The tree is not dead but if it was planted with damaged roots and then froze, it is no doubt in a weakened condition, which will cause it to take more time to recover than a healthy tree with a large root ball. The leaves will initially be smaller than normal and in less quantities than the first time around. I'm sure this one will be fine eventually but the condition and quantity of the roots at planting time will affect how fast it will progress.

That said, I brought in several small red maples from the woods, end of May last year and one had a large poplar root growing though the root ball which caused me to bare root and tear some of the roots to get it planted. I had to prune branches to transport the tree, so it was a mere stick 5ft long and 3/4" dia. at the ground. The tree didn't do anything for a month but then showed the typical little red spikes towards the top that eventually sprouted leaves. It made several new branches, approx. 6" long over the rest of the season and this year already has added over a foot to each one of those. Sorry I don' have a current picture to post at this time.

Reds are tough and grow fast so if you're not a big rush, I'd wait it out and see.

You can't expect things to happen fast but it's a tree, nothing happens fast with a tree. One thing about red maples (Acer rubrum) is that they like it a little on the wet side, at least this time of year. I suppose I'll get thumped by the higher ups but I gave my new transplants a watering or two of miracle grow, just to push them a bit to get those first leaves out. After than, just water but by then there were at least some leaves doing their job. My soil is on the sandy side so I can water every 3 days or so.

And please give us an update later, on how it goes. :-)

Here's what the tree I talked about looks like as of yesterday. :)

yeah that one looks pretty nice. It seems to have recovered nicely. I'm hoping for the same with mine. I'll have to post an update about it later in the season.

Another story :-) We planted a woods dug red at my next door neighbors several years back. It was a hot spell during a period of drought, later in the season when it was leafed out. Not a great time to be transplanting trees and my neighbor didn't take care of it very well. That one died at the top but then the next spring it sprouted again from the root. Grew quite well after that and is a really nice tree today.

After transplanting, a tree can take a few weeks for the roots to settle down and start working well and another few weeks for new sprouts to develop. So be patient. I really thought I had killed the one shown in the picture.

What are you using for mulch?

I have a Tsusaka Silhouette that was 6' tall and the snow pack from a 32" snow slid off the neighbors roof and snapped the trunk at about 3'. All I did was trim the jagged edges where it broke. It looked like crap for a few years, but looks fine now.

I'm using shavings from a planer as mulch. It doesn't settle as well an normal wood chunk mulch so it tends to blow away when the lawn mower goes by but it was free and seems to keep the soil moist.

"shavings from a planer as mulch"

Shavings of what, though?

Decomposing wood can sometimes temporarily tie up the nitrogen in your soil. I'd compost the shavings first, especially on a plant that was experiencing stress.

A wood mulch will only tie up nitrogen if incorporated into the soil. It has no effect if used as a mulch or topdressing.........regardless of the type of wood :-))

Have you tried wetting down your shavings before using as a mulch? It may compact them a bit but should also prevent them from blowing away easily.

Thanks for the input! I actually put a small layer of compost under the shavings to provide some of the nitrogen needs for decomposition.

Regarding wetting them. Yes I usually try to spray them down with the water hose to compact them after putting them on. That helps a lot, but they still blow pretty easily for a while. They do eventually settle into a nice mat but it takes much longer than normal mulch.

'That helps a lot, but they still blow pretty easily for a while'

Don't feel bad, the birds like to get into mine after I water, looking for worms I assume. They dig holes and scratch the chips around just like little chickens. I have to kick them back into place with my foot every once in a while.

Even some of the purchased wood chips will blow in the wind when first placed around the tree. They seem to flatten out and get more sticky after a while. I would think your shavings would do that over time also.

I am surprised. Most trees will at least attempt pushing some new sprouts after a setback in the spring. Probably not enough energy left in the limited amount of roots to make a comeback. Oh well. At least you had a warranty. Less pain that way. :-)

Thanks for the update!

I guess the vendor was just too rough with it before it was shipped. I really had hardly any fibrous roots on it at all. Both of the trees I received from them died. All the other trees I have planted/transplanted have lived. Hopefully the next batch will do better.