My Poor Acer

Hi all. We got a small Acer 2 years ago and planted it in the bottom of our garden, the first image below was at this time last year where it was doing really well and grew a lot over the summer. We had a very topsy turvy winter, and just as the acer started to bud we had that real cold spell where we had a fair bit of snow (I live on the south coast by the way). Since then, all those buds died and the tree looks pretty dead (see the following image). The snow we had pretty much drifted towards the bottom of the garden (and the acer), and in the easterly wind the acer probably took the brunt of it. Now it's just my guess, but I think that's what has caused the problem, there is no sign of pests or disease. There is a single small branch down the bottom which seemingly didn't die, and the leaves sprouted as usual, but everything else remains barren. Some of the upper branches seem quite dead, but some seem supple and green under the bark. Over the last few weeks, new shoots have been sprouting out of the very base of the trunk, which you can just see in the second picture, there's quite a few there and they are now growing quickly, but they aren't appearing anywhere else. So my question is, what do I do? Is there any chance of the rest of the tree recovering, or do I cut it all off to focus on the new growth. I don't want to lose the tree as its such a lovely tree. Hope you can help, thanks!

 

I think there is very little chance of the old wood shooting.

If you don't want to put in a new tree in just cut back to new growth and see what happens.

 

I agree with @Pushkin s comments. I would cut it back and hope for the best. Acers do not like cold winds.

 

Thanks for your replies, sad to have to cut it right back! Any guidance on doing this, should I cut a certain height up from the new growth, and should I do anything to the "open wound" to help it heal?

 

I would leave it and see what happens Chris. You can always cut it back later but if it sprouts then you can cut back to those points