Tree damage due to recent late freeze - Ask Extension
Hello,
Do you have any guidance or insight on how to determine the impact of the April 21 freeze on trees? All of our trees that were in the early ...
Knowledgebase
Tree damage due to recent late freeze #930189
Asked April 30, 2026, 3:17 PM EDT
Hello,
Do you have any guidance or insight on how to determine the impact of the April 21 freeze on trees? All of our trees that were in the early bud stage were hit and it's hard to tell whether they'll succomb to the event.
We keep bees and the black locust is one of our primary floral sources. Unfortunately, it looks like we'll have no bloom this year.
Looks like our orchard also got hit. Fortunately there's no leaf damage, but most of the fruit buds were destroyed.
Our main question is whether those trees with substantial leaf damage will be able to sprout new leaf growth.
Thanks much!
Frederick County Maryland
Expert Response
In short, most of them will probably be fine, even if flowers and/or fruits were lost this year. Since hardy plants do not retain their freeze tolerance once they have broken dormancy and begun to produce new growth, that is why temperature swings between very mild days and cold snaps in spring can be very damaging. We've received numerous inquiries about damage on a variety of tree, shrub, and perennial species that had begun to grow or leaf-out when the we had that freeze overnight. Some species seem to have been damaged more heavily than others across the board, but the circumstances of site conditions also played a role in making individual plants more or less susceptible.
Nothing can heal the injured tissues, but healthy and well-established plants usually have enough energy reserves to produce replacement growth, though it may take them a few weeks to start to look normal again. It would be best to wait to see how any given plant fares, and only trim branch tips (when reachable) if they remain bare (having no new growth) once the rest of the tree leafs-out again. Any wilted/singed leaves will eventually fall off on their own as they dry out.
We are still in a worsening drought, carried over from the past two years of insufficient rain. It would reduce plant stress to monitor them for watering needs and irrigate them periodically as needed. The linked page has watering guidance. Producing new growth requires ample root moisture, and the process can be hindered or stalled if a plant is too drought-stressed. Otherwise, there isn't really anything you can do to speed up the recovery process, and time will tell if heavily-damaged plants recuperate or suffered enough damage to warrant removal/replacement.
A number of fruit orchards in the state will probably have shortages in their harvest this year, and while many Black Locust trees in central Maryland have been in bloom for the past couple of weeks (and largely look unaffected), if your local locust trees were damaged while still budded, then they will not rebloom this year unless a few flower buds escaped being frozen.
Miri
Nothing can heal the injured tissues, but healthy and well-established plants usually have enough energy reserves to produce replacement growth, though it may take them a few weeks to start to look normal again. It would be best to wait to see how any given plant fares, and only trim branch tips (when reachable) if they remain bare (having no new growth) once the rest of the tree leafs-out again. Any wilted/singed leaves will eventually fall off on their own as they dry out.
We are still in a worsening drought, carried over from the past two years of insufficient rain. It would reduce plant stress to monitor them for watering needs and irrigate them periodically as needed. The linked page has watering guidance. Producing new growth requires ample root moisture, and the process can be hindered or stalled if a plant is too drought-stressed. Otherwise, there isn't really anything you can do to speed up the recovery process, and time will tell if heavily-damaged plants recuperate or suffered enough damage to warrant removal/replacement.
A number of fruit orchards in the state will probably have shortages in their harvest this year, and while many Black Locust trees in central Maryland have been in bloom for the past couple of weeks (and largely look unaffected), if your local locust trees were damaged while still budded, then they will not rebloom this year unless a few flower buds escaped being frozen.
Miri
