New growth emerges on an oak tree damaged by a mid-May freeze. Beech trees were also affected by the unusually late frost. Nicole Carter / Advertiser Democrat
REGION — Mother nature dealt some species of hardwoods around Maine an unfortunate welcome to spring last month. Oak and beech trees were the hardest hit by a late spring freeze in mid-May where some areas around Oxford Hills saw temperatures dip down into the mid-20s.
Farmers and gardeners can prepare for unusual frost events and treat their plants afterwards to mitigate damage, but natural flora is left to its own devices.
The result of May’s frost was that people began to see some leafy and presumably healthy trees begin to wilt and turn brown.
The damage occurred about the same time that browntail moth caterpillars – which prey on Maine’s mighty oaks – began leaving their tent nests to feed on the leaves. By the end of the month it became difficult to discern what exactly was affecting oaks, especially as the impact of frost began to discolor beech tree growth.
Betsey Foster of Greenwood was alarmed by the hundreds of damaged beeches in her neighborhood and sent pictures to the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry to ask if there were additional invasive pests altering Maine’s woodlands.
“They informed me that there have been numerous reports of this all over the state,” she told the Advertiser Democrat. “Beech and oak leaves come out slightly later than other deciduous [trees] so they didn’t have time to toughen up before the frost hit.”
Following a late spring frost, tree lines along Maine roads were dramatically altered in late May/early June. Courtesy Maine Forest Service
The Maine Forest Service also released a statement on its website about the phenomenon, explaining that different parts of the state were hit with different intensity:
“Only time will reveal how the trees will respond to this event. Healthy trees are expected to produce a new flush of leaves, although these may be smaller than usual. However, trees already experiencing additional stressors, such as inadequate moisture or poor health during the freeze, may struggle to recover from the damage.”
While temperatures over the last three weeks have largely remained colder than usual, long stretches of rain are of benefit to stressed growth.
Maine Forest Service’s response statement can be read here. https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/MEDACF/bulletins/35c94cd
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