I planted 4 red oaks in my yard last fall. They were all small RPM trees from forest keeling—about 4 feet tall 1 inch diameter at the base. This spring it seems that many of the buds on the top portion of the plant swelled, but did not really start growing, or seem to be growing very slowly (less than .5 inches). This is in comparison to the other buds which have already produced 3-8 inches of new growth. It is much more prevalent on the 3 trees that were coppiced. So my question is, should I expect the late buds to snap out of it and start growing vigorously? If the retarded buds do not start growing I am going to have to prune to establish a new leader on the tree.

Greetings David:

I would give these several "late bloomers" a chance before you prune or coppice. Chances are these trees are from a different provenance or seed zone, and thus are physiologically adapted to break dormancy later than your other trees. If they have broken dormancy, then they are viable; however, it doesn't mean that you're guaranteed 100% survival. I've seen many planted trees break dormancy only to die later in the growing season...that's just nature.

We have some white oak species here on campus that have just now broken dormancy...