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Help with Arborvitaes in new home

Started by marleneny79, March 01, 2017, 04:08:53 PM

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marleneny79

Hi everyone,

We inherited a row of arborvitae that are looking pretty sad. We've been in the home 2.5 years and are trying to figure out how to save them (if possible). We are zone 7b and we've fertilized them with Hollytone in fall and spring as directed. I've attached photos. Our suspicion is that the previous owners planted them too close together and too close to the fence? We were also told that the neighbors cherry tree behind us could be impeding their growth.  There are 2-3 very skinny ones that we are certain we need to pull out. Any advice provided is appreciated.



  

 

curdog

I'd say the neighbors tree is the biggest problem for your trees. The limbs are over topping them and the root system is competing for water and nutrients. The cherry will have a more developed root system. Most of the conifers are shade intolerant for the most part.  Besides removing the cherry, I'm not sure how much can be done.... but welcome to the forum, lots of good people and info here.  Hopefully someone will have better info than me.

plantman

Those are emerald green arborvitae and their root system is not very deep so they tend to dry out easily and don't withstand competition from other trees well as was said. But more of a problem is that they require full sun so being under other trees they will never look very good. And an even bigger problem is that deer love to eat them. If the plant looks thin and more narrow up to about 5' it's because it is being eaten by deer. Aside from all those things they might have spider mites and require spraying. When the temps are around 55 degrees you might spray them with a dormant oil solution.
My usual recommendation is to plant something else. If you're looking for a arborvitae try the Green Giant variety. It is deer resistant and tolerates shade much better. And it's got a good root system.

DMcCoy

You might take a look at the base.  I had a row about that tall looked about as sad.  Did some digging around the base and found that were planted by some clown who left the plastic twine and burlap on.  The plastic twine was girdling the trunk.   

CJennings

They will take some shade but they aren't going to look the same in shade as they do in full sun. The form and density won't be quite what you expect. I'd keep them heavily mulched to conserve moisture and ensure they have enough water.

DMcCoy

Looked at your pictures again.  Because this is a new to you home I suspect you may not know what was sprayed to keep the weeds down.  I see what looks like dead weeds in your pictures.   I have seen round-up spray drift (heavy drift)  do similar things to Western Red Cedar which is also in the Thuja genus just like Arbovitae.  Round up is non selective and trans-located it can cause serious discoloration in plants it doesn't outright kill.   From what I have seen if that is round-up damage I would start over.   

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