Brown arborvitae

newmrsz

We planted 15 emerald green arborvitae along our fenceline last fall.  Winter was brutal with lots of snow, wind, ice and then hail this spring.  As you can guess this took a toll on our trees.  The side that backs to the fence looks fine, but the side that was exposed to all the winds and ice has a lot of brown branches and just looks sad.  Any advice for saving these.  I think I will cut away the dead branches and then apply fertalizer, but not sure what kind?

Magdala9

Cut away the dead stuff then reshape.  After you reshape, apply a general fertilizer.  Arborvitaes are very hardy and don't have specialized requirements.   I am trying to kill one and not having much luck. 

lmdbww

I agree w/pp. I killed half of one once when I sprayed for spiders (I used that bee spray that shoots really far. lol) I just cut the dead stuff out and it filled back in eventually. 

~NB~

newmrsz:

The side that backs to the fence looks fine, but the side that was exposed to all the winds and ice has a lot of brown branches and just looks sad.  Any advice for saving these.

Can you provide them with a fence too, like the other ones have?

FoxinFiji

Next year try adding a screen to that side of the arborvitae temporarily for the winter.  Just put some tall stakes in the ground and some burlap or similar material between the stakes.  It will help protect them a little better from the harsh wind and sun.  That type of arborvitae will brown/yellow from either extra cold winter temperatures or too much sun ('Emerald Green' can go down to zone 3 so it's pretty cold hardy, it won't die but it will brown).  Think about it the winter all of the deciduous trees have dropped their leaves and the snow is white reflecting light on them.  Many shade loving conifers burn from all the extra sunlight in the winter.

MommaBee1228

Dont prune the dead areas off to the trunk, or else nothing will grow back. Instead, try using a rake or just manually shaking off the browned areas. Second, they need to be checked for bagworms. Id post a link, but the Ipad I am using is retarded and I cant figure out how to post links easily. Bagworms are a nasty pest that needs to treated quickly and professionally if possible, because they can kill all of your arborvitae trees. We had them 3 summers ago, and it wasnt pretty . My last advice is to get a professional company to give them a deep root soil treatment. It will help them rebound much better, and the tree/shrub/lawn chemical places should come out to give you a free esimate.