Question
I have/had 2 dwarf-type japanese maples (1 red, 1 green). I live in Kentucky, and last April (2007)  we had a hard freeze after we had some warm weather and everything bloomed and started greening, I noticed the leaves on my japanese maples were 'frozen' and they soon dropped off and the trees looked dead. I waited until this spring to see what would happen. They still look dead except on the green one  -  no leaves, but there seems to be new shoots coming from around the 'base' of the tree. Does this mean the tree isn't dead? If not, what do I need to do?
Thank you

Answer
To determine if the tree is still alive or what part is still alive--start near the top scrape a small bit of bar off the twig if the color under the bark is green the branch is still alive and should leaf out. If the color under the bark is not green (brown) then the branch is dead at this point on the branch. If brown continue down the branch scraping at intervals until you find green or reach the trunk. Do this on other branch to determine if they are dead. If you still have some green branches I would wait a little longer before you prune the dead branches so that you can make sure you do not cut a live branch. Maples will sprout will and the lower branches can form a new tree.

The root system is not dead if you still have leaves on the lower part and the tree will grow a new trunk. make sure you water the tree when it does not rain with 1 inch of water (place a pan under the tree and turn the sprinkler on and when the pan has 1 inch of water in it stop). I would do this weekly so the root system will grow.