Emerald Green Arbovitae

[Bill]

I live in NJ. In the fall I planted 30 Emerald Green Arborvitae. They seemed to have made it through the winter. A couple of weeks ago they looked like a lighter shade of green and some browning. I spoke with a couple of people and they mention that it was probably due to the winter and probably just need to be fertilized.

So last weekend I put down some fertilizer the trees appear to be greener, but there also appears to be some more brown spots and what appears to be some dying branches. Is it possible that I put too much fertilizer down. How would I tell and is there anything I could do about it? Also we have had a lot of rain so far this season.

Any Advice would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Bill
:?:

[pruninggal]

There could be several reasons for the yellowing. Fertilizer could be it but if you had a good winter there will be some natural shoughing off of some of the older foliage. Are the plants dying from the top or all over? Did you keep them watered regularly? Do they have decent drainage?

Also, let us know where you are in the world so we can pinpoint the problems in your area.

Katy

[Bill]

Thanks for replying. I live in northern NJ. What I am seeing is speratic branches have died. Also on a couple of the bushes the very very tip of some of the branches appear to have a brown tip. We did have a cold winter with some snow. As far a drainage goes, I think it is ok, I do not have a soppy yard after a heavy rainfall.

As far as watering. When I first planted them in the fall I watered them regularly then we had a lot of rain later in the season and so far this spring we have had a pretty wet season so I have not watered them since the fall.

I guess one other question I have is should I clip off the dead branches or should I just let them be? I've been trying to watch them very closely to see if they are getting worse, but as of right now the initial spots are the only spots that I see. Maybe I'm being a little too cautious, I just want to make sure that if there is a problem I catch it right away so that I do not loose the bushes.

Thanks again for replying and look forward to hearing back from you.

Bill

If you follow the photo from the bottom of my own home page, you will see my style of watering new trees and plants - click the caption, and enlarge the photo on the destination for extra notes.

If it was hot, spider mites may be a possibility - fine webs, moving dust on white paper if you tap the bush over and 8.5 x 11.

i CAN'T SAY ENOUGH ABOUT IRONITE GRANULAR OR LIQUID ITS GREENING MAGIC PERIOD I HAVE ALSO WRAPPED MY ARBS WITH TWINE TO KEEP THEM TIGHT AND A LITTLE CLIPPING CAN'T HURT A THING..WOOPS SORRY ABOUT THER CAPS ...LD

[swindyi]

Check out your arbovitaes real close and look for "Bag worms" they form a cocon on the ends of the branches . The cocones are made out of the greenery that then turns brown and hangs down from the branch. They are about an inch long . If you look real close at these you will see the worm poking it's head out of the top of the cocon , these things are killers ,last year they did in one of my very large and old arbovitaes, killed it off in a matter of weeks. this the second one started to turn brown and thats when I found the worms. I made a strong mixture of Sevin and it looks like I killed them off ,but I am watching it very closely.
Good luck with yours.
swindyi