everything was fine, then suddenly it started to fail. The buds and small branches were not damaged so as far as they knew all was well. But before long they couldn’t get water or nutrition from the root system and the tree started looking really bad. There was one little strip of bark going up the back side of the tree that did not come lose. But it wasn’t much.
The tree did not die, but it looked terrible. Next spring it was a little better, and by the third year it took off like crazy and was once again my pride and joy. Sorry for the long winded story, but I think it’s important that you understand what can happen, and that any tree that has not completely failed has a chance.
A few more observations from that winter.
I was more than a little concerned when I saw both of those large trees severely damaged because the summer before I had landscaped 20 or 30 homes, maybe more, and on each of those jobs I planted a small dissectum maple. And I had promised my customers a one year guarantee. I was just waiting for the phone calls to start coming in.
Amazingly enough, not one of those small trees suffered damage. And they were quite small. I thought for sure that the severe cold from that winter would have done them in. Not the case.
What I learned.
Even though I have no scientific proof as to why the larger trees were damaged but all of those smaller Japanese maples were not, the only conclusion that I could come to is that for some reason the bark on the younger trees was more elastic. Of course since they were so much smaller it is possible that snow might have been piled up around them, and we know that snow is an excellent insulator. But I suspect they were not all snow covered and none of those small trees were damaged. So I’m still clinging to my elastic bark theory.
Since then I have been more comfortable acquiring and planting small Japanese maples in my landscape and so far all has gone well. And now that I am growing thousands of them in the nursery, outside in a field, this is certainly being put to the test. I am prepared for the day when I do experience some winter damage. But I am comfortable thinking that even if that does happen, many of my trees will bounce back.
Only time will tell.
See this page about providing winter protection for Japanese Maples.
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My beautiful Japanese Maple tree was bright red before my family cut out scrubs that surrounded my tree. Unknowingly I believe they cut some of its roots. Today, four days post ‘pruning’ its leaves are browning rapidly. I have cried all afternoon and pray my tree is lost forever. We have had alot of rain the past few days in Connecticut. Your guidance would be appreciated.
Colleen, doing root damge this time of year could traumatize the tree, but it would have to be significant root damage. Are you sure the tree didn’t get hit with a heavy frost? Many of mine got frosted just a few days ago and look really bad. But that kind of damage should be temporary. Not much you can do, maybe shade the tree for a week or so and keep it damp and cool unless it’s too large for that. All you can do is wait. Don’t expect much to change fast.
Hi Mike, I live in New England-RI and just got hit with the BLIZZARD of 2013. I love my yard, trees and flowers.I’m so upset about my Japanese maple tree. The snow covered it and caused two of the major branches to split and brake,leaving only two thinner ones.This tree means so much to me because my fiancee and I planted it in our front yard and he just passed away in November after suffering from cancer. We always took pride in our landscaping and enjoyed spending time outdoors admiring our precious trees.Can this maple be saved?
Linda,
Chances are it can be saved. It’s part of your life, and at one in another in life we all get wounded. Don’t try and patch the tree back together. Just remove the broken branches cleanly, trimming up the wounds so there is no loose bark, taper the edges of wound so water easily runs off the wounded area and doesn’t collect in the wound. Trim up what’s left of the tree so it has some shape to it, and watch as the tree replenishes itself. It will take two to three years to really fill in, but I think you’ll be amazed by the come back that it can make.
Thank you Mike, I’ll do just that…nurse it back to good help and watch it thrive with a lot of help from nature.I’ll keep you updated.
Our Japanese maple hangs over our pond and is surrounded by rock walls. this is our second one. The first was eaten under the snow around the base of the tree. So when we got our second one, we got the plastic thingy that goes around the base so the critters could not chew it. The snow melted last week in massachusetts and we could see serious damage was again done to our poor little Japanese maple. This time, they ate the branches and not the base. It looks severely damaged and I don’t think it will survive. What can we do to prevent this? Should it be wrapped in hardware cloth? I am a wildlife rehabilitator so my husband blames me :(. I think it is voles that do the damage but he thinks it is chipmunks. What do you think?
Laura,
My guess would be chipmunks or field mice. You probably don’t want to use poison, but if you do, they make weather reistant mouse bait, but make sure you read the label, it is a poison. Or you can try painting the tree with hot sauce mixed with Wilt Proof.
I planted my first tree – Japanese maple, a small one about five feet tall. It did wonderfully the first year although this past winter it was very cold and it was really hard on it. It got its leaves very late spring and only the branches that are about a foot from the ground grew leaves, the middle and top of tree have no leaves. I can’t tell if the branches are dead, they had small tan branches with buds that never grew. I haven’t pruned it for fear of hurting it, please give advice on what I can do to help it recover
After this long cold winter in Chicago, our Japanese Maple did not do well. It looks bare still in July, but has started to grow some branches on the bottom of the trunk. Should I cut all the top off and let the tree start to grow new? Should I cut back some the tree to shape it a little smaller for this year and will it return next year? Sad to see all the flowers in the front yard landscape looking pretty and our poor Japanese Maple looking like it’s still winter.
Our japanese maple really took a hit this last winter (2014) as others in our area did. There were many dead branches underneath and old leaves that hung on through winter. Now more and more leaves look like they are dying and the branches don’t look well at all. It started getting new growth but, I think some of that is dying as well. My thoughts are to let it go and see what happens next year. I removed much of the dead from underneath in the spring and cut out some dead branches, did not want to shock the tree. It really looks pitiful right now. Any suggestions?
Thanks, Jan
Hi Mike,
I live in NYC and own an apartment with a roof garden. Needless to say everything is in containers, very large containers. I have had my beautiful Japanese Maple for well over ten years. It has survived some very cold winters but in the spring it always came back. Well this winter was long and severe. My maple still hasn’t leaved out and it is now May 9. I am starting to worry. I’ve been checking it everyday and babying it. I make sure to keep the soil moist and even went to Lancaster PA last week to visit my in laws and purchased dehydrated cow manure to add to it. I am trying everything possible but still no leaves. What should I do. I’ve thought of getting a larger container and repotting it. Please help. I don’t want it to die.
Hi Mike,
Its Jose again about the Japanese Maple in NYC. Forgot to say thank you for your expert advice.
Thanks,
Jose
Mike, I’m in Kirtland Hills Ohio and I have a Japanese maple that seems to have been damaged in the winter. The lower branches are fine but the top layer of the crown isn’t leafing out and the tips are dead. I’m worried I’ve lost the top branches. Do I prune those off now? Looks like everything above the snow died. Thanks.
The extended freezing weather here in the northern lower peninsula of Michigan did in my trumpet vine, quite a bit of my wisteria, and 3/4 of my Japanese maple! The branch that has life is a side branch. I assume I have to trim off the main trunk above that branch, and if so, what should I put on the wound? (This is a 12′ tall tree I’ve had for many years)
We have a Japanese Maple that we planted two years. It has seemed very healthy. This past winter it kept it’s leaves well into the winter, Even when the leaves died they did not fall off of the tree. This spring only the lower branches of the tree are producing leaves. All of the higher branches were dead. I removed the dead branches. Is there anything else I should do; or be concerned about?
Michael,
Not much you can do but wait and see what happens. Pretty common with lots of Japanese maples last winter.
I am in zone 5. Do you know how when the leaves will sprout? I can see buds on the tree, but it hasn’t sprouted at all. Some of the smaller branches are white and snap off-but not all of them. I am wondering if it got too cold this winter.
I have much the same issue with a four foot JM we purchase a year ago. It leafed out in May but soon after all the leaves on the top three feet started to curl and are now brown. The bark appears to be missing from the trunk from 8 inches above the ground and up the tree for about a foot. I would guess it has been chewed off by one of the six chipmunks that roam our one acre country property in southern Ontario. I think I will attempt to wrap the trunk (only 1 inch dia) with tree tape or maybe electrical tape and keep my fingers cross. I think I will also remove the $180 price tag as seening that just makes me feel more sick.
Lon from Woodstock Ont.
I live in Wisconsin and we’ve had several varieties of Japanese maples. This year it seems as though we lost about 6 of our 11 trees. Its weird as some of the branches have color (red or green branches)or are not white from the winter but absolutely leaves came out. There were buds however we had 8 inches of snow the end of April. Its like the buds were frozen. Any chance any of our trees will recover?
Candy,
If the buds were frozen the tree will make new buds. But snow really shouldn’t harm the buds unless they were ready to open. There are weird things that happen to Japanese maples that I can’t explain, possibly anthracnose???? check to see if the branches are still viable, This is how you test to see if a plant, or a branch on a plant has died. Just scratch the bark of your plants with your finger nail. If the tissue below the bark is green and firm your plants are fine. If the tissue is brown and mushy that part of the plant is dead.
I had a tiny Japanese maple( maybe 12”). It broke in half and there is only a stick left in the ground. Will it come back? All leaves and tiny branches broke off in a wind storm. So sad:(
Wendy,
It very well could survive, just give it some time and prune lightly as it starts to grow.
Hi Mike,
I live in WI and this past winter we had several days of severe -20+ temps and wind chills. Our Japanese Maple, that we’ve had for almost 15 years, does not look good. It is the dwarf variety, so is only about 4′ tall, but has an umbrella shape of almost 5′ round. Normally it comes back big, beautiful and very full. This year, we’re assuming because of the extreme cold, it did not. Only about 1/8 of the branches produced leaves, the underside branches appear white/gray in color, and the top branches are reddish in color and we think have buds on them, but they never went further than being buds. I see a previous post from another WI person, and you explain how to check if it is dead. Are you referring to the branches to scratch with your fingernail or the trunk portion? Should we trim the white/gray branches off? Or should we leave the tree be for this season and see how it does next spring? Do you recommend fertilizing or using tree food for this season to help it?
Heather,
Don’t fertilize it. You can scratch the branches to see which are alive and which are not. Wait a few more weeks, check the branches and remove the dead ones. The tree is likely to come back but it will be a slow process, but should be beautiful in a few years. I’ve had this happen to some of my mature trees.
I live in Chicago and Heather in WI (May 27 post) describes my identical twin of her Japanese Maple. The trunk is green with one single new sprout branch with one leaf halfway up the trunk. All secondary limbs/branches are red and 3rd/4th branches are dark brown/grey. I am not including the typical grey underlayer that sheds annually as a concern. There are tiny buds on these limbs, but these are what I’ll call pre-Spring buds that have not changed state since polar vortex/extreme winter. I thought next steps would be to a) remove dead dark brown and grey branches and b) fertilize. I’m curious as to why you don’t recommend fertilizing?
Paul,
Yes, remove any wood that you know is dead. I don’t recommend fertilizing for a couple of reasons.
1. I never fertilize the plants in my landscape and never have and they thrive. If you seen the plantings around my nursery, http://mikesbackyardnursery.com/2011/07/mikes-new-nursery-from-the-beginning/, the landscaping, those beds are pure sand and gravel, plants never fertilized and they thrive. Same with my home. They just don’t need it.
2. It’s really, really easy to over fertilize a Japanese maple. And if a plant is struggling the last thing it needs is somebody forcing nitrogen on it. It could kill it.
I have a Japanese maple at the nursery that is suffering from what I’m pretty sure is verticulum wilt and I’m going to write an article and share some photos and videos of it on my http://mikesbackyardnursery.com/ site here within a few weeks as soon as I find time.
Hi Mike,
My 3yr old Red Queen appears to have died back completely except that a little shoot came up from the base of the trunk. All the branches appear to be dead. Do you think it will come back from the root or is it a lost cause? Any advice would be appreciated..
Deb,
Probably a lost cause. The shoot that you see is a sucker coming from the root stock and will not resemble the parent plant in any way.
Hi Mike,
I just bought a Blood good and Red Dragon Japanaese maple this spring. It is five foot tool BG and 3 foot RD Japanese maple that I planted on my backyard. Unfortunately it was struck by a polar vortex last week and the leaves are wilting and looks like they are dying. Any advice to revive them? Thanks
Christian,
Not really, it might have to make new buds. It’s going to take some time.
Thanks so much for all the info, I had a 4 ft Japanese maple put in by landscaping co which was the focus in front of my home. The whole top of the tree died during winter, when I called landscaping co he said just to lob off the top and it will survive.
I know it will take many years to even get to where it was, could I safely remove it and put in pot for a few years? I want to put something else in front as I prepare to sell my home.
Lucy,
Digging it up now will likely kill it. Transplanting season starts at Thanksgiving. And in a pot is really not the best place for it. Much happier in the ground.
Northeast Ohio here. We just experienced a week of 70s and 80s two weeks ago, bringing everything to bloom, including my 7′ JM. The leaves were not fully expanded yet when we got hit with 4″ of snow last night. I went out several times to gently knock the wet heavy misery from the branches so they weren’t weighted down for too long, but tonight is the hard freeze. I can’t protect the top (the roots are still wearing their winter mulch layer) but just wondering if the leaves are likely a lost cause this year or if it may bud out again. So frustrating. Thank you for your time!!!
I’m in the same boat as you. There’s a strong chance that leaf damage has occurred. More than likely the trees will leaf back out, but it will be a slow process.
Last spring I planted a small, roughly 24″ tall, Red Dragon Maple. It did well through the summer and fall going into a fairly mild but dry winter as far as winters go around here (Central Utah, an hour south of Salt Lake City). This spring only parts of two lower branches are leafing out. I checked under the bark and most of the branches are dead. The trunk is green almost up to the top, but only a couple of the main branches are green near the trunk. Even the couple branches with some leaves near the bottom have dead wood further from the trunk. Probably 90% of the tree outside of the trunk is dead wood. I am extremely disappointed and not sure what to do. This was my first Japanese Maple and was supposed to be a center piece of the garden bed in the front of the house, not to mention that it cost $200. Any suggestions? Do I leave it a trim it back almost to just the trunk? Give it up as dead and plant something new? Move it to a less visible location and see what happens?
Andrew,
It sounds like it has the potential to come back, but it is going to be a very slow process. Two or three years probably. Probably move it to a less visible place.
Hi Mike,
Thanks for all the encouraging information. I have a dissectum “Viridis” that has been at the front corner of my house for 25 or more years. It’s about 7 ft tall and 8 or so ft wide. It was gorgeous, but this year spring came really early, then we had a frost. I saw some magnolias that were hurt by it (browned petals) but my forsythia right next to the maple was fine. The maple began to leaf out, but (I have a feeling you know where this is going) the leaves as they opened look sparse. I checked it for dead wood, but most of the branches that aren’t leafing out are green and look ok, just no leaves. All of the leaves that have opened are big and look healthy, but the tree itself looks like someone did an awful pruning job. It has gaps all over. I’m in Northern Virginia, and we’ve had weather like this before but I’ve never seen it affect this tree. It’s right next to my house. Your post here gives me hope that I just need to wait a bit for it to come back. Am I right? Thanks!
Cynthia,
I’ve seen this happen to my trees. It’s probably going to be okay but it will be very slow to be what it once was. But it will.
Thanks so much for your reply! There were several branches that had leaves hiding within them, so it is now fully leafed out, and all the holes are filled in, though it is like a thin umbrella rather than the full luxurious one it usually is. It has no reason to be ashamed of itself; most people who don’t know would still say it is beautiful.
Would pruning it back in the fall encourage better growth later? I want it to be full again, and I’m afraid that either a disgruntled delivery person had pruned it back, or the landscaping company that cares for our common grounds. In any event, someone has pruned it badly, leaving several inches before the nodes on each cut. Would pruning it in the winter encourage it to fill in more? I’ve never had these kinds of issues with it before