| Two years ago I brought my beloved bay tree from Florida to West Virginia. I was careful (I thought) all winter to keep it out of extreme cold. To my delight, our temperatures warmed to the 70's and I left my tree outside. The next thing I know, it appears to be dying. It showed no signs of death until the warm weather and now all the leaves are falling off. I need to know what I did wrong and how do I know if it is really dead. Can I revive it somehow? Please tell me what I can do for my poor bay tree. |
| Based on your description I suspect your tree was sunburned or shocked by the abrupt switch to outdoors. This tree will also hold its leaves for quite some time after it has died because they dry in place. The only way to tell if it is really dead is to break off a twig and see if it is green inside. Start at the tip and work your way up the tree. If the tree is still alive it may leaf out again. Set it in a very bright but cool location and allow it to recover gradually. Protect it from temperatures below 45 degrees to avoid shocking it any more than it already has been. Gradually move it outdoors, beginning with a little bit of early morning sun, so that it can slowly become accustomed to the full intensity of the sun and weather. I'm sorry about your tree! |
