Hi everyone, I planted a japanese maple beside my porch last summer. We had a really harsh winter, but luckily the snow was pretty light so no breakage. Things are now starting to warm up, and the buds on the lower part of my maple are starting to swell and open. However, the buds on the upper part of the tree are not showing much change. If anything, they seem to be shrinking and turning more yellowish (the lower buds that are opening are more red.) I scratched the bark in a number of places on the upper branch tips, and there seems to be some green, but it's not a really vibrant green, which the lower branches seem to have. I broke off one tiny leaf bud, and it had a little green inside. But I am concerned that there' such a big difference between the upper and lower branches in terms of appearance and timing.

Another reason I'm worried is because a year ago in the spring when it was still at the garden center, this tree sustained some significant frost damage, particularly to the top branches. I posted a thread here about whether I should still plant it:

Earlier thread on this tree

Needless to say I did plant it, but maybe the combination of earlier damage, planting stress, and the hard winter has caused more damage than I thought.

Should I worry about this or just be patient? Is there anything I can do?

Thanks!