United Kingdom 
My bay 16ft tall with many trunks suffered in winter all the leaves brown and dropping. New growth from bottom and on trunks but the leaves are larger, serated and a much lighter green with no smell of bay. What on earth has happened to this poor tree. Do I lop off the trunks to where this odd growth is or abandon this monster tree,
16 Jul, 2011
Answers
Thank you so much I will await the outcome, in the mean time I will need a tree surgeon to get at the "dead" branches.
17 Jul, 2011
Yep! There are lots of Ficus trees with "deer antlers" this summer after our record-breaking frost in Phoenix.
17 Jul, 2011
Often, when the growth is fast,and the tree is trying to repair damage, it spends more energy on the length of stem, and size of leaf, than on the defense chemicals that we like the taste of so much. By this fall, or possibly next summer, if the damage was bad enough, leaf size and flavor should be getting back to normal. Meanwhile, definitely remove any branches that aren't sprouting.
17 Jul, 2011