This year, in Central Ohio, there was a hefty high temperature period and then a pretty severe freeze, which caught some large Autumn Olive bushes in bloom.
As expected, the bloom ended for the year, but unexpectedly there are no leaves, or maybe a couple dozen on a bush that normally has thousands, on any of the bushes.
Do freezes at the wrong time kill off Autumn Olive completely? It seems unlikely it could be, if the species is going to survive.
A couple of the big Autumn Olive bushes are ``native'' in the sense of having gotten there as weeds ; and a couple are planted from seedlings. They're all say 15' across and tall, so it's not as if they're fragile or hadn't seen 20 below winters.
The (slightly related) Buffalo Berry is fine.
Russian Olive doesn't grow at all, except for a month of doing well as seedlings before 100% dying off, in the clay soil. Autumn Olive does well enough to establish itself as a nuisance weed, though.
Knew a lady years ago (I say knew -- can't even remember her name right now. That's occurring more and more often.) who called those "natives" volunteers. Pits transported by coons, maybe?
Oh how I wish it was that easy to kill them off. I've tried digging them out, but if you miss just one little shred of root they'll be back. They just sneer back when whacked off flush to the ground with any type of mowing device. The rabbits can girdle them completely, not the slightest challenge, suckers push up and they don't miss a beat.
I have spots in our yard that I dug out 5-6 years ago and get mowed regularly. During the summer drought last year when I didn't mow for over 3 weeks they still pushed out suckers that reached about 10 inches in height.
In research done in the past I read that cutting them off actually invigorates their growth:
"Since burning and cutting stimulate resprouting, herbicide treatment may be necessary to eradicate large patches. One method of application is to cut the plant off at the main stem and paint the herbicide on the stump. Glyphosate is effective and commonly used. Kurz (pers. comm.) and Nyboer (pers. comm.) recommended a 10-20% dilution for painting on stumps. Foliar applications may be adequate for small patches; the recommended dilution of glyphosate in this case is a 1-2% solution. Kurz (pers. comm.) stated that the best time for herbicide application is in late August or September when the plant is actively translocating materials to the roots."
This is for Russian Olive, but they can be treated pretty much the same:
"Once Russian-olive is allowed to become established in unwanted areas, it is difficult to control and almost impossible to eradicate because of its habit of forming root shoots and suckers. Efforts at control have included mowing of seedlings and sprouts, cutting or girdling of stems, burning and herbicide application. Perhaps the most effective method of eliminating a tree is to cut the trunk or stem and apply an herbicide to the cut surfaces. Repeated aerial application of 2, 4-D and 2, 4, 5-T have been used in Nebraska as a means of controlling large trees. Application of herbicide in this manner may be required over at least a two year period (Bovey 1965)."
Don't fret Autumn Olives fragility, they are the most tenacious tree/shrub I know off...
The skillfully timed freeze certainly killed mine off. They don't look healthy at all, with perhaps a dozen leaves total.
I like them for the fruits, which the birds eat. I'd prefer Russian Olive, which keeps the fruits through winter, but it won't grow at all in the Central Ohio clay.
Buffalo Berry thrives, but unfortunately has never produced a fruit. I must have gotten a dozen males or something.
The most successful for winter fruit have been Washington Hawthorne and Smooth Sumac. The latter reproduces everywhere, which is handy.
I scythe down what turns up encroaching in the lawn.
I took a closer look at the ones flowering around here right now. Most of them were completely girdled by rabbits last winter (it was a hard winter for wabbits). I don't mean just a little bit around here and there, the rabbits cleaned off
10-12 inches of bark. This was on shrubs that were up to 1 inch in diameter, maybe even larger. They are flowering okay but these branches/trunks are dead, much like you are describing. However they have already pushed suckers up from the roots that are 8-12 inches high.
Have you taken a good look at the base/trunk of your shrubs for girdling? I would be really, really surprised if they don't push up new growth regardless of the cause...
They're not girded. Apparently the leaf buds froze and that's that, I'm told. It may revive or it may not.
I killed off some Black Locust by girdling with a spokeshaver (plane), and had to repeat it for three years, since the brown stuff grew back, but apparently most things aren't so resiliant. Even then it kept growing shoots from below the girdling.
Maybe Autumn Olive, having a reputation as a nuisance, will persist likewise.
I'm quite surprised such a hardy plant minded a deep freeze after a thaw.
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