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Old 12-30-2022, 01:55 PM
 
Location: Atlanta
304 posts, read 244,728 times
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So the front of my osmanthus fortunei tree is beginning to turn brown while the back is completely green and fine. Here in Georgia, it got extremely cold last week and I fertilized the trees a couple of weeks ago.

Any idea what this looks like?
Attached Thumbnails
Can anyone tell me what's going on with my evergreen tree?-img_20221230_114427-1-.jpg   Can anyone tell me what's going on with my evergreen tree?-img_20221230_114425.jpg  
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Old 12-30-2022, 03:21 PM
 
Location: on the wind
22,951 posts, read 18,253,681 times
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Is the back of this tree closer to a wall, other trees and shrubs or the house? It could be they provided a bit of thermal shelter so the "back" didn't end up being as damaged. If there was a lot of frigid wind the outermost branches could be subjected to colder temps than those in still air. Once again, the outermost branches sheltered the rear part of the tree.
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Old 12-30-2022, 04:05 PM
 
Location: NC
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Rule of thumb is to never fertilize in the cold season. If it’s not freezing yet then the buds will start to grow and they are very tender when doing so. A few days of even slow growth then whammo a freeze and the tender buds are killed.

In your case the difference in temps between front and back allowed one side to become tender and the other to be slightly better prepared or protected from the freezing wind.
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Old 12-30-2022, 05:42 PM
 
Location: Atlanta
304 posts, read 244,728 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Parnassia View Post
Is the back of this tree closer to a wall, other trees and shrubs or the house? It could be they provided a bit of thermal shelter so the "back" didn't end up being as damaged. If there was a lot of frigid wind the outermost branches could be subjected to colder temps than those in still air. Once again, the outermost branches sheltered the rear part of the tree.
Yes, the back of the tree is covered by taller trees. The front is completely exposed to the sun as well see all of the leaves have fallen. Will it be ok?
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Old 12-30-2022, 05:44 PM
 
Location: Atlanta
304 posts, read 244,728 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by luv4horses View Post
Rule of thumb is to never fertilize in the cold season. If it’s not freezing yet then the buds will start to grow and they are very tender when doing so. A few days of even slow growth then whammo a freeze and the tender buds are killed.

In your case the difference in temps between front and back allowed one side to become tender and the other to be slightly better prepared or protected from the freezing wind.
Lesson learn. I wont fertilize in the winter again. Will my tree be ok?
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Old 12-30-2022, 09:15 PM
 
Location: Canada
14,676 posts, read 14,788,155 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by blue777 View Post
So the front of my osmanthus fortunei tree is beginning to turn brown while the back is completely green and fine. Here in Georgia, it got extremely cold last week and I fertilized the trees a couple of weeks ago.

Any idea what this looks like?
Your plant should recover and grow new leaves. The browned leaves look like they got windburned and dehydrated from cold temperatures and wind during your cold snap. It probably didn't help that you fertilized it in winter but now you know not to do that again.

Those plants are generally fairly tolerant of cold temperatures and are sturdy, long lived plants but they need to not have a lot of direct exposure to subfreezing east wind if that can be avoided. If you get another cold snap like that, especially if there's a harsh wind chill, cover the exposed front parts of the shrub with a flannel bed sheet or thin cotton blanket to provide it some shelter at night. In the day time if the sun is shining you can remove the sheet so it gets daytime sun exposure.

My rhododendrons' leaves will get browned like that with high wind chill and the leaves all curl up into tight tubes so they look like sticks. When it warms up they uncurl again. The very badly browned leaves drop off and are replaced with new leaves starting to grow in spring.

.

Last edited by Zoisite; 12-30-2022 at 09:40 PM..
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Old 12-31-2022, 04:44 AM
 
Location: NC
9,346 posts, read 13,954,624 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by blue777 View Post
Lesson learn. I wont fertilize in the winter again. Will my tree be ok?
Zoisite has good advice/comment as usual. Your shrub will survive. Next Spring you can remove any remaining dead leaves or twigs if it’s obvious they are not producing new buds or growth. Up north I’ve seen people use re-usable burlap cloth to protect special plants from a couple days of deep cold, but on average I’d say that the best approach is to only plant varieties known to thrive in the given part of the country.

Just for fun though look up “microclimates” and you’ll see that’s not entirely necessary since some areas of your property are a little different weather-wise that others.
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