![]() The outermost branches and stems of even the most established trees lack insulation and are at risk of freezing in very low temperatures. With a prolonged, deep freeze like the one brought on by Uri, experts expected some kind of response from trees – primarily fine-twig and branch dieback. But most trees die from a combination of stressors, not just one thing.” What happened “If your tree is leafing out really late, it’s obviously stressed. “I think most of the oaks are going to come through okay,” Blevins said. Instead, Texans should plant trees in the fall or early winter, when the roots are able to grow and further establish the tree.īut Blevins and Sperry are more concerned about landowners cutting down trees that could have recovered if just given the time. And while nobody wants a dead tree in their yard for long, landowners who are eager to replace their dead or dormant trees should note that spring isn’t the best time of year to plant trees in Texas, anyway. Trees can stand firm for years after they have died. They’re in a big hurry to take that thing down, thinking it’s dangerous to leave a dead tree standing, and it’s not.” “That’s one big mistake people are making. “If your tree is dead, there’s no rush to take it down,” said Blevins. Their advice to landowners who are wondering what they should do, and whether they should cut down their valuable trees, is a simple one: just wait. But as the weeks ticked past-and oak trees across the state still didn’t leaf out-Sperry decided to pull together a blue-ribbon panel of certified arborists, foresters, horticulturists, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service specialists, nursery leaders and garden communicators to send out a unified message. “We think of oaks as permanent as concrete and steel, and for them to selectively be affected by this freeze is particularly odd.” What experts are sayingīlevins and Sperry have spent the past few months responding to residents and landowners who are concerned about the health and condition of their trees. “I have been in this business professionally since 1970, and I’ve never seen anything like this,” Sperry said. ![]() Followers of his Facebook page have submitted over 2,000 photos of struggling oak trees, including all varieties of species and from every single region of the state. Neil Sperry, a Texas gardening and horticulture expert known across the state, has been stunned by the variability, and the scope, of damage left in the wake of that freeze. ![]() I’m shocked by that.”īlevins isn’t the only one. “And yet, it’s the live oaks that seem to be most stressed from this freeze. “I’ve been telling people my whole career that the single toughest species we have up here is live oak,” said Blevins, a forester out of Fort Worth. Standing in contrast to their vibrant and vivacious brethren, they look dead.Ĭourtney Blevins has spent almost 40 years with Texas A&M Forest Service, and he can’t recall any past freeze leaving so many oaks looking bare this late into the spring. Now, months after Winter Storm Uri swept across Texas in mid-February, many of the oaks still aren’t leafing out. This bizarre phenomenon has intrigued professionals across the state – especially since oak trees, and particularly live oak trees, are known to be an incredibly resilient species. Homeowners are advised to be patient through their recovery. Oak trees remain stressed after Winter Storm Uri.
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