Location = Victorville, California. High Desert.
I have a 3 year old Honey Mesquite tree that appears to have had a hard
winter. We had a heavy snow load this winter that a one point had the tree
laying on the ground. I removed the snow and kept it off, so it was only
bent over a few hours total. I do not believe that the temp was ever below
0deg. At this point in the year I also do not think we have had 2 solid
weeks of 70deg days. Some of the nodes appear to have large cracks in them
and alot of the smaller branches are light brown and brittle. The main trunk
and 4 main branches are still greenish and seem to be alive. No new growth
though.
Hard to believe I may have lost this tree. All my cacti, yuccas and
succulents made it with min. damage.
Any thoughts on if I should cut it back to good wood or keep waiting for
even warmer weather? I'm sure it was growing strong this time last year, but
this has been cooler. Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

Troy

"VVCE,inc." wrote in message
...
Location = Victorville, California. High Desert.
I have a 3 year old Honey Mesquite tree that appears to have had a hard
winter. We had a heavy snow load this winter that a one point had the tree
laying on the ground. I removed the snow and kept it off, so it was only
bent over a few hours total. I do not believe that the temp was ever below
0deg. At this point in the year I also do not think we have had 2 solid
weeks of 70deg days. Some of the nodes appear to have large cracks in them
and alot of the smaller branches are light brown and brittle. The main
trunk
and 4 main branches are still greenish and seem to be alive. No new growth
though.
Hard to believe I may have lost this tree. All my cacti, yuccas and
succulents made it with min. damage.
Any thoughts on if I should cut it back to good wood or keep waiting for
even warmer weather? I'm sure it was growing strong this time last year,
but
this has been cooler. Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

Troy




Time to fire up the BBQ grill!!!

That is a great thought and the reason I have the tree. I have been using
the trimmings from training the tree for smokin wood for years. Steaks off
the grill are great this way and the brisket out of the smoker even better.
Some of the reasons I do not have a problem with cutting it way back if it
would help. At this point I'm going to wait and see where if any new growth
starts then trim. Its always been a very forgiving tree to my cutting
habits. :-) Thanks

The tree will come back. My experience with mesquite here in Texas is that
they are almost impossible to kill. Just be patient.

Jim
"VVCE,inc." wrote in message
...
That is a great thought and the reason I have the tree. I have been using
the trimmings from training the tree for smokin wood for years. Steaks off
the grill are great this way and the brisket out of the smoker even
better.
Some of the reasons I do not have a problem with cutting it way back if it
would help. At this point I'm going to wait and see where if any new
growth
starts then trim. Its always been a very forgiving tree to my cutting
habits. :-) Thanks