Went to my local nursery this weekend where I get a lot of my material from and Acquired 3 blue Atlas Cedar for free. Due to the extreme weather where the temperatures drop down into the negative 25ﾟ windshield the tops of the needles are Brown but the underside is still green. Can these tree still be saved? If so what can I do?
Michael Hagadorn lists the top kill temp as -10F (-23C) and the root zone kill temp as 10F (12C). My guess is that the tops may be primarily wind burnt. I would protect from further cold damage and hope for the best this spring. I would not plan to do much other than get them back to a state of health this year. The roots can be a bit fussy, but if you catch them at the right time as the buds swell and provide good after care you do quite a bit. I nearly bare rooted and had them do well. But I also lost a more established bonsai to a much less intrusive repot a few years ago.
Thank you for your help. Hopefully they make it…