Question
We live in Va and have a magnolia tree about six years old.
It is in the sun and has been growing real well.  All of a sudden a couple months ago, the leaves mostly turned brown and fell off, it was after a bad cold snap.  There are still a few green leaves on the bottom, the rest is bare.  It this something we could fix, do you think? or is it too late for salvage?   THanks for your help.   Mark Sherman

Answer
A quick freeze can scorch the leaves and usually these trees will re leaf. There is nothing that you can do but wait and see if the tree does leaf out again. You can check the branches and see if they are still alive by scraping a small bit of bark off the branch toward the end and if the color is green then the branch is still alive and should re leaf. If it is brown then the branch is dead at that point on the branch, continue down the branch or try other branches. If these are all brown then the branches are dead. I would wait until a month or so and see if the tree does leaf out then you can prune off the dead branches if there are any. If you want someone to check the tree you can call the Va. State Forestry agency and ask one of their Foresters to come out and take  a look. This is a free service. Their number should be in your local phone book.