Bay Tree disaster

I bought 2 bay trees for my upcoming wedding to put outside the church door. On the label it said to hibernate them indoors in a cool room until the frost is over - which I did (and which I now have learned I shouldn't!) I went away for 5 days and forgot to ask some one to water them ...now the leaves on one of them are quite dry, but it doesn't look completely dead, there are still some green ones. Does anyone know if it is actually dead or will it come back to life? What will I do with it, do I cut back the dry ones and if I do to where? I have put them outside now and am watering them every other day. Hope someone can help, I am very new to gardening and have never had a tree before :confused:

 

Depends how far it's gone Chabal. But if it was only 5 days it should recover eventually. I would just cotinue watering it and not prune leaves out until you are certain they are dead. I lost the growing tip off mine in a late frost about 15 years ago but it bushed out nicely and recovered.

 

The dead ones will probably wither and drop if not just snip them to tidy. It sounds like in time it will recover ok.

 

Hi chabal,

Keep it watered and protected and it should, eventually, come round. If it's still in the same pot that you bought it in you may want to try feeding it. Take care not to overwater it as too much water will force the air out of the soil and drown the tree. Pruning the dead leaves may promote new growth from any dormant lateral buds on the stem and branches.