Dward Yaupon Holly freeze damage - repot?

[luvinthemountains]

I have a problem in that the closest garden nurseries to where I am serve an area that is mostly zone 8a or 9a...and my area is 7a. But sometimes I give in and buy something that I know that I shouldn't based on my zone. One such purchase last fall was a pair of dwarf yaupon holly that came in 15 gallon cans. One of them in particular really caught my eye and well, they were marked down to $15 apiece so how could I just leave them there? So I took them home and put them outside with no protection other than straw around the pots to insulate the roots.

Well, I knew that I was in trouble back in December when I went out to my growing area to check on them and the leaves were all crispy. One of them kept a few leaves, but the one I really like lost all of them. The finer twigs are harder to tell, but I am expecting pretty significant dieback. But the heavier branches are still showing green under the bark, so I think they will sprout at some point.

Now here's what I am afraid might be the most harebrained part. I really want to keep the same plan I had in the fall - cut them back hard, remove most of the roots, and plant them in Anderson flats right away. I would put them in my indoor growing room for protection from the frosts we will be expecting for another month, and water them sparingly. Should I resist the urge and put off any work until April?

 

[HENDO]

Heck ya, wait! The way I see it, waiting is less risk, doing that work right now is just more stress on them overall. Yaupon do extremely well here in 9b, and can take a lot of abuse, but after getting hit hard by the cold in your area it might be best to give them a chance of some sort of recovery - if you do indeed really like the plants.

Whenever I do heavy yaupon work I wait until they have visible vigor, and can do it any time of year, but once again this is 9b.

 

[Cadillactaste]

Never work a stressed or unhealthy tree. The end results could be a dead tree.

 

[luvinthemountains]

recovery

Never work a stressed or unhealthy tree.

I guess this is what I was wondering, whether it would really even be a "double insult" at all. With a month or two of cool fall weather prior to freezing, they would've been dormant and storing energy in the trunk and roots. So that maybe the freeze damage to the twigs would've just functioned like a mid-winter hard pruning, such that a further cutback would make no difference to the trees.

But now that I write out my thinking, it does sound a bit wishful. I think I will cut back until I find green, then wait to see if they bud back out later on. I heard someone say once "smooth is slow, slow is smooth." Or something like that.

 

[Cadillactaste]

I would be more concerned for the roots as well. A tree in a pot isn't as cold hardy as in the ground...and its zoned outside your location. I wish you the best...I hope it pulls through. But if it does...I clearly would permit it to fully recover. I've known many who have lost trees they have been known to grow in their area...get a cold sap colder than norm and they die. So if it's pulled through this winter. It surely has a shock of it's life. I would respect it enough to allow it to recover. But...I don't push the envelope with my trees. I work them, but if I've a tree that I feel can't get though a repot. Like my BC last year not fully going dormant. I didn't dare repot it. I allowed it to grow on the bench to produce more roots and become strong. It was repotted this year. After actually missing 2 years of a repot for situations I wasn't comfortable risking it.

 

[Bonsai Nut]

but the one I really like lost all of them

Photos? Yaupon hollies are evergreen. They should never drop all their leaves.

 

[sorce]

I don't think it's dead cause of the cold.

I think it's dead cause of why they had it marked down.

Sorce

 

[sorce]

A 15gl pot has a zip code.

Sorce

 

[luvinthemountains]

I don't think it's dead cause of the cold.

I think it's dead cause of why they had it marked down.

Sorce

Hmm. Maybe, but I go to this particular nursery because they have rotating sales where the entire stock of one species gets a % off.

 

[luvinthemountains]

Photos? Yaupon hollies are evergreen. They should never drop all their leaves.

Here's one. The more I think about this, the more I think it may have been wind burn even more than freezing that killed the leaves. We had some pretty big gales come though over the winter, and I didn't think to cover anything.

 

[Bonsai Nut]

I am hoping for the best, but I've got tons and tons of hollies - American holly, Chinese holly, Japanese holly, Yaupon holly... and none of them look sparse and dry like that. Hollies are known for staying a nice green throughout the winter and have thickly calloused leaves to protect them from the elements.

Your yaupon holly at this time of year should look something like this (yes it is crazy overgrown but I am going to defoliate and wire it in about a month):



I would normally not recommend aggressive repotting AND aggressive pruning at the same time, but you may have no other option. First thing I would do would be to check the roots and see what you are dealing with. I have a feeling that the plants were on sale because they were already showing signs of weakness or die-back(?)

 

[sorce]

Or a missed waterings.

Sorce

 

[luvinthemountains]

missed waterings

This could possibly be it. I was watering about once a month during the winter, but I hesitated to water these any more frequently than that given the huge pot size. I cannot guarantee there was not a time or two that it went longer than a month. But all of my other evergreen trees have come out of winter just fine, including a patio-pot star jasmine, a pyracantha, a Japanese black pine seedling, a spruce, and a Chinese juniper. Those first two broadleafs did lose a few leaves, though.

 

[sorce]

This could possibly be it. I was watering about once a month during the winter, but I hesitated to water these any more frequently than that given the huge pot size. I cannot guarantee there was not a time or two that it went longer than a month. But all of my other evergreen trees have come out of winter just fine, including a patio-pot star jasmine, a pyracantha, a Japanese black pine seedling, a spruce, and a Chinese juniper. Those first two broadleafs did lose a few leaves, though.

Not you the Nursery, before you bought it. It would be an honest mistake and a reasonable price. As opposed to selling you junk infested with pests that should have been burnt!

Sorce

 

[luvinthemountains]

Not you the Nursery, before you bought it. It would be an honest mistake and a reasonable price. As opposed to selling you junk infested with pests that should have been burnt!

Sorce

Yeah, good point. I am going to wait another month and then go the aggressive top and bottom pruning route. From everything I have read about Yaupons, they can take a lot of enthusiasm.

One consideration I hadn't brought up yet - I am moving this year and not eager to bring these along at the size they are right now.

 

[luvinthemountains]

Well I chickened out on the repot. I will just have to keep a close eye on watering this season. But the good news is...i am seeing signs of life!

The smaller one is budding vigorously. It had many more fine internal branches.








Budding on the big one is much more sparse. Either it just had less energy to spare, or yaupons bud less readily on old wood. I'll be keeping my fingers crossed...

 

[luvinthemountains]

Well the smaller of the two is now just a pom-pom with tons of foliage, and has been that way for about a month. I am thinking I might just go forward with a repot. I have heard that yaupons can be repotted just about any time of year with proper aftercare. This would be a pretty severe root pruning, but I could keep it in a humidity tent in the shade until it recovers. Thoughts?

 

[Paradox]

Well the smaller of the two is now just a pom-pom with tons of foliage, and has been that way for about a month. I am thinking I might just go forward with a repot. I have heard that yaupons can be repotted just about any time of year with proper aftercare. This would be a pretty severe root pruning, but I could keep it in a humidity tent in the shade until it recovers. Thoughts?

Is there a reason you're in a rush?

I would let it continue to grow and get stronger.
It got pretty stressed as evidenced by the fact it dropped all its leaves. You don't want to set it back by doing work on it too soon.

It takes time to get strong but the fact it is growing vigorously is a good sign.

 

[Hack Yeah!]

Is there a reason you're in a rush?

$15 dollar courage! Lol, makes you damn near invincible

 

[luvinthemountains]

Is there a reason you're in a rush?

It will be a little easier when I have to move later this year. Also, moisture will be easier to manage over the winter if it's not in a huge pot. But still, you're probably right. I am just wondering what the "right" way is to pot a yaupon in the summer.