{"id":613787795782,"date":"2025-10-16T16:41:44","date_gmt":"2025-10-16T16:41:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ashridgetrees.co.uk\/blogs\/uncategorized\/bareroot-plants-dead-no-leaves-spring\/"},"modified":"2026-04-21T08:40:46","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T08:40:46","slug":"bareroot-plants-dead-no-leaves-spring","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ashridgetrees.co.uk\/blogs\/gardening\/bareroot-plants-dead-no-leaves-spring\/","title":{"rendered":"Are My Plants Dead?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Are My New Plants Dead? They Look Dead!<\/h2>\n

Deciduous<\/strong> plants that were transplanted during winter typically come into leaf much later<\/strong> than the same species of plant established nearby, and evergreen<\/strong> plants might drop their leaves<\/strong> prior to growing new ones.<\/p>\n

This can be a shock to new gardeners who planted, say, a new beech hedge<\/a> in late February.
When May arrives and their plants are still not in leaf, they look at all the lush foliage on their neighbour\u2019s mature hedge and think that the beech they bought must be dead! However, this is rarely the case.<\/p>\n

What is almost always happening is this: leafy growth above ground must follow behind <\/strong>root growth below ground.<\/p>\n

If the roots hit a little \u201cunnatural speed bump\u201d like being dug up, packed in a bag, delivered to you, and planted in unfamiliar soil, then the foliage must patiently wait its turn until some new roots develop.
If the plant did not follow this sequence, it would leaf out normally and then immediately wilt, because the roots would not be able to meet the growing plant\u2019s moisture requirements. <\/p>\n

How fast these new roots develop mainly depends on:<\/p>\n