Question
My Sea Grape seems to be dying!  I live in St Pete Beach and it always has been a wonderful tree.  This winter I noticed lots of leaves fell off and were never replaced by new growth and when I inspected the new "shoots" they were dead, hollow and black tips!  Very few new leaf growth on the plant where normally you would see new leaves sprouting.

What is this?  No bugs that I can see.  

Thanks,
Janet

Answer
Hi Janet, that cold snap we had the first week of February was a real bad one, and many plantings got the shock of their lives, for it was actually a freeze; Sea Grapes were one of the plants that really took it hard and albeit some may come back from the roots, many were killed. Check the main trunk and scrape it to ascertain that the cambium layer (under the bark) is still showing green, if so then it is still viable; cut back all the top part of the crown that is dead and if the bottom is still alive, it will send out new growth from that point. Let me know what you find...Nick