African Sumac

[menvalh1974]

I have two African Sumac trees and we had so cold weather in Arizona, can you believe that, but they froze. I have new branches growing in the bottom. What do I do wait or cut. I'm not to savy at gardening as you can tell. Please help!

[Hortman]

Hello, menvalh1974. Ken here with The Home Depot in the Chicago area.
I’m sorry to hear about your sumac trees. Are there any new leaf buds on
the branches? If the only thing growing on the tree is coming from the base, then
it probably froze to the ground. But just to be sure, let’s check for the cambium
layer on parts of the tree. Get up as high as you can and scrape the bark off a small
spot. The cambium layer is a thin green layer just inside the bark. If you don’t see green, then
move farther down and repeat the process. Do this until you find green or you reach the new
growth at the base. If you find green, then prune down to that level. If you find green up
high, wait and see what the tree is going to do. If it’s dead all the way to the ground, then cut
to the ground. Let me know what you find. Take care.