"Pam - gardengal" wrote in message news:ZK1Fb.600833$HS4.4401983@attbi_s01...
"John Doe" wrote in message
m...
Hi there,

We have a beautiful 35 ft juniperus in our garden, probably a red
cedar, that dangerously becomes yellow. Spring has been moderately
warm but very dry, and I have noticed a lot of red spider mites one
month ago in the garden. I have not seen a big quantity around the
tree and along the trunk (two or three), so I was not worried. But
now, I am...

I am a complete newbie to gardening. I keep it moist at the moment,
and try to wash red spider mites with my hose, as high as I can. Is
this a good idea ? I plan to buy some pesticide for red mites but
wonder how I am going to reach the top ! Could a treatment at the
bottom be sufficient ?

Is the jupinerus likely to die and will dead foliage be replaced in
the future ?

I'm in New Zealnad.
Thank you for you help.

Spider mites can certainly decimate a number of coniferous species in warm,
dry climates. Keeping the plants well hydrated and increasing humidity will
certainly help. You might want to inquire at a good, local garden center
what their diagnosis and recommendations may be. A systemic miticide may be
in order.

Dead foliage will not be replaced on a juniper, however new growth may
emerge from branch tips and serve to dsguise bare areas. Whether or not the
plant will die is impossible to suppose from this distance and through this
forum.

pam - gardengal

Today by shaking the foliage and holding a white sheet of paper
underneath, I saw two tiny insects, really smaller than the bright red
little spider moving very fast. They did move slower, too. Darn, are
they small !

My vision being far from perfect and having no magnifying lens, as far
as I can tell those two insects - mites, probably - were dark brown
(black ?), and yellow for the second one. I did the test two or three
times, but only found two of these.

By keeping looking for information on the web, I read that they were
sucking out the plant fuild by piercing into it, leaving yellow or
brown holes on the scales of conifers.
I didn't manage to recognize those holes.

One thing that I did not understand well was what happens to yellow
foliage. One web page on the net seemed to state yellow foliage could
recover from the fuild being sucked out, would somebody be kind enough
to shed some light on this ?