As the weather breaks and you get out into your landscape your very likely to find leaves that are normally green are actually brown this year.
Why you ask? Is it dead you ask?
Well this is the same boxwood from above, and as you can see there are plenty of green leaves on the inside.
This Southern Magnolia might look like it’s half dead, but actually it isn’t.
These leaves are dead, but this tree will put out new leaves sometime late May or very early June.
These Cherry Laurel look really bad, from a distance they look dead. But wait, as you take a closer look.
Do you see all of those bumps along the stems?
Those are new buds that will develop into new leaves as the weather continues to warm and the days become longer. So the answer is, no the tree or shrub is not dead or dying. So why are the leaves brown, and many of them dead? Here in the Greater Cincinnati area, as well as much of the midwest region, we have had rather mild Winters. This Winter was much colder, the winds have been very persistant, and snow on the ground has paved the way for our temperatures to plunge during the overnight hours. These conditions freeze tissue cells, and burn leaf surfaces causing the blemishes and dieback you are likely seeing as Winter slowly releases it’s grip and allows Spring to arrive.
I know it’s difficult, but be patient and the new growth will flush out and the appearence of your tree or shrub will improve. So let’s not be too quick to remove a perfectly good tree or shrub just because it’s showing some Winter damage.
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~ Michael
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White Horticulture 