Conifers going brown...help!
 

About 2 months ago i noticed one of our conifer hedges was starting to turn brown, i trimmed it in March but not too close. Could it have a disease and if so could it be treated to stem the problem? Pic attached

Probably the problem is that you trimmed it in March, and a bit of frost got in to the cut bits and caused the tips to die back. But it takes a very long time for dead conifer to turn brown so you only just noticed. Basically the brown bits will probably stay brown, because new growth does not occur when there is no living fronds on a branch. Basically what you do in such a case is take bits of the adjacent living bits and twine them into the dead areas, a few inches back from the surface, so that you can trim them in future without cutting them off. Over time they will extend can become the green for those dead areas, and might eventually totally cover it.

In future confine your conifer trimming to May to September. It is normal to do it once a year about now.

Conifers going brown...help!
 

On Aug 26, 2:39*pm, echinosum
wrote:
Daveconifer;934063 Wrote: About 2 months ago i noticed one of our conifer hedges was starting to
turn brown, i trimmed it in March but not too close. Could it have a
disease and if so could it be treated to stem the problem? Pic attached

Probably the problem is that you trimmed it in March, and a bit of frost
got in to the cut bits and caused the tips to die back. But it takes a
very long time for dead conifer to turn brown so you only just noticed.
Basically the brown bits will probably stay brown, because new growth
does not occur when there is no living fronds on a branch. *Basically
what you do in such a case is take bits of the adjacent living bits and
twine them into the dead areas, a few inches back from the surface, so
that you can trim them in future without cutting them off. Over time
they will extend can become the green for those dead areas, and might
eventually totally cover it.

In future confine your conifer trimming to May to September. It is
normal to do it once a year about now.

+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+

--
echinosum

I do wonder if it's dry at the roots. with the willow behind, if you
havn't been geting much rain that could be causing problems.

Conifers going brown...help!
 

On Fri, 26 Aug 2011 10:47:42 -0700 (PDT), Dave Hill
wrote:

On Aug 26, 2:39*pm, echinosum
wrote:
Daveconifer;934063 Wrote: About 2 months ago i noticed one of our conifer hedges was starting to
turn brown, i trimmed it in March but not too close. Could it have a
disease and if so could it be treated to stem the problem? Pic attached

Probably the problem is that you trimmed it in March, and a bit of frost
got in to the cut bits and caused the tips to die back. But it takes a
very long time for dead conifer to turn brown so you only just noticed.
Basically the brown bits will probably stay brown, because new growth
does not occur when there is no living fronds on a branch. *Basically
what you do in such a case is take bits of the adjacent living bits and
twine them into the dead areas, a few inches back from the surface, so
that you can trim them in future without cutting them off. Over time
they will extend can become the green for those dead areas, and might
eventually totally cover it.

In future confine your conifer trimming to May to September. It is
normal to do it once a year about now.

+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+

--
echinosum

I do wonder if it's dry at the roots. with the willow behind, if you
havn't been geting much rain that could be causing problems.

It looks like a leylandii hedge. Whilst not ruling out frost damage,
somehow it doesn't look right for that - it's too confined an area
though I think there are areas either side of the main "damage"
beginning to turn. If it were a watering problem, I'd again have
thought the damage would be more widespread, particularly nearer to
the willow behind and would be affecting the top of the trees more.
Bug damage would normally start lower down and work up. But the
greatest progress in the browning seems to be about the middle of the
hedge height. So a bit of a conundrum.

Any chance of getting some close up photos, say of centre of the
damaged area and one or two around the periphery which are just
starting to change colour?

Cheers
Jake
==============================================
Gardening at the dry end (east) of Swansea Bay
in between reading anything by JRR Tolkien.

www.rivendell.org.uk

Conifers going brown...help!
 

On 26/08/2011 19:27, Jake wrote:
On Fri, 26 Aug 2011 10:47:42 -0700 (PDT), Dave Hill
wrote:

On Aug 26, 2:39 pm,
wrote:
Daveconifer;934063 Wrote: About 2 months ago i noticed one of our conifer hedges was starting to
turn brown, i trimmed it in March but not too close. Could it have a
disease and if so could it be treated to stem the problem? Pic attached

Probably the problem is that you trimmed it in March, and a bit of frost
got in to the cut bits and caused the tips to die back. But it takes a
very long time for dead conifer to turn brown so you only just noticed.
Basically the brown bits will probably stay brown, because new growth
does not occur when there is no living fronds on a branch. Basically
what you do in such a case is take bits of the adjacent living bits and
twine them into the dead areas, a few inches back from the surface, so
that you can trim them in future without cutting them off. Over time
they will extend can become the green for those dead areas, and might
eventually totally cover it.

In future confine your conifer trimming to May to September. It is
normal to do it once a year about now.

+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+

--
echinosum

I do wonder if it's dry at the roots. with the willow behind, if you
havn't been geting much rain that could be causing problems.

It looks like a leylandii hedge. Whilst not ruling out frost damage,
somehow it doesn't look right for that - it's too confined an area
though I think there are areas either side of the main "damage"
beginning to turn. If it were a watering problem, I'd again have
thought the damage would be more widespread, particularly nearer to
the willow behind and would be affecting the top of the trees more.
Bug damage would normally start lower down and work up. But the
greatest progress in the browning seems to be about the middle of the
hedge height. So a bit of a conundrum.

Any chance of getting some close up photos, say of centre of the
damaged area and one or two around the periphery which are just
starting to change colour?

Cheers
Jake
==============================================
Gardening at the dry end (east) of Swansea Bay
in between reading anything by JRR Tolkien.

www.rivendell.org.uk


I'm inclined to think it's Phytophthora damage, which affects the roots
and eventually the entire tree, ususally resulting in death. It is
encouraged by warm, damp conditions but often becomes really noticeable
during a period of drought when the tree is under stress. I don't think
there's a lot you can do about it now. If you'd caught it earlier, it
might have been improved by feeding and mulching but only in so much as
that would have strengthened the tree and helped it hold the pathogen at
bay.

I hate to say it because that's a beautiful hedge, but I think you
should prepare yourself to lose that tree :~(. You may feel it's worth
a chat with a good tree surgeon (or the RHS if you're a member), just in
case there is a treatment available to the professional which is not (to
my knowledge) available to the amateur gardener.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

--
Spider
from high ground in SE London
gardening on clay