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Emerald Green Arbs Browning

10 years ago

Hi,

It's me again. Just did an introduction of myself post. Also I asked this question in Ken's "how to transpalnt a conifer/tree -- huge pix post", but thought a new post with picture would be better for communication.

I have a row of arbs on my property line. The short ones I planted last fall, there were 3-4' arbs and they were doing good. The taller ones (6-7feet and 12 of them) were planted this fall - the beginning of Oct. I know they look a little funny. I planted the short ones last year but they were not grow fast enough for privacy screen. :) So I transplanted them to the front, and then planted the taller ones back there where privacy needed the most. I actually tried alternate pattern (to save me the number of holes I need to dig), but that looks even worse, so I ended transplant all the short ones.

The short ones are doing good (after the transplant) but those taller ones are browning, I got them from homedepot, the rootballs are clay and my soil is sandy. Before I plant I put the rootballs in a bucket of water for maybe 20minutes to 1 hour? (depend how long it take me to dig the hole, I have a lot of rocks in my soil). Maybe I should work on the root (get the clay soil off the root a little bit?) How are they doing from the attached pictures.

TIA
-Greendale

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Comments (6)

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
10 years ago
what is the tree in the first and fifth pix???

trim out the brown ... and see what happens ...

i suspect watering issues.... perhaps tree related.. especially if that is a maple ...

if watering is perfected .... they ought to fill back in ... it seems it is individual branches ... some rather large ... but the rest of the plants look good .. vibrant green ...

it may take a few years to fill back in.. as arbs are rather resilient ....

being evergreen.. the damage could be rather old.. those large branches.. could have been what some punk hoiked the plant onto the truck with.. in other words.. old abuse ...

did we tell you how to water properly ... deep and long.. trickle.. then let near dry in between ... which might all be complicated by an aggressive tree ...

ken
greendale
Original Author
10 years ago
Spent yesterday to make the 'moat' around these trees. I do NOT think the tree is maple, but I know almost nother about trees. Here is the leaves.

This post was edited by greendale on Mon, Oct 28, 13 at 13:13
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Bellily, How many of these arbs did you plant? How are they positoned among your other landscape items that are situated along the fenceline? Does the fence give them morning or afternoon shade? I only asked those questions, because you did not indicate that you planted them to screen your fence. If so then you must have planted quite a few of them. My most concern with Emerald Green Arbs is that they are not resistant to bagworms, and if they become stressed from too much afternoon heat the bagworms will come. You really would want access to the back of those shrubs to monitor for and removal of the bagworms which numerous ones at a time can start out in a tiny size that can be pretty unnoticable for a time. That is until they have done major damage to the shrub. By that time even if you discover and can remove them, could still be too late to save the shrub.
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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
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John, here was my haphazard way that I discovered a decent method to gauge moisture needs for my newly planted Japanese maples last year. I bought a small basil plant from the grocery store for $3, and I placed it next to the Japanese maple, on top of the ground. When the basil plant dried out and started getting droopy...I watered the Japanese maples! Since the potted plants dry out more quickly than plants in the ground, but both received the same rainfall, I found it to be a decent way of alerting me that the trees were about to get too dry. I still occassionally checked soil though. Sometimes when the basil was droopy, the maples would be dry, and sometimes they were okay. Context: the trees are by my patio, which is the main way I enter and exit my house due to layout. So, I would pass by there all the time and learn to glance at the basil because I didn't want to stick my finger in the ground several times a week. If you think this approach may work for you, but these trees are not where you usually walk, you may want to build in a reminder on your phone's calendar to prompt you to check. If you don't think it will work for you, that is fine as well!
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ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
10 years ago
i claim no mastery of the ID game ... but that looks like hickory or chestnut to me ...[actually i dont have a clue.. other than what is in my yard... lol]

if i read that pic right.. that is a single compound leaf ...

no recollection of nuts under it???

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: link
outback63 Dennison
10 years ago
Buying root ball Arbs that are large, 6-7 ft., is always a recipe for disaster. They always struggle to acclimate. Emerald Greens aka Thuja occidentalis 'Smaragd' are the worst of the lot when purchased that way.

When dug as a root ball plant 90% of the supporting roots are sheared off. That leaves you with 10% to support and feed the top side foliage. Since that is impossible the foliage will sluff off or brown out and die as yours are doing and it will never regenerate. When this happens you are left with a weak open looking plant that will decline and die. Usually all done in two years.

Another thing to look for with root ball stock, this includes any plant, is broken root balls. If broken it is doomed to failure as the support cast of micro-fiber hairs that feed the remaining sheared roots are severed themselves thus preventing the plant to uptake nutrients to feed the foliage. This usually occurs by ms-handling of the plant in transit. So make sure the ball is solid and the trunk does not move in the root ball.

Another concern is Emerald Greens are always multi-leader plants. Ice storms or wet heavy snow will splay them to the ground.

if you decide to start over shop for Thuja occidentalis 'Hetz Wintergreen' or Thuja plicata 'Green Giant' in 2-4 ft. height. Both single leader plants that are better choices for you.

Dave
Embothrium
10 years ago
They didn't make the move (not enough roots) or they got dried out at some point, either before you bought them or after. When you have a coarse soil and you plant intact field soil root-balls typically the soil inside the balls is fine textured and liable to shed water into the coarser soil around the planting holes. (This is why you do not want to amend planting hole back-fill as the resulting textural difference between the soil inside the hole and the soil around the hole produces a tendency for there to be problems with how water moves into and out of the planting hole).

At big box stores here you can see recently field dug 'Smaragd' drying up and browning right in the display.

Browning of well established 'Smaragd' on moist sites may often be root rot as this cultivar is more prone than others. In my area during summer I have also seen sections of foliage being on long-established, large 'Smaragd' being discolored by mite infestations.
greendale
Original Author
10 years ago
Hi, Ken:

I think you are right the tree is hickory tree.

Dave and BBoy, thanks for the detailed information, it is very helpful for my future tree purchasing and planting.

I guess what I can do now is cross my fingers and wait to see if they are still alive coming spring. Those short ones (3-4') I planted last year and I got them from BBS too. But their root ball is not clay soil. And it looks like it grow in the nursery (unlike these 6-7' trees, looks like they were dug from field and put into black nursery pots). Also they were 3-4' tall so that makes difference too.

Again, thanks a lot.
-Greendale

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