Bought first shrub(emerald green arboritae) Can I save it?

14 years ago

I am completely new on here. I just moved into our first home from an apartment, so I am excited to start gardening.

Anyway I bought an emerald green arborvitae and a rhododendron CRETE on clearance for $2 each. I have a space next to a walkway that I need to fill in because we plan to put a gate in the beginning of it in the Spring.

Here are my issues other than I have never planted anything other than vegetables in containers before ;)

-The area looks like there is almost no dirt. Woman next store said they is alot of rock, like shale...almost no dirt.

-The arborvitae is completely browned out on the bottom, less than half though.

Any advice, will this work or not? Is it too late to even plant these?

If someone tells me how to, I have pictures of them.

Thank you in advance.

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Comments (4)

jean001
14 years ago
"Completely browned out on the bottom" sounds like serious damage. It makes me wonder if those plants are worth planting.

Sp, please post your pictures, then we'll go from there.
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
14 years ago
dont bother..

you paid 2 bucks for a 10 to 20 dollar plant..

it has been severely damaged this summer.. by the seller ...

even if you make it live.. its going to be ugly for a couple years..

either go get your 2 bucks back ... or live and learn... it might not be worth the gas to drive back ...

sometimes a bargain.. is just not worth it ...

will snow on the sidewalks be a winter issue.. salt??? .. etc ... if so, the spot might be better used for annuals next year ...

good luck

ken
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i am stumped.. based both on your volume.. budget constraints.. size needs and the need for instant gratification.. due to the pool ... at worst.. i was thinking of throwing in a yellow every third or 4th plant ... but all i can come up with is more thuja.. like yellow ribbons .. or the yellow one with the dutch name..which i am blanking on ... [i want to say horstman.. but i know that is wrong] the key was reiterated: Sticking your finger into the soil is the only way to tell when they need water. you can also tell a wet pot from a dry pot.. by weight ... they should all be rather heavy .. as compared to the lack of water weight ... but it doesnt matter.. because they just dont need that much water this time of year.. its just not hot enough for the pots to be getting so dry.. that you need to water every single day .. the fact that the water runs out the bottom.. MEANS NOTHING ... if the middle of the root mass is bone dry .. insert finger.. and use a screwdriver if you have to.. to find out how wet they are .. did you read the planting guide yet ...??? consider buying a couple extra.. as nobody expects you to have a 100% success rate ... i wouldnt even expect such of myself over 50 odd plants ... ENGINEERED drip irrigation.. would be brilliant ... see my suggestion at the link ... i have used the techline on my GGiants ... drip irrigation has NOTHING to do with those carp weep hoses at bigboxstore ... we want to know how much is coming out of each dripper.. for how many gallons in how many hours... not hoping some cheap=-a$$ system will even push water down the length of the hose ... it can all be connected to a hose ... no need for anything fancy ... ken Here is a link that might be useful: link
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Hi Amy. From what I've gathered here so far, I do not believe this foliar death to have anything to do with how the trees were planted or cared for since. The only thing I can come up with is that they might have dried out in shipment or immediately after. FWIW, there are few plants more forgiving than arbor vitae. There is a well-known college-level tree and shrub book (Dirr), wherein this expert states, as his first entry under Thuja occidentalis-the trees you got-"A healthy tree". I don't like the multi-stemmed types like yours, partly because of the snowload issues, but as you state, yours is not an area that typically gets lots of snow. In any case, that has nothing to do with this issue. Ken's advice to water when water is needed is right on and this will usually amount to a once per week thing, barring sufficient rainfall. Someone mentions that all burlap, etc, should be removed, and I agree. But even so, this also would have nothing to do with that foliage dieing off. The rootballs were of decent size. That wasn't the problem. Also, I would not fertilize these trees at all, or at least not until they are well established. And then only very moderately. Additionally, The genus Thuja is one of the most tolerant of all conifers to alkalinity, actually making their best growth in regions having limestone rock near the surface. So the concrete will not be a problem at all for these trees. Mulching around new plantings is always a good idea, but again, the fact that you have not yet done so is not why the dieback occurred. Unless some new bit of info is revealed, I can only surmise that the rootballs got too dry for a little too long, immediately before, during, or after you received the plants. Trees do show a delayed reaction to many stress factors, so good-looking plants could have been damaged before that damage shows up. +oM
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Hi Kevin, The variety of causes for what ails any plant is often vast ranging from drought, fertilizer burn, freeze/ thaw damage, insects, injury, fungus and disease. What often drives gardeners is immediate need and risk of inaction. For other perspectives try contacting your county extension office and sending in these pix. Also try one of several online sources such as Yardener.com, AskMelinda and Gardening Know How Q& A. You may not get to an exact answer as to what has caused this puzzling problem but it may help you decide if you have to take action or can watch and wait. These trees grow very slowly, only about 9-12" per year. I agree that fall planting is ideal though I didn't always understand just how much better things fare when doing that. Summer planting is super stressful. When I planted mine in June I lost 2 within a month. They were throttled by storms. I just went and bought new ones that I planted in fall. They did better, not having to cope with transplant shock, storms, drought stress and the rest. So don't worry at all, if you find that you can't correct the problem then either let them hang around and see how they do for one year and replace them next fall or go ahead and do it this fall. Considering their slow growth the replaced ones won't be far behind the established ones.
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tsugajunkie z5 SE WI ♱
14 years ago
Welcome to gardening and the forums.

To post your pix upload your pix to a free site like Photobucket. Then copy the html code and paste it in your post here. When you preview your post, you'll see your pix (if all went right).

As for the plants, $2 is a great ante to pay to get in the gardening game. When did you plant them? How did you plant them? Do anything to the roots? Or to the soil? How did you water them? These things as well as the fact they sat in a nursery lot all summer can affect them.

tj
Donna
14 years ago
Just some thoughts. I have at least two dozen Emeralds on my property planted in full sun to almost complete shade. It is NORMAL for them to have browning of their foliage this time of the year. Even though they are evergreens, they still shed some worn out leaves. It is definitely worse when they are young. As they grow bigger and older, the browning tends to be on the inside of the plant around the trunk.

I would be far more concerned about the condition of your soil. You need to give your plant a two to three foot diameter hole for it to have the best chance. It doesn't have to be especially deep. About one foot (a shovel's depth) will do. Work lots of good stuff into the hole: composted manure, shredded leaves, peat humus,something like that. I cut a foot deep circle in the ground with my spade, then cut it into 6 to 8 "pie pieces" with the spade. Pile about four to six inches worth of amendments on top of the pie. Then begin to dig, lift, turn, and break the soil in the hole until it's soft, fluffy and uniform in color. If the soil is full of rock, dig them out. If you can't get at least 8 inches of depth because of the rock, put your plant somewhere else. Once the soil is in good shape, dig out the center part and set your plant in the hole. Backfill with the soil you removed. Take your time! It's hard work, but you only have to do it once if you do it right. If you're not in shape, plant one today, one tomorrow.....

It's VERY important not to plant Emeralds too deeply in the hole. I nearly lost one this way. You want the soil level of the root ball to be even with or even an inch or three above the soil level of the ground when you put it into the hole. (If you plant it high, just mound soil up around the root ball.) If you think you planted it too deep, lift it and re-plant. That's how I saved mine. It looked dead. Really dead. But it did survive and now has caught up with the others.

When you finish planting, immediately add a good 4 to 5 inches of mulch around the plant, covering the entire hole at least. Water it in well, and never again unless you're not getting reasonably regular rain.

Emeralds are great low maintenance plants. They're worth a bit of extra effort in the beginning. If it survives, you can brag for years about your great bargain! If not, it was cheap education. :)

Bought first shrub(emerald green arboritae) Can I save it?

Comments (4)

jean001

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

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tsugajunkie z5 SE WI ♱

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