IF it is appropriate to fertilize (and that can only be determined by a soil test or the plants indicating an obvious need), then the fall is an excellent time to do so, especially with hardy woody plants. Roots are in a period of active growth at that time and it has been documented that they are more able to access and metabolize nutrients then than at most other times of the growing season. You just want to avoid a high nitrogen fertilizer -- pretty much anything organic would work. Although I would never say NEVER (ken, ken, ken!!), established trees and shrubs seldom require supplemental fertilizing unless soil pH is marginal and chlorotic conditions develop. Anything applied to the top of the soil surface can be considered a 'mulch', although organic mulches like bark OR compost (or leaves, grass clippings, wood chips, etc.) are preferred and compost will provide an excellent, well-rounded, low grade nutrient source. If you mulch with compost regularly, you may NEVER (and I qualified that with a "may", ken!!) need to fertilize :-)

Wow my wife and I are (pleasantly) shocked at the possibility of not enough water. Here is other information I meant to include: These are emarald arbs. Most of the arbs on the east side have the top 12 inches drooping over at this time (Oct). I thought this was from too much water. The water drains from North to South and 'moreso' West to East. A PICTURE IS WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS, so I posted the pictures to get some help to save the arbs www.kodakgallery.com/dawksphotos. These are from 8/24. Take a look at the last 2 'distance' pictures to get better idea of the overall landscape. You can see how green the grass is on the west side from us watering them, while the rest of the grass is mostly brown. You can also see the shade of the privacy fence on the east side blocking the morning shade it used get. At noon they get sun. From the time they were planted through the summer, they were watered at least 3 times a week by us or mother nature. I noticed there was a question "by what method" did we water them. In August it was very dry but we really watered them a lot by using the hose (not soaker hose) for about 2 minutes each arb. The nursery also mentioned being careful of something called "wicking" where they advised making sure the burlap was completey covered by soil (mulch etc.) They described this as drying the rootball due to the water flowing down the outside of the burlap away from the root, so I made sure that the ones with burlap had the burlap covered. I'm holding off on changing the soil to help it drain on the east side for any other responses and will continue to water it. There are close-up pictures of the arbs labeld L or R for West and East respectively, and 1 through 15 or 16 going south to north. I am going to add pictures to that site for what they look like today. Thank you very much for your continued responses.

Even if it's not quite done, it will finish eventually. The final phase of composting is a long tail rather than a fast hot process. Now, if you're needing compost soon and there are wood chips in there, you could add some greens. Grass clippings would be good, high N plus they would help fluff the pile if mixed in thoroughly, at least for awhile until they break down. Don't turn it too much if you want it to stay warm. Usually in spring I turn that fall pile as early as I can, and by planting season (April-May) it's ready to use.

I'm in zone 8 where there is red clay and loam and is impervious so good drainage isn't the best. I learned last year that when these GG's and Leland's get "wet feet" they do this as you pictured. I had an issue with water just below the surface holding up in the root ball holes. I went back and dug up the dead ones and got them refunded and this time, knowing what I was working with what I had to devise a plan so it didn't reoccur. First, my trees were the size of yours, but spaced 8-9 foot apart with a back row of Leland cypress as a back screen. I staggered the trees when planting them. Here's the trick I devised for my application as I wasn't about to put in a expensive french drain in the whole length of the property to catch subsurface water from heavy rain runoffs or a shallow topsoil water table. 1. The holes were dug twice (or more) as wide the root ball. 2. I slashed the roots vertically all around the ball and across the bottom. 3. Added Milorganite (from Lowe's) and a fruit tree slow 8-9 month release fertilizer in the back fill dirt that came out of the hole. (Wildlife Mgt. Group makes the fruit tree slow release locally) 4. I dug the hole just deep enough to allow 2" of root ball to be exposed once it was set and done. I gashed the sides of the hole with a maddox so the roots could work their way into the walls later down the road. 5. In the "dead center" of the planting hole, I used a post hole digger and made a hole 3-4' deeper than the bottom of the planting hole. 6. I put small to medium sized river rocks from Lowe's into the hole and just enough to cover the planting hole bottom. ( I made a sump for water to collect in so, no wet feet issues) 7. I set the trees into the holes and back filled the holes. 8. I didn't stomp the dirt down around the root ball but packed it in by walking it in or using the end of a shovel handle. 9. I made sure the root ball was exposed 2" above the ground level once the holes were finished being back filled. 10. I didn't water them in right away because the ground was saturated enough already. I watered the mulch and left them for a few days then watered them in. 11. I added 2-3" of wood mulch around the root ball and out to the edge of the hole width. I DID NOT pile up mulch around the tree trunk or on the root ball. Just enough to cover it to stay moist when watered later. 12. I do not use a drip line to water them and I have at total of 31 GG's and Leland's planted. Depending on the weather (rain, heat) down here determined how or frequency I watered them. I use the old water hose technique when I water them. I usually water them (if not rainy) by watering them at the base of the tree (deep root watering) counting up to 90 and then soaking the remaining drip line around the tree and always shower the greenery on each one then move on. 13. I might do this once a week if no rain or a week and a half in duration. The whole key to my success was the planting hole design, drip line cultivated and fed with the mix I made up, mulch depth, root ball height above ground level, back fill dirt replacement, tree spacing and watering techniques. The saying goes, 1st year sleep, 2nd year creep and 3rd year grow! I accelerated it quite considerably as some are only 2 years old and were 3' tall and now are 6.5 foot tall in 1 year! I was blown away. I have posted on here before when I first planted the GG's and then replanted everything after. I did a post in the Spring of 2016 showing when they woke up and just a week or so ago on how much they've grown just one year. I can't say this fits your zone as you have a winter we never see down here. I would make sure you have those babies mulched in good for the cold blast and freeze you have up there coming soon. Browse the posts and find my posts and images of my screening I have going on for an example. Good luck as well, but I think some of those are toast by what I experienced concerning trees with "wet feet" Expect some browning inside in the fall but not to where the whole tree looks like its fried. I hope this helped you out. Here are the links to my other posts. http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/3884765/thuja-green-giants-2-month-growth-z8?n=6 http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/3850094/green-giant-leyland-cypress-zone-8-pics?n=3 http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/3850082/green-giant-leyland-cypress-zone-8?n=4