August 2026-Late Frost Damage
Why it happens
How to identify it
What you can do to protect your trees now
Many of our customers have been concerned about damage to their trees this year. We have been seeing many trees with brown, dead leaves on the tips of branches, where we would normally see beautiful spring growth. What is happening?!
The southwest saw an unusually dry and warm winter this last year. Here in Los Alamos, temperatures hit the mid 70s and low 80s in late March, about 20 degrees higher than normal. These warm temperatures caused many plants to put out leaves and flowers early. Unfortunately, we did get some hard frosts in April, and this killed off the new growth and flowers, leaving dead, brown tips on our trees.
What can we do? If you see late frost damage on your trees, you can be comforted that this is not a sign of disease, and healthy trees should be able to recover. Because we had such a dry winter, and the trees are already stressed, this freeze event may lead to some dieback and may leave the trees open to pests and diseases. The best way to help your trees recover is by deep watering 2-3 times per month and making sure the root zone of the tree is covered by organic mulch.