no.. they aren't going to die from the cold in MI ...

but admit it.. you forgot to tie them up this fall ....

next chance.. after the snow is gone.. take the time to tie them back up ... a vast majority of the damage will take care of itself .... then prune out the remaining ....

DO NOT try to remove the snow.. and do NOT straighten branches that are frozen .. since it was 3F this morning in Adrian .. and a balmy 17 this afternoon.. i would NOT be doing anything very soon .... wait a week .. until the snow melts off naturally ... and tie them up ....

i tie a lose lasso around the bottom ... then wind around and up...within 12 inches of the top .. and then back down to the bottom ... do NOT tie to the tree itself ... and no need to do it too tightly .... all we are doing is using itself to reinforce itself ...

the problem was that you bought multi-leadered plants.. that obviously can NOT handle the snow load .... i doubt that you can find a single leader tree ... other than growing it from a cutting yourself .... and therein lies the problem ....

do you think it was coincidental .. that the first year they reached over the fence height.. that they had significant snow damage???? .. i dont know.. just curious ....

good luck

ken

"and they look like they lost a lot of the needles"

Deer?

One of the reasons I so dislike all the multistemmed arb cultivars out there. The species is preeminently adapted to snow. And while I'm not especially a cultivar guy when it comes to trees, there are, I believe, single stemmed varieties available. Of course, that doesn't help you now.

As Ken said, wait 'til the snow is ready to fall off, or at least, very gently shake/brush some of it off. You can do more damage by going at it too vigorously at this point.

+oM

Are you sure they lost a lot of needles or is it just the fact that being bent over is exposing the dead inner branches that have been there anyway? As Ken said, zone 5 is not going to kill them.

tj

Good point, Tsuga. I was thinking the same thing when I viewed the pics, but forgot to mention.

+oM

In the summer shots you can see that they are making short, stubby growth indicating an issue. This cultivar is normally dense with more pointy foliage sprays associated with faster annual increase than you are getting. The flopping in the snow made their comparative gauntness more evident, but gaps are also visible in the summer shots. Brown (and bare) sections do not show on the outside of this plant unless it opens up.

The condition of the roots of trees and shrubs determines what the plant can do, if the roots are having a problem the tops can't get anywhere. I would dig around them if they were mine and look for problems in the root zone. Such problems can include things you may not discover by visual inspection of the soil and roots, such as inadequate watering during dry spells or a nutrient deficiency.

interior browning of needles is normal ... they should be removed every year or two .... insert gloved arm .. and loosen it all up until it provides a natural mulch under the tree ...

use a natural binding product like jute twine or cotton string.. it will rot off.. in case it is left there too long...

i got a 1/2 mile of jute for about $12 bucks from tractor supply .... or you can buy it for $4 for 100 feet at the hardware store ...

all conifers shed needles within 3 years... the brown you see is older needles that became shaded out as the tree grew past them ... otherwise .... without a closeup... i see no needle loss ...

walk through any mature forest and look up .. the interior of all trees are bare ... its natures way ...

ken

Old dead leaves mostly not visible on this cultivar unless it opens up. Specimens in question sparse for this variety, something is retarding top growth and producing an abnormal appearance.

Here is a link that might be useful: Google Images Search Results

Thanks everyone for the feedback.

Bboy - interesting point about the growth. Based on what I've read, these tend to grow much faster than they have, and I'd wondered why they hadn't made much progress. *#^%(#(% They looked very healthy, I didn't notice any dead needles on the inner part of the tree this past summer, and we've watered and fertilized as necessary. I did notice that they filled in a lot width-wise, however. Other than the height, I THOUGHT they were doing great.

I don't think fence height had as much to do with it as does the amount of snow we've had in comparison to recent years. It's never been an issue until now. We were in the habit of twining only the loose upper brances, but my gosh, I would have had to twine the entire tree top to bottom this year to prevent this with the amount of snow we've had in Wisconsin ---- didn't know to do that....expensive lessen learned...and of course the nursery doesn't explain that when you hand over the credit card.

Deer not an issue in the inner city.

Single stemmed and multi-leadered - things you never know to ask, and they don't tell. I thought I did all the necessary research before we purchased, but next time I'll spend a little more time - perhaps on this forum!

I'm still kicking myself for not getting the Techny.

Forking common with upright forms of this species as well as others. Although 'Smaragd' not dwarf either 'Techny' probably not the shape (or shade of green) you wanted. Doubtless 'Smaragd' super common in outlets because it has the density, shape and coloration many desire, as well as apparently being suited to large-scale production.

Here is a link that might be useful: Google Pictures of 'Techny'