Mimosa Sapling Question

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Zarm Croydon, PA Sep 18, 2014

Urg. Just typed four paragraphs and the internet ate it. Starting again...

I have no experience in plating, but after removing a pair of box-elder trees from our back yard (to stem the home-invasion of box elder bugs accompanying them), I wanted to plant a mimosa tree, my wife's favorite. (She grew up with them in south NJ; we are now in southwest PA, near Philadelphia). there is another one further down our block, so I assume the climate is right.

I got the sapling online- a skinny little twig of a trunk 2-3 feet tall. I tried to clear away grass roots and box elder-root-remnants in the area when planting it, and keep up with the watering schedule. It was planted in mid-June.

Since then, the trunk has not grown, has not budded, has not given any indications of life... except about an inch or two above the soil line, where a little shoot/branch with several-dozen leaves has sprouted and grown. The leaves yellowed a bit, but have done fairly well with regular watering. I wasn't sure if this meant that the sapling was more or less dead above this point, since there has been no hint of branches or growth on the top.

With fall and winter approaching, I want to give it the best chance for survival... I wasn't sure if that would entail leaving it be, pruning away the top few feet of seemingly-dead trunk, or something else entirely.

Any suggestions would be much-appreciated!

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Diana_K Contra Costa County, CA(Zone 9b) Sep 18, 2014

Use your thumbnail or a sharp knife and slice a shallow scrape of the bark higher up on the oldest twig. If it is green, (maybe white) a little bit moist, then it is probably still alive, though why it is not growing I do not know.
If the bark looks sort of shriveled, and the scrape has no green, is hard, then that part is dead.

To overwinter, I would check if it would need protection in your zone. Sure the established one down the street is OK, but they are more delicate when they are young.
Perhaps as simple as spraying it with Cloud Cover would be enough.
Perhaps it would need a small tent of clear plastic. Don't want it to get too hot in there, though.

I am very hesitant to suggest pruning it this late in the season.
Pruning can stimulate growth, then this tender new growth would get killed by the frost.
The remnant of the stick (no matter how bad it looks) provides some protection for the small branch that is growing near the base.

I would do this:
Plan on protecting it through the winter, then watch the spring growth. If no buds swell on the taller part, cut that off down to where it is growing.

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