Rewilding My Lot

In the fall of 2023 I planted a Mexican Olive (Cordia boissieri) tree. That winter during the one freeze event we had, the tips of some upper branches froze. The following spring, new growing points formed just below the frozen tips and the tree continued to grow taller and wider.

A year later, in January 2025, we had a freeze. The tree recovered from that quickly and had started to grow new shoots when we had another harsher freeze event in February 2025. This second freeze badly damaged the tree.

By April 2025, the only growth that I could see on the Mexican Olive were new shoots from the main trunk close to the ground and on the lowest branch. Below is a photo from that time.

This tree has made a valiant effort to grow back. Now, in June 2025, it has produced many new branches, all originating a foot or less from the ground.

The overall height is just a few inches short of where it was last year (I have left the old branches to mark that progress and to serve as bird perches). It is now a pretty respectable bush standing about four feet tall, and it’s beginning to bloom. I find it remarkable that so much growth can occur in just a few months after all that damage.

By the looks of it, there will be more blooms than last year. There are many flower buds, and more new leaf growth is coming as well.

Earlier this year I was undecided whether to keep this plant if it was going to be unable to develop into the tree that I intended. At this point, I am inclined to leave it in place and accept it as a bush. It does have beautiful flowers and it is very popular as an insect shelter and bird perch.

For now I will let it do its thing and during the winter I’ll decide if I want to do any pruning. I doubt that it will ever be a single-trunk tree but I may nevertheless want to do some shaping to stop it getting too wide.