Question
I have 2 royal empress trees about 15 inches tall. The new leaf growth was killed after a spring frost. Now the only new growth I see is a few shoots coming up at the base of the trees, but nothing on the trunks at all. Should I cut the trunks off and how short?

Answer
No let the new growth come on and then as the stems get larger you can pick the stem that you want to be the main trunk of the tree and prune the others and the dead branches off at this time. If you cut the branches now you might cut one that is stil alive so I would wait.