Conifer recovery from spring freeze damage

Xenie

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I have a picea orientalis that pushed new growth that was then killed by cold temperatures.

Will buds regenerate and leaf out this season? If not, will the tree be okay with such limited new growth for the year?
 

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Japonicus

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You're good to go
Could you however provide the best time this responds to pruning?
It looks similar to my picea abies ultra dwarf Little Gem.
I lightly pruned on it last Fall, and it responded with a dead head all over but is recovering this Spring quite well.
 

Xenie

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You're good to go
Could you however provide the best time this responds to pruning?
It looks similar to my picea abies ultra dwarf Little Gem.
I lightly pruned on it last Fall, and it responded with a dead head all over but is recovering this Spring quite well.
This is a new acquisition, so not sure. I have a p. abies ‘jessy’ that responds well to spring pruning. It’s a bit more miniature that little gem, and had about a billion buds all over it. I pruned for structure mostly, but also snipped back new growth by half.
 

Japonicus

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...I have a p. abies ‘jessy’ that responds well to spring pruning. It’s a bit more miniature that little gem, and had about a billion buds all over it. I pruned for structure mostly, but also snipped back new growth by half.
I've come to the acknowledgment that ultra dwarfs will take the better part of a lifetime for me to get where I want them.
<1"/yr growth rate was not on the tag when I bought mine :rolleyes:
 

Vance Wood

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I've come to the acknowledgment that ultra dwarfs will take the better part of a lifetime for me to get where I want them.
<1"/yr growth rate was not on the tag when I bought mine :rolleyes:
You always start with trees that are at least twice as large as the finished size of the bonsai you desire. You want a 12" bonsai you start with raw material that is 24"s or more tall and work it down to 12"s not a 3" tree with the hope of growing it up into and 12" tree in anything quicker than geological time. Fact: The larger the tree the larger the trunk. The farther down the trunk is chopped on a larger tree the more dramatic the ratio between the trunk and the rest of the tree will become.
 

0soyoung

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I have a picea orientalis that pushed new growth that was then killed by cold temperatures.

Will buds regenerate and leaf out this season? If not, will the tree be okay with such limited new growth for the year?
I have a hard time believing that you had cold enough temperatures in San Francisco to damage a spruce. Those brown tips look a lot like nascent cones instead of frost damage. It will be obvious in a month or two. Regardless, a healthy spruce will sometimes exhibit a second flush, but generally I expect it will just set buds for next year.
 

Vance Wood

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I have a hard time believing that you had cold enough temperatures in San Francisco to damage a spruce. Those brown tips look a lot like nascent cones instead of frost damage. It will be obvious in a month or two. Regardless, a healthy spruce will sometimes exhibit a second flush, but generally I expect it will just set buds for next year.
I had not looked close enough at the pictures from the first time I looked at them but Osoyoung is correct; these are pollen cones not frozen buds.
 

Xenie

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I had not looked close enough at the pictures from the first time I looked at them but Osoyoung is correct; these are pollen cones not frozen buds.

This is a new acquisition fresh off the boat from Oregon. The supplier acknowledged that warm weather early in spring followed by a freeze event caused the damage.

I guess my real concern was the effect that a year with negligible growth would have on the tree. Has anyone had experience with a situation such as this? Sounds like a should not be expecting a second flush?

Oddly enough, I have a p. abies ‘stoner’ that is currently producing a second flush, and a couple other Norway varieties that look as though they are poised to do a second flush.
 
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