Hello all ,
I'm hoping somebody can identify an evergreen shrub that I have in my garden so I can find out how much/when to prune it . It's really got way too big at around 10ft tall and unsightly brown patches have started to appear on it , the foliage has a slightly lemony smell when rubbed between your fingers.
It's said a picture is worth a thousand words so here are three pictures including a close up of the foliage .

T.I.A.
Ron

http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/a...o30/shrub1.jpg
http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/a...o30/shrub2.jpg
http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/a...o30/shrub3.jpg

"Rondeco" wrote in message
...

Hello all ,
I'm hoping somebody can identify an evergreen shrub that I
have in my garden so I can find out how much/when to prune it . It's
really got way too big at around 10ft tall and unsightly brown patches
have started to appear on it , the foliage has a slightly lemony smell
when rubbed between your fingers.
It's said a picture is worth a thousand words so here are three
pictures including a close up of the foliage .

T.I.A.
Ron

[image: http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/a...30/shrub1.jpg]
[image: http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/a...30/shrub2.jpg]
[image: http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/a...30/shrub3.jpg]



Foliage looks like Cedar to me. The brown patches are ominous - it could be
just a natural dying-off of one branch or two but it could be what killed
off my cypress hedge last year namely the dreaded Phytophthora, which was
discussed on a thread "Oh Dear :-(" in this very NG only a couple of days
ago
R.

Thanks for your response . I've searched Google images and can't see a Cedar tree that looks anything like it , if it helps ... the foliage is very soft , not stiff like pine needles and I've never seen any kind of cone or fruit on it .

Ron

It is definitely not a cedar sensu strictu, ie Cedrus. But a lot of people use the the term cedar colloquially to refer to members of the cypress family Cupressaceae in general. And a lot of the Cupressaceae have common names with the word "cedar" in, such as Japanese Cedar and Incense Cedar. It must surely be a member of the Cupressaceae, and I'm suspecting it is some kind of Juniper, of which there are many species and many garden forms.

Actually the more I think about it the more I think it is likely to be Cryptomeria japonica ("Japanese cedar"), which has so many cultivated forms you'd hardly recognise them as all being the same species.

Thanks for that . When is the right time of year to cut it back ?, will it be ok to be fairly aggressive with my trimming ?.

Ron

"Ragnar" wrote in message
...



Foliage looks like Cedar to me. The brown patches are ominous - it could
be just a natural dying-off of one branch or two but it could be what
killed off my cypress hedge last year namely the dreaded Phytophthora,
which was discussed on a thread "Oh Dear :-(" in this very NG only a
couple of days ago
R.


I called the wrong thread - it should have been "Tree experts - Rowen Tree"

On Sun, 12 Jul 2009 18:30:47 +0100, Rondeco
wrote:


Hello all ,
I'm hoping somebody can identify an evergreen shrub that I
have in my garden so I can find out how much/when to prune it . It's
really got way too big at around 10ft tall and unsightly brown patches
have started to appear on it , the foliage has a slightly lemony smell
when rubbed between your fingers.
It's said a picture is worth a thousand words so here are three
pictures including a close up of the foliage .

T.I.A.
Ron

[image: http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/a...30/shrub1.jpg]
[image: http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/a...30/shrub2.jpg]
[image: http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/a...30/shrub3.jpg]

My guess, as another urgler suggested is crytomeria japonica, but it's
a long time since I saw one close up. It has been pruned and shaped
so no natural habit to go by.

Pam in Bristol