Many trees in Yuma lost 50 percent of their foliage, and numerous were close to or at 100 percent.
The trees in many neighborhoods look like it is winter, and the trees at Indian Hills Golf Course also lost nearly everything.
Horticulturist Linda Langelo, provided the following information.
What to do if your tree is damaged by hail?
These trees lost half of their foliage. Hail leaves open wounds and severe hail strips away soft tissue inviting disease and insects.
According to arborists, it can be devastating when a tree has lost 50 percent of its foliage. What happens — trees with smooth or corky barked trees generate sprouts to help shade the interior bark of the tree that normally is not exposed and can be damaged by sun-scald. Do not remove these sprouts. These are epicormic sprouts that are a normal response for the tree. These provide the tree energy and food for the root system.
If there are dead and broken limbs properly prune them back to healthy tissue. Do not jump to removing the trees. The root system stores the tree’s food and it is going to use a lot of reserves and has the summer to build more reserves. Trees take months to heal over the open wounds. But again this is still spring.
If you have fertilized your lawn for the season, your trees will benefit from a percentage of the nutrients. I would recommend not adding more. Trees under stress can be stressed by fertilizing. If you have not fertilized I would wait and see how the tree responds and fertilize in the fall before the ground freezes and do a soil test to see what nutrients are most lacking. This is not something you should do annually or your crown will develop faster than the root system.
Remember your tree will need time to heal and patience on your end. If we move into a drought you will want to water with the idea that 10 gallons of water is needed per diameter of the tree at knee height. If a tree is 10 inches across that is 100 gallons depending on precipitation, temperatures and wind.
Other sources state trees may have enough reserves to re-leaf, but it takes a lot of energy, so give the tree adequate water throughout the summer. Applying two to three inches of mulch at the base of the trees and shrubs will also help moderate soil temperatures and maintain soil moisture.
Another source stated: Trees that have experienced around 50 percent or more damage from a hailstorm will have a different approach to recovery. However, that is if recovery is even possible. Even though a heavily damaged tree might recover, it may not be the same as it was before. With branches missing, foliage gone, and open areas covered by the callous tissues, the tree has experienced a large amount of damage. Chances are that even a previously healthy tree will not have enough stored energy to fully recover to its original condition.