Pecan Freeze Damage
By Wade Parker County Extension Coordinator

Just when I thought the freeze damage questions had subsided, it seems as if the Easter freeze will not be going away anytime soon!

If you look around at many of our trees, shrubs, and to a certain point some corn, it is obvious that symptoms of the freeze are still here.

I have noticed young pine trees bending at the tops, crepe myrtles showing dead tissue, and 10-year-old pecan trees not budding out.

The calls I have received in the past week have been related to pecan tree recovery. Not only did the majority of the trees lose this year's crop, but some of the trees are dead. I have observed some 10-year-old pecan trees that have not budded out. These same trees have shoots that are growing from the base area. These shoots are not the original variety and will only grow to a seedling (wild pecan).

The pecan does not have a rest period such as an apple or peach, and it does not become dormant in the fall until cold weather arrives. If growing conditions are ideal in the fall, pecan sap remains active.

If a freeze occurs early, it can kill the live wood, bark, and the cambium tissue. Bearing trees which are stressed are very freeze susceptible.

Varieties such as Wichita, Barton, and Mahan are very freeze susceptible. Young pecan trees which are growing when a late spring freeze occurs can be killed to the ground. Freeze damage usually occurs on the south or southwest side of the trunk next to the ground line. Cutting through the bark with a knife can expose brown, freezedamaged tissue soon after it occurs. If you cut the bark of the tree and the tissue is green and healthy, the tree may still have a chance.

The only thing a homeowner can do is keep the tree watered and keep the weeds from further stressing the tree.

This freeze will be one to remember. Maybe we won't see anymore for another 100 years.

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