overall view of giant arb showing yellowing and browning

closeup of giant arb showing yellowing and browning

another closeup of giant arb showing yellowing and browning

looks like damage from the garbage cans below... or whatever that stuff is.. is a teenager involved in moving such??? .. lol... in other words.. mechanical damage ....

that is not the standard form of a Green Giant... are you sure of this ID... not that it makes any difference to the problem... just a curiosity ...

i knew you werent in snow country.. as that plant would be decimated in a MI winter ...

snip out the brown.. INSURE good watering.. skip the fert ... wont hurt.. just not needed ....

ken

wait a minute.. WAG .... why is it so bare on one side.. did you remove some other larger plant ???? if so.. its leaves are sunburning.. as they were not accustomed to blistering sun ....

Ken thanks for the response

>looks like damage from the garbage cans below...

nope, multiple plants have the issue on all sides. I a posted bigger view. The first picture was the worst of them. Apologies for the bad lighting but you can see the other areas as well.

>that is not the standard form of a Green Giant... are you sure of this ID

nope

>i knew you werent in snow country.. as that plant would be decimated in a MI winter ...

some snow on long island, but not 15 feet deep.

>snip out the brown.. INSURE good watering.. skip the fert ... wont hurt.. just not needed ....

already snipped out three times, I keep getting more dead

>wait a minute.. WAG .... why is it so bare on one side.. did you remove some other larger plant ???? if so.. its leaves are sunburning.. as they were not accustomed to blistering

prior leafminers (few years back)

hey!!! ,, only 13 feet of snow... lol ..

any chance at chlorinated water inundation ... i am still trying to blame the kids.. lol ...

where are you.. super storm sandy hit you.. again salt water issues.....ahh.. long island ....

they are not GG ... maybe joy can tell you what kind.. but for this exercise.. an arb.. is an arb.. is an arb ...

i am still thinking.. overall.. they look pretty good.. and all i can think of is mechanical damage ... meaning someone is messin with them ...

ken

Hey Bill,
Good pics- looks like pic #3 shows a little nibble on the underside of the dead twig, 1" beyond the live, smaller sprout....twig girdler??? ....typical flagging symptoms....

Ken - I don't think it's a pool water issue. I have two others away from the pool with the same issue. Not salt-water, I am far enough away from the bay so no flooding for me.

Also, I checked my original landscaping plan. The landscaper listed them as Green Giant Cypress which I don't think exists. Maybe they are Leyland Cypress? So maybe Seiridium canker?

Danbonsai - thanks for the reply. I'll take a real close look for more nibbles and see what I can see. Anything in particular to look for?

Bill,
Not sure, but possiblely night feeding beetles...you do the rest... no offence...
Cheers

Ken is right, the colour doesn't fit for 'Green Giant', it's to dark green for this cultivar.
Because of this dark colour I think it's Thuja plicata 'Atrovirens'.
Atro = dark
Virens = green
Together = dark green :0)

Dan- I took a look last night. I didn't see anything eating the trees or any other chew marks. But thanks for suggestion.

Joy
I looked up Thuja plicata 'Atrovirens' - others names were Giant Arborvitae, Western Arborvitae, Western Red Cedar - I guess there is a lot of guessing out there :).

But I also saw that Thuja plicata 'Atrovirens' has red-brown flaking bark. Mine has bark that is brown-grey (and flaking). What about Leyland Cypress?

Bill, it's foliage isn't right for a Leyland Cypress.
It's a Thuja plicata for sure.
The dark coloured foliage is a typical characteristic for 'Atrovirens', but maybe it's another cultivar of this species...

Thanks Joy.
So its a giant arbor Arborvitae, just not "green" (which seems to be the problem at hand :)

So not being a Leyland Cypess, it's probably not Seiridium canker. Athough that fit pretty well (distinct separation of live vs dead branches, flagging, etc) expect for the lack of sap oozing.

Bill,
I thought it might have been a weevil of some description. Possibley Pales weevel, usually a problem of pine, but will feed on T. occ.,but if there are no other girdling signs on other branches then ...???....
Good Luck

There are certainly Thuja occidentalis cultivars with dark green foliage, 'Nigra' for instance. If anything, that's what these look like to me, what with the multiple competing leaders, darker green coloration, and not very tree-like growth habit. Any T. plicata's I've ever seen, other than dwarf cultivars, had strongly tiered branch arrangement.

Absolutely do not appear to be GGs.

+oM