Japanese maple that appears to be dead :-(

Question

We moved to the middle of France, at 550m altitude, 5 years ago with a much loved Japanese maple in a smallish pot that had thrived in the UK and here for the first 4 summers. We had freak weather conditions of -18°C in February that lasted a couple of weeks. In March we had freak hot weather and the tree started to form buds but one night the temperature dropped to -5. The buds susequently died and the tree now appears dead. I have tentatively snipped some small branches off to see if it is still alive and I am not sure. I am afraid to cut too far for fear of damaging an already traumatised plant. Please advise. I am so gutted that I will not see the majestic red leaves this year, it is such a wonderful feature at the front of our house. Advice on how to proceed would be much appreciated. Many thanks, Andrea

Answer 1

same happened to mine 2 springs ago after a warm spell which brought on early budding and leaves then we had severe frost the leaves all shrivelled up and went crisp, I was told to leave it and hope it would revive it never did and this year i sadly give up hope and dug it out good luck with yours
Ann