Unless the trees were stressed from transplant I doubt one good freeze would kill them. Give it a little bit of time.

We didn't get a freeze though. None of my other fruit trees have this problem and I used the same brand & volume of pellets on them. The only difference is these 2 trees are on a flat and my others are on a hill. We did get a ton of rain this year and that area doesn't drain well or dry out very quickly. It's dry now. Could this be excess water?

at 5-1-2 ... its highly unlikely it could harm much ... presuming you didnt put pounds and pounds of it around a given tree ...

always include where you are ....

i sounds... like drainage might be your problem... what is your base soil type ... and why doesnt this spot drain ...

there is a fruit forum ... if you wish input by others ...

when were they planted.. and what did you throw in the hole when planted ...

pix never hurt ... and often help ..

ken

ps: btw.. i stopped using this on hosta.. back in the day.. as get this.. wait for it.. this rabbit food.. attracted rabbits.. go figure on that ...

carp.. i hate when i forget the link .. ken

http://www.rose.org/rose-care-articles/the-value-of-alfalfa/

These 2, 6 yr old trees had not done much for the last couple years so I scattered a 50lb bag around the base of each, making maybe 1 to 3/4" deep covering and watered in good weekly beginning in June (Santa Rosa, CA). They took off and looked beautiful. Best fruiting year ever. I figured I'd do the same this year but applied it earlier, in late Feb early March when it was still raining...hard. They looked great, lots of buds, flowers and new growth until early April when the ends, blossoms and growth quit and died.

I know fertilizing in late summer/early spring can lead trees to make new growth that is killed by the cold. Could a similar thing happen in the spring...could it induce more early growth that got killed by an early frost?

Also, could the flow of water down hill have rinsed away excess fertilizer and/or salt from the trees on the hill?

the soil is pretty nasty, all bolders & clay that I dug 4' wide x 3' deep holes for the trees when I planted them 6 years ago. We only had maybe 2 weeks of frost in Jan or Dec. this year. Other fruit trees in the same area (that are on a hill) look fine. Maybe it's a water problem. We've been in a drought for 4 years and this year we had serious make up rain.

If the drainage is bad, it could be a water issue, especially if you used non-native soil in the hole you dug which would basically create a bathtub.

Can you add a photo?