Die-back on conifers
 

I'm a very reluctant gardener, loving being in them but not too used
to actually working on one. But now I have no job...

The house I moved into three years ago (near Stansted Airport in
Essex) has a small flowerbed in the front which contains a pair of
conifers. I don't know what they are, but they're not prolific growers
and are about 3-4 feet high. They are now very stressed and some 30-50
percent of them is dead.

I'm sure the drought is part of it, but I suspect there may be some
other pathology going on. The needles that aren't dead are white. Also
there are white fungal bodies underground in the bed itself. Finally
there's an old stump with black fungi thereupon, but I doubt if that's
related.

My wife wants me to uproot the conifers, and I think she may be right.
But I don't want whatever replaces them to suffer the same fate. Any
sage wisdom?

Die-back on conifers
 

Ken

Might I respectfully suggest you change your 'Ken' to 'kenbirch' or
something?

We have a terrible troll spamming across a lot of newsgroups with the same
heading. He is on killfile and many newsgroups and your posting may not be
opened, thinking it is from him.

His real name is Chris Stevens and is a cross dressing trouble maker from
Eastleigh in Hants.

Put your posting up again with a different 'handle' and some of the many
gardeners on this site will advise :-))

Best wishes

Mike

--
.................................................. .........
Royal Naval Electrical Branch Association
www.rnshipmates.co.uk
www.nsrafa.com
"Ken" wrote in message
...
I'm a very reluctant gardener, loving being in them but not too used
to actually working on one. But now I have no job...

The house I moved into three years ago (near Stansted Airport in
Essex) has a small flowerbed in the front which contains a pair of
conifers. I don't know what they are, but they're not prolific growers
and are about 3-4 feet high. They are now very stressed and some 30-50
percent of them is dead.

I'm sure the drought is part of it, but I suspect there may be some
other pathology going on. The needles that aren't dead are white. Also
there are white fungal bodies underground in the bed itself. Finally
there's an old stump with black fungi thereupon, but I doubt if that's
related.

My wife wants me to uproot the conifers, and I think she may be right.
But I don't want whatever replaces them to suffer the same fate. Any
sage wisdom?

Difficult to say what is causing the problem without seeing the conifers. Assuming it is drought related, I would get rid.

The questions you need to ask in terms of replacments a

size - min, max, width...
soil type - acid, alkali…
location - urban, rural...
evergreen - yes, no
maintenance – no, don’t mind…

The wrong choice means long-term headaches, alternatively there are hundreds of interesting shrubs to select from. Happy hunting.

Die-back on conifers
 

and as if by magic!!

See what I mean? Have a look at the newsgroups he spam's across.

Mike

--
.................................................. .........
Royal Naval Electrical Branch Association
www.rnshipmates.co.uk
www.nsrafa.com
"mike" wrote in message
...
Ken

Might I respectfully suggest you change your 'Ken' to 'kenbirch' or
something?

We have a terrible troll spamming across a lot of newsgroups with the same
heading. He is on killfile and many newsgroups and your posting may not be
opened, thinking it is from him.

His real name is Chris Stevens and is a cross dressing trouble maker from
Eastleigh in Hants.

Put your posting up again with a different 'handle' and some of the many
gardeners on this site will advise :-))

Best wishes

Mike

--
.................................................. ........
Royal Naval Electrical Branch Association
www.rnshipmates.co.uk
www.nsrafa.com
"Ken" wrote in message
...
I'm a very reluctant gardener, loving being in them but not too used
to actually working on one. But now I have no job...

The house I moved into three years ago (near Stansted Airport in
Essex) has a small flowerbed in the front which contains a pair of
conifers. I don't know what they are, but they're not prolific growers
and are about 3-4 feet high. They are now very stressed and some 30-50
percent of them is dead.

I'm sure the drought is part of it, but I suspect there may be some
other pathology going on. The needles that aren't dead are white. Also
there are white fungal bodies underground in the bed itself. Finally
there's an old stump with black fungi thereupon, but I doubt if that's
related.

My wife wants me to uproot the conifers, and I think she may be right.
But I don't want whatever replaces them to suffer the same fate. Any
sage wisdom?

Die-back on conifers
 

Ken wrote:
My wife wants me to uproot the conifers, and I think she may be right.
But I don't want whatever replaces them to suffer the same fate.

Well, when you have them out, "uprooting" is the good thing to do -
don't just saw them off at ground level.

Get hold of some well rotted horse muck or similar (often free from
stables) and dig well in once you have disturbed the ground anyway,
regardless of what you are planning to plant instead. Then wait until
the early spring before replanting - let the nursery take the risk of
overwintering, not you!

I would certainly avoid anything similar in the same plot for at least
10 years - cut a bit off and keep it like pressed flowers to take with
you in case you are tempted by another conifer.

Without knowing too much about your soil I'd consider a couple of
rowans, if there is room, or a pair of small japenese Acer. There are
several cultivars of Acer palmatum that have been selected to be small
growing. Or a couple of small apple trees - people like the Ballerina
form for upright habit - having two to replace the conifers would
probably resolve the polination issue as long as you choose two
compatible ones. There are dwarfed upright forms of most fruit trees
now.

Or you could have, for a bit more work, bay or holly bushes and clip
them into decorative shapes. Eventually.

There is a fashion round here for putting lumps of old iron (sorry
"garden sculpture") up and growing clematis or honeysuckle up them.
It's vertical, but to me it still looks like rusy iron.

Die-back on conifers
 

On Mon, 23 Oct 2006 07:53:54 +0100, "mike" wrote:


Put your posting up again with a different 'handle' and some of the many
gardeners on this site will advise :-))

Thanks for the advice!

Die-back on conifers
 

On 23 Oct 2006 05:28:20 -0700, wrote:



Without knowing too much about your soil I'd consider a couple of
rowans, if there is room, or a pair of small japenese Acer. There are
several cultivars of Acer palmatum that have been selected to be small
growing. Or a couple of small apple trees - people like the Ballerina
form for upright habit - having two to replace the conifers would
probably resolve the polination issue as long as you choose two
compatible ones. There are dwarfed upright forms of most fruit trees
now.

Or you could have, for a bit more work, bay or holly bushes and clip
them into decorative shapes. Eventually.

There is a fashion round here for putting lumps of old iron (sorry
"garden sculpture") up and growing clematis or honeysuckle up them.
It's vertical, but to me it still looks like rusy iron.

Thanks very much. Yet another really helpful NG!