Hi all,

We had planted a Monterey oak and a Loquat in October. So, they were in the ground for ~3 months before the big freeze. I did a scratch test on some of the upper limbs, and see no green. Over the past couple of weeks, young branches have started to appear at the base of the trees.

Any advise appreciated on:
Are all the upper limbs dead?
How can I test the trunk?
What should I do? Trim all the upper branches?

Thank you

I'd wait a bit longer, but I think the upper part of the plants are dead and they are putting out sucker growth at ground level. I'd plan to cut off most of the dead growth and let the suckers grow for a while. Eventually on the oak, I think you'd need to select one to make a new tree. I guess on the loquat, since they don't huge, it depends on how you want it to look. They are naturally multi-trunked I think, so you might only need to remove the dead growth above. Or you might want to leave only 3-4 trunks and trim back the rest. Sucker growth tends to work with a larger root system, so they may grow really fast.

I would be curious to find out if Loquat is like citrus which is grown on root stock. If so, the new growth may not be productive.

All my citrus died from this freeze. One is sprouting new growth from the ground and I suspect it will be useless to allow it to grow because it is below the graft.

This may be interesting to you regarding your oak.

https://tfsweb.tamu.edu/conten...

Thank you all for the advise.

My loquats aren't grafted. My loquats were also passalong plants. Where is your loquat growing? In Houston or Beaumont area?