i have found.. from experience.. that pix taken at mid day ... i see no shadows ... are often off color ... and then i noticed.. that it was the same as to my eyeballs ability to process color ...

can you take the same pix about an hour before sunset ... or early morning ...

the problem with small conifers.. is that the light goes right thru them ... and its not until a few years later.. when they actually bulk up ... that color starts to seem right ... mostly because of the dark interior ...

since you have 13 ... i would not hesitate to throw a LITTLE fert around one of them ... and see if it responds .... i usually have a cubed fert laying around.. and might spread a small handful .. 1/4 cup... at the periphery of the root ball planted.. or a foot out if bare root ... 12-12-12 ... 13 squared.. 16 sq'd .. less of the higher ...

if there is a second leader on that first one.. snip it off ... as with any others ...

and well you are out there.. use a hand trowel to dig a 6 inch hole .. and find out.. if your watering is in fact providing sufficient moisture.. at depth ... rereading.. how deep does you gauge measure.. and how does that compare to the root mass planted .... dont bet your couple hundred dollar investment.. on a 10 dollar gizmo.. check its performance ....

and dont forget... fall is coming on strong ... not too much fert.. late in the season .. we want them slowing down for dormancy.. not on steroids ... very little fert ...

if you see a result.. you can juice the rest in spring ... or maybe fall.. if someone with z7 experience suggests such ... as compared to my ground freeze z5

better pix???

ken

because we have quite awhile until cold weather hits in our zone.

==>> but you are shooting craps.. on relying on ma nature.. and what 'usually' happens ...

last year snow cover started in late october.. instead of the usual late december ...

of course.. that did not mean the ground froze that early ...

just a LITTLE ... and you might not see the result until next spring ... if any ...

i thought of something else.. and now forgot.. i will work on that .. lol .. oh... some peeps complain they bronze in winter... i actually like that part ... sometimes it comes early.. dont freak if yours bronze early ...

ken

yellowing generally is due to too much water or too alkaline of soils. It sounds like you're watering far too frequently. 2x per week is max (all 100-degree days during a given week) but once at 3-5 gallons per plant should be plenty!

Dax

Dax I will reduce the watering a bit and see what happens, thx for the input.

Ken, yes I will add a little bit of fertilizer like you said and snip off any second leaders.
My moisture reader is about 8-9 inches tall, just a cheapie I bought online. it does go deeper than I can insert my finger so I'm getting the "wet" reading down at 8-9 inches, but the soil is fairly "dry to slightly moist" when I insert my finger in the soil to about one inch.
The trees were purchased in pots from HD and they looked very healthy and had a nice dark green color. When I planted the trees, I loosened up the root mass a little bit with my hands. Sorry I don't remember the exact dimensions of the pot, but for the sake of this conversation, the root masses were a little smaller than a plastic gallon of milk.
Also I want to add, I planted them so that the top of the root mass is right at the top of the soil. I did add a little bit of natural fine shredded bark mulch around the trees, and the root masses probably have almost an inch of mulch covering it.

Also ken, forgive my ignorance, but can you please go into a bit more detail regarding "dig a 6 inch hole to see if moisture is getting to that depth?" Are you talking about filling a 6 inch hole up with water and seeing how long it takes the hole to drain?
Should the hole be dug next to the trees?

And regarding the pictures, I'm out of town for a week, I will have my wife take the same picture per your directions.

Thank you again gentlemen!!

This post was edited by boeingav8r on Sat, Aug 23, 14 at 14:20

I've planted may green giants over the years. A lot ofsmall to bigger B&Bs ones. Many have showed the exact same symptoms you are showing in the pics. Mine was most likely from soil-and just plain getting used to its environment. no over watering for me- I have too many and too little time for that. Eventually they will green up. Infact I planted about 30 smaller ones this year- some from HD others from the internet. All were very dark green when planted. now many look like yours. Not worried they will snap out of it I'm sure. A couple of the larger ones took a few years to really get their green back- but they did eventually. I never added any amendments to them either. keep an eye on them-but over all they are tough little trees.

Don't feed. You want them to search out for food and water at this age, not grow their roots in circles where you planted them.

In the next 1-2 years they should green up good.
Remember planting is a shock, give them a bit more time.

And yes water deep, less often. I'd suggest a soaker hose as it is so much easier.

I agree with Dax.

3-10 gal. of water every 2-3 days. Way to much water.

Dave

Ken - here's some pics about an hour before dusk.
They used to be as dark green as the grass in the background.

here's another

last one.
FireWeed22 - So are you suggesting not to water close to the rootmass, but water farther away from the rootmass so roots have to search for water?
That does make sense.
Thanks for all the input!!

Boein,
That is not what he said.
Go buy some more mulch for those trees.
1 inch of mulch in Texas isn't going to cut it.
When you get home from your trip, order some mulch from a local landscaping supply company, pine, have it delivered.
Then go buy a soaker hose from anywhere.
You place the soaker hose near the trunk of the tree, just not right up next to the trunk, throw 3 inches of mulch down all around the outside of the tree, not right up next to the trunk, throw it OVER the soaker hose. You won't see it, and all you have to do is turn on the soaker hose a couple nights a week for a couple hours.
Then check the soil after a couple days, up towards the tree, check to make sure it isn't dry.
With 3 inches of mulch, it should be moist.
Not wet,
You are overwatering them now. That is why they are yellow.
In the winter, don't forget ot check on them.
They will still need water in the winter.
Don't let the ground get dry as a bone, turn the soaker hose on again.
They will be fine.
Mulch them up.

One possible explanation for this sort of thing is that immature plants-especially recently planted immature plants, have not yet colonized a very large volume of soil with their little baby root systems. Thus, nutrient deficiencies can result even within a soil matrix holding all necessary nutes. This happens a lot, a young plant struggling and exhibiting poor foliage color, only to miraculously improve a year or two later. Unless they get very much worse, I'd mostly do as has been suggested and watch soil moisture, watering only when actually needed. The rest is just patience.

+oM

Butterflyu and Tom,

Thank yall very much for the input, I will get more mulch and soaker hose tomorrow.
Cheers!!!

Just wanted to update this thread regarding my Green Giants.

I planted 13 of them about 11 months ago and they all started turning yellow. Over the winter, they got progressively more yellow, almost a bronze color. However, the branches and twigs remained very soft (not at all lightweight, dry or rigid like how a dead branch is). I haven't lost any leaves at all and there's no drooping. I live in the DFW area, and over the past 3 weeks it's started to warm up. The trees have begun to turn green again, almost overnight. I'm so excited. Hopefully this yellow color was just a result of them being so young and being shocked from the planting. I'm also seeing some new growth!

Good deal. I don't normally think of such plants that far south, but what do I know. It seems to be working. Keep us posted.

+oM

Now all you need is an Acer truncatum and you are set my man.

Dax

Now we're at the end of August, and this is what they're looking like. I've done everything suggested in all the above posts (eg 3 inches mulch, not overwatering, keeping it moist underneath the mulch and not wet, watering deep with soaker hose but not overwatering)

They are planted on the side of my house, not much happens over there. There's no loose dogs in the neighborhood that might be urinating on them, and I haven't sprayed any chemicals in my yard. They do get mostly direct sunlight, and i live in zone 7 (north of Ft.Worth). It's been pretty dry and hot recently, and hasn't really rained. The branches are all very playable.

I haven't used any fertilizer.

Any idea of the sporadic yellow color and the orange on some of the leaves?

Thanks!!

Hello again! so, I'm a little out of my depth here in discussing horticulture which takes place in Texas. That said, I don't think these guys look too bad. Yes, it is troubling to see the little dead branchlets and what's more, I have no definite idea on that. If you were up here somewhere, I'd expect actual physical injury, like wind or something, but that does not appear to be the case. So here's a few things you can do: Find a clean white sheet of paper, hold it under a branch which exhibits this browning, and shake vigorously. What you're trying to do is see what, if anything, falls onto the paper. This is especially useful if a spider mite problem is suspected. And I mention that because especially in a hot zone, that could account for some of this damage. Spider mites are tiny things, not insects but more closely related to spiders. But unlike our friendly eight-legged garden helpers, spider mites suck the juice out of plant leaves and stems. They can be controlled via a variety of fairly "soft" measures-knocking them out of the tree with strong stream of pressurized water, the use of insecticidal soaps or horticultural oils, and finally, there are some heavier-duty chemicals if these measures don't do it. But I'm not saying you have spider mites, just throwing that possibility out there. Also of concern in the south are insects called "bag worms". We don't have bag worms up here thankfully but I understand they can be quite the issue down south. So look into that, although I do not see the "bags" in the photos.

Let's see, what else.....; You mention dogs, and dog pee-for whatever reason-seems to show up on arbs with regularity. It presents as blackened areas of foliage down low enough to where male dogs could lift their legs sufficiently high. There is at least some reason to think some of this damage could be due to that. But for the most part-believe it or not-these plants are doing okay. It just takes a while for the root system to build up to a point where the trees will really take off. I think that'll happen here eventually. What I do like to see is healthy growing tips-can't really call them buds on arbs-and yours appear to have healthy tips. that's where the future of the plants is and for the most part, it looks like yours are okay.

+oM

thats sounds great I will go test for the spiders, and no theres not any bagworms on these plants. I'm just hoping it's not from the heat, there's no controlling that!

yes, earlier in the year there were very nice "buds" on the tips..for lack of better word. And I am seeing growth. it's just disturbing to see the orange color, but they aren't the dark burned "dead" color, so i guess that's a good thing.

thanks

2 to 3 years.. for trees/confers.. to get fully established ...

it is not uncommon.. for prior damage to 'show' .. in the heat of summer... when the insult happens is near impossible to tell ...

the brown you see now.. could have been damage from planting.. handling ... the mulching process ... etc ...

focus on the good part.. they look fine ...

next spring.. any brown stuff.. that doesnt start growing.. just snip out ...

as to your mulching ... i would have done a 3 foot circle around each tree.. 3 inches deep.. which would have lead to a bed of mulch.. extending 1 to 2 feet out from each plant.. the entire length ... ti would have also keep the weedwhip and lawnmower.. which brings to mind ....

btw.. since you didnt do that.. think about lawnmower exhaust burning the plants since its all at that height.. especially if you have a rider ...

ken

I live in MA, I know- big difference from TX. But I've planted a few hundred green giants. and I see the yellowing all the time. They start out green but then start to turn yellowish. With me its most likely the soil since I have so many tree there is no way I could possibly have the time to over water any one tree. The newbies are usually all cycled in shifts with soakers. that being said, the ones that yellowed all end up greening up eventually. In the fall again a lot lose their deep green color but bunch back in the spring. I've had spider mites on Norways that caused damage but never on green giants. I have yet to see any insect cause any damage to them in my area.