Can you post photos? Or at least a description or rough drawing of the foliage! Are the leaves needle-like or scale-like? What do you mean by "Neither one of them have cones, however they bear some kind of fruit"? Maybe juniper "berries"? (which are actually cones, but look like berries)

Resin

Forgot to say - "" - yes, they do, at least when they are old enough (maybe yours aren't), BUT, they don't have anything else 'fruit'-like.

Resin

I will be sure to post some pictures tomorrow if you can tell me how to do it. I am fairly new here.

We had a very bad ice storm earlier this year. I wonder if that had anything to do with it.

I am sure the trees are pretty mature as they stand about 30 feet tall.

Please check back, I sure would appreciate it :-)

For photos, post the tag line of a photo you've loaded into a Photobucket account into the text of your message here.

You could probably also get a book on conifers from the library and flip through it to identify the species you have. A book might also provide a primer on ailments that affect the conifers you have.

Brown needles on the inside are part of the life cycle of many conifers. Even if they have something, they aren't automatically dying if they're afflicted; conifers can recover.

KarinL

High everyone, sorry I am so late about posting these pictures of my conifers. It rained here a few days and then I had to try to learn how to use photobucket and post here.

This is my very first attempt to post several pictures here. I hope they are not too big and that they are clickable. There is a VERY great chance that it will not work at all.

I know that the conifers look extremely bad. My DH has been away from home for almost two years (home about every 3 months/contracting job) so they are unkempt. I do not have the guts to crawl underneath them and get all the vines that are growing there. I have seen opossums (sp) go under them. That is why I need someone to either come take care of them and especially see if they are savable.

So here goes, my first attempt: OK, it appears to have worked, all pictures are clickable and have text with them you should be able to see when clicking on.

I think that I murder everything that I try to grow.

Anyway, thanks so much for everyone's help. It is truly appreciated :-)

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OK, it appears that there is no words showing up. The first 6 pictures are of Conifer #1 and the last 6 pictures are of Conifer #2

Picture #1 Conifer #1
Picture #2 These are what the tree produces
Picture #3 Some of the weeds growing up
Picture #4 A dead part on the tree, there are several
Picture #5 Appears to be some grapes
Picture #6 Some little muddy or dead looking things on tree
Picture #7 Conifer #2 (worse shape)
Picture #8 What grows on this tree, but it is a different species than #1
Picture #9 Some of the weeds growing up in this tree too
Picture #10 More grapes?
Picture #11 A dead part on this tree, this tree is worse
Picture #12 This is inside of the tree, appears to be all dead, both trees look like this on the inside.

Thanks so much for hanging in there with me :-)

Could you upload them a bit larger than a postage stamp? Can't tell from the thumbnail photos...

hibiscusfreak, just click on photos for larger size.

Dave

Those are both Juniperus virginiana. The burnt brown areas need to simply be pruned. And anything else "twig-like" with no foliage that makes them look junky.

The rest is weeds that need to be controlled. The burned foliage damage appears to be insect activity In MY Opinion. Could also be a broken branch. I'd bet on bagworms if I had too.

Dax

Sorry about that, my first try, I thought that you could click on the thumbnail and the pic. would be larger. Gosh, I had hoped for a way around this because there are 12 pictures and they will take up so much space. Here goes another try.

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Conifer #1 - A Picture of the Whole Tree

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Conifer #1 - What it bears

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Conifer #1 - Some weeds/vines that are growing up into the tree

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Conifer #1 - Dead spot in tree, but there are more

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Conifer #1 - Looks like grapes

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Conifer #1 - These are some black muddy things I found on the tree

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Conifer #2 - Picture of whole tree

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Conifer #2 - This is what it bears, but it IS NOT the same species as the first tree

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Conifer #2 - Here are some the weeds growing up in this tree

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Conifer #2 - Looks like more grapes

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Conifer #2 - Dead spot in tree, there are many more, and more than Conifer #1 has

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Conifer #2 - This is a picture of the middle of the tree that appears to be dead, Conifer #1 looks the same

Hope this turns out better for everyone and thanks again :)

Agree with Juniperus virginiana.

The "black muddy things" look like galls of some sort, maybe caused by a rust fungus (possibly Gymnosporangium). Probably old and dead by now, but no harm in pruning them out.

Keeping the vines and pokeweed out will be a matter of constant attrition, pulling them out whenever they re-appear.

Resin

Ahhh, much better pics! :)

I also agree with the Juniperus for the first one. But just curious, how did you determine that the 2nd one is not the same species? I think it looks very similar from the foliage photos, but might also guess it to be a Cedrus or Cupressus of some sort. ?

RE: I think it looks very similar from the foliage photos, but might also guess it to be a Cedrus or Cupressus of some sort.

Not cedrus or cypress. I can't think of any cupressus that would be cold hardy there. Probably goes for cedrus too. And cedrus doesn't have scale foliage or berry-like cones. And the cones are wrong for cupressus too. There are lots of different forms of juniperus virginiana and of course they do vary from seed somewhat.

One thing you might consider to keep the weeds and vines out is to limb up the tree just a little and mulch underneath it. BTW - 'limbing up' is removing the lower whorls of branches. It lets you mow or mulch under the tree but some people will tell you it spoils the look a little.

Both those trees look 'saveable' to me, they just need a little pruning mulching etc. Good luck. You could call an arborist, tree service or just do it yourself.

Thank you all so much for your responses!!

So the trees are savable? I was really doubting because the inside of the trees look dead and some of the branches are dying. Is it normal to see all that dead in the middle?

I will have to have someone come help me limb them up and there is absolutely no way I can get up real high and cut the dead branches off. I think a bucket truck is in order for that one!! :-)

If I get the trees pruned a little to give them better shape, when is the best time?

How do I keep that junk from growing inside the tree, dig & cut it out, or just keep pulling it out?

The reason I know these trees are different is because Conifer #1 is a little darker and grows a little diffferent and Conifer #2 is a little lighter and seems to weep a little more. Also Conifer #1's branches are a little prickler. So like was mentioned here maybe these are two different forms of Juniperus Virginiana.

Oh, they used to be such beautiful trees........

Thanks again for all of the help. Maybe I haven't murdered these trees yet.....but it is true, I don't have a brown thumb, I have a BLACK ONE.

But I love gardening and am new to it, so time and mistakes will help me become stronger in my knowledge.

"...Is it normal to see all that dead in the middle?..."

Yes, the outer leaves shade the inner ones.

As for pruning, dead branches can be pruned anytime. I can't say when on junipers (as far as limbing up) other than now (late summer) is probably not good. It is also not good to prune junipers when they're wet as it can spread disease. Actually, I wouldn't limb them up at all, but that's a matter of taste. I'd just keep pulling the weeds, maybe mulch underneath and out from the drip line a bit.

As for the differences in the trees, they appear to my untrained eye to be variations of virginiana as mentioned above.

A side note, and this may be nothing, on conifer #2 it appears the trunk is a bit large relative to top of the tree. Did it suffer some damage and develop a new leader or is my mature vision fooling me again?

Finally, never worry about space when it comes to pictures ;-)

tj

Hi Everyone....I have some bad news....I think

Tsuajunkie - I was not quite sure what you were asking in your post above, but I think what you want to know if that is the main branch in Juniper #2, yes it is. We had an ice storm earlier this year, not sure if that might have caused it or not. I tried to get good looks inside of the tree and it appears that some of the branches leading off from the main truck are drooping VERY badly, some might even be cracked. The house was built in the late 60's and we moved here in 1994. I am not sure how long the trees have been here.

Now Juniper #1 does have two trunks. They split off and go their separate ways about 2 feet from the ground. Odd.

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I wanted to take some more pictures because it is unexplainable (sp) of the massive mess that is going on with these trees. Oh, and I read up on Pokeweed, I will never be able to get rid of this stuff. Read that the rootball was massive and the tap root can go way down into the ground. I read that you have to get ALL of the taproot too or it will come back. I do not know how I am going to do that as digging might kill my junipers.

Here are some pictures of some of what is going on with these trees to give you a little more of an idea. I think that it is a hopeless case. Would take me two years or more to work on them.

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Here is the Pokeweed growing way over my head

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Just another pic. of Pokeweed to let you know how it has taken over the tree

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Unknown weed

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Unknown weed

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Unknown weed, growing down the street coming from my tree

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Unknown weed AND a Root Beer can :)

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Unknown weed

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Unknown weeds, these are growing in the grass in front of Juniper #1

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The funky three leaved weed with the purple flowers

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Here is a green berry hanging of off whatever this is

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Well at least someone is enjoying my tree

It is hopeless, isn't it?

Well I can't help ID on most of your weeds, but the "funky three leaved weed with purple flowers" looks to be woody nightshade (Solanum dulcamara).

tj

The five-leaf vine looks like Virginia Creeper... I see tons of that in the wooded area behind our yard! The one with the purple flowers could be that Mile-A-Minute vine... not sure, but if you google it you can see some images of it. That is a very scary one to have! lol

Your conifers are Juniperus virginiana 'Canaertii'.

Interior foliage dies out as they mature. They do have multiple trunks if not corrected early in their development. They also want to develop several leaders. When that happens ice storms will take a heavy toll on them.

It is imperative that you keep all vines and anything else growing around the base away from them. This is causing part of your brown out because the limbs are not receiving enough sun light.

One downside is they are the host plant for Apple Ceder Rust. I see one of the apples on a limb. Not so bad for you but if any neighbors are growing fruit trees it is sure to infect them.

I would guess your junipers are about 25-30 years old. I have 16 that I planted in 1981 to screen the highway in back. Their height is similar to yours. They have been trouble free all these years and do an excellent job in screening the highway and cutting down on the noise.

Dave

Woody Nightshade, yes that is one of the weeds, pictures on google match the description and looks exactly like the what one of the ID's under the tree is.

I DO KNOW that I have poison ivy on my lot because my daughters boyfriend comes and mowes my lawn and he has had poison ivy a few times this year, so it is somewhere.

dcsteg, I have a small highway running on my road to that curves off a little. I think my two trees cut down on the noise alot because semi's run thru here all of the time. Small world isn't it.

I find it really strange that when we moved here (in our backyard) we had pear, peach, cherry and apple trees growing. The trees were prestine then. Do all fruiting trees apply to this including say...Dogwood.

Thank you for your valuable input on what kind of trees they are and how long they have been there.

Seems terrible to possibly have to cut them down.

Cedar apple rust is found mainly on Apple trees.

Your Dogwood is in the clear. Most common disease found in Dogwood's is Spot Anthracnose, but that's another topic.

Dave