how new? Good luck if it's freshly planted, if it's been in the ground for a few months, I would water once a week, every 2 weeks if it's been planted over 6 months. It will loose leaves and could freeze to ground level if it's small and planted between 2 months and a year. If it's newer in the ground than 2 months you could loose it completely. I cover young trees the first 2 years or until too big and I've had great results, 18 out of 20 Jacarandas survived into their 2nd and 3rd years, after that they're on their own. Overwatering will kill them fast.

It has been planted only a few days....what do I cover it with? It's fairly good size,[tall]about 6 feet but skinny of course. Any help would be greatly appreciated! I would hate to lose it if I can avoid it.

You can cover it with a sheet, or you can pick up frost cloth from about any nursery. Be forewarned that most places ran out last year when we had a week of cold nights. Just put a stick of some sort next to the tree (sounds like it might not be able to take a heavy cloth on top of it) and throw the sheet or blanket over it. It's best if the sheet touches the ground around it. You can also put Christmas lights around it (under the sheet) and that would help warm it.

TASART55 sounds like he/she might have experience with the new trees; generally speaking I wouldn't water as much during the winter months - no more than once every other two- three weeks, but my experience is not specific. I have a mature tree that gets flood irrigation once a month during the winter and every two weeks in the summer. Good choice in trees, they are gorgeous. You'll just need to keep it warm these first two- three years.

Good luck, HTH!

We also get irrigation once a month in the Winter..hopefully, that will be enough water..I'll just have to watch for stress I guess..thanks for all the tips...hopefully, we'll be successful!

by all means cover with sheets, don't worry about having the sheets touch your leaves, you may loose all of them anyway, you may also loose the skinnier branches. It may even freeze to the ground depending on how harsh the cold gets...don't dismay and also be VERY PATIENT...if you cover it chances are very good it will recover, you will know towards May if it made it.

We have a three year old Jacaranda tree which is over two meters in height, it has two branches, should we prune one of them and how should we go about it. How close to the "V" should the cut be. Or should we let both branches grow and keep them propped.

All the other tips are great, wonderful to see so many Jacaranda lovers.
Have pics of the tree, where can I post them.

Gosh no, let it grow!

Prune? From your description, I don't see why you need to prune it to one branch. Jacaranda's like to grow new branches from the base or mid-trunk, which I always take off as soon as they appear, but I wouldn't cut off branches off such a young tree unless one branch is pressing against another or one is tangling around another branch.

I planted 2 jacarandas (32" boxes from Moon Valley) in April 2005. One is slightly larger than the other. The larger one doesn't get protection, but the smaller one started turning yellow and loosing leaves during the freeze in early December. I wrapped the whole trunk with frost cloth and wrapped as much as I could with christmas lights. The tree has been ok with that, so covering the top doesn't seem necessary. If it was younger, I would probably cover it with a sheet/cloth. They are 12' high. Both have been very forgiving towards my forgetful watering schedule. Winter I semi-deep water once a week and they are fine. They don't mind my slow-draining clay soil either.

Thanks guys, I'll let them grow, I was just wondering about the two branches growing together. Wish I could attach a pic to show.

Mike & Kelly

This thread is a bit old but will try for a response as I am getting some 24" box trees from Moon Valley also. Was going to have them planted in October. Am I pushing the freezing nights with that planting schedule? Also was going to get a 32" box Brazilian Pepper Tree, another tropical. Will that one freeze also? I am concerned with these big expenseive boxed trees. Any help would be appreciated.

You might want to research Moon Valley. I won't use them.

I don't think cold is going to be a problem. They've spent several winters here already. If we get a really unusual freeze for a long period I think we'd lose most trees around here.

I've had 2 Brazilian Pepper trees. Both did really well in the winter. But I underwatered both in the summer and they lost their leaves. They would have probably come back in the winter but I tossed them. Better choices out there. From what I've read it isn't uncommon for them to lose leaves in late summer.

Jacarandas actually enjoy a bit of cold weather during the winter season. Not freezing though. Some papers I read explained that their flowering schedule is based on the last period of cold weather combined with late winter rainfall. The roots will continue to grow through the winter even if the plant is bare.

I have also read some accounts of people who didn't plant their trees early enough in fall and kept them in their garage through the first winter, taking them outside on nicer days. I haven't seen that done firsthand. They then did the planting in Feb/Mar after the risk of freezing was gone. The tree was still bare, but the weather was safe. Established plants always have a better chance of making it through super-cold nights.

Most of the Jacarandas in California had a late bloom in 2005 because of some exceptionally heavy March rains. My year-old tree made it through a few frosty nights (on deck in a pot), but there wasn't anything below 30. I have to guess that with proper protection for the roots and trunk it would have been okay away from the house. We will probably plant it in late September.

If you live behind me it won't matter what you do, they will not survive :)

My jacaranda is less than 2 yrs old. It has frost damage. How do I bring it back? All my other trees and plants are greening. Thank you, Sue

I am having the same problem with my jacaranda, the other trees are turning green except for my jacaranda.

I planted my tree a year ago. It is nice and green but has no flowers. When do they start to bloom?

Thanks

Moon Valley Planted a 32" Box Jacaranda Feb 2010. Jan 2011 we had 2 freezes a few weeks apart. The Tree did good through the first one, not so good through the 2nd freeze. Had all the dying leaves and branch tips cut off in Feb 2011. Now the end of May there is only leaves coming out on the bottom trunks. Should I cut off all the other branches or should I wait? Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Gina, same thing with my jacaranda when we had the big freeze in 2007. We cut back to right above the new growth, then thinned the new sprouts to about 7 or 8, then thinned the sprouts more as they grew. Wound up with a good looking multitrunk tree....that froze back this winter. So we're starting over trimming back to right above the new growth.....

We planted our jacaranda in Sept. 2006. It faces west. We covered it with Christmas lights and burlap the first few winters but every year it looses it's leaves. It has always sprouted new leaves around April/May but has never bloomed. This year we thought it had died because there was nothing on it until June. The leaves have sprouted on the trunk going up about 5 feet with nothing green on top of the tree. Do we cut the top of the tree off and leave a column tree of sorts? Is the tree a lost cause?

I need help!! I have three jacaranda trees that I ordered. I have had them in my house for two months. They are five inches tall. I live in Mississippi and I decided to put them outside thinking they would love the sun light but I noticed after only one 24 hr period that the leaves started to wilt. I brought them back inside but they don't look any better. Did I kill them?

I need help!! I have three jacaranda trees that I ordered. I have had them in my house for two months. They are five inches tall. I live in Mississippi and I decided to put them outside thinking they would love the sun light but I noticed after only one 24 hr period that the leaves started to wilt. I brought them back inside but they don't look any better. Did I kill them?