hello everyone, I have seven italian cypresses six to seven ft. apart, I planted them six years ago one suddenly died last year and I replaced it with one the same size as the rest, now they're aprox. 8 to 9 ft. tall. they were all nice and green during and after winter time, now I noticed that two are turning brownish and dry but at the same time there's tiny little green branches popping out from the trunk, they look bad, green in some parts and really dry in others. I don't water these trees with dripping lines, they get the water from the sprinkle system 5 mins. in the morning and 5mins. in the evening, the weird thing is that last year it happened exactly the same thing but only with one of these two during summer time last year and slowly turning green when we were getting close to fall-winter, I really don't have a clue if I'm watering to much or not. and why the other trees look green from the outside and when I stick my hands through the branches they look dryish from the inside, it's getting hard for me to understand these trees. I had a dream long time ago that I had these 7 or 8 italian cypresses lined up tall and green, it would be so sad that now that they're 8 to 9 ft. tall I'll have to chop them down because I let them die. please HELP !!! oh !! and by the way last year I started using this liquid food from Miracle Grow every 2 weeks and it seems it was working good now I started to use it again two weeks ago, should I keep using it, should I stop using it, what kind of food or fertilizer is good for these trees ? thx. Rudy.

Thanks for all the suggestions. The female holly was dead, dead, dead. No dormancy. Everything very brittle (ie branch would snap in half) and no signs up life when I dug it up. I actually have never paid much attention to the holly, as it was always very self-sufficient. A little Holly Tone in the Spring, as advised from our local expert gardener we hired when we first moved in. The anti-fungal was used well after the dying was happening. It was organic and on the advice of my local nursery, which has an arborist on staff. I didn't bring a twig, though, so he was only guessing. I guess I'll bring a twig into him to take a look at. Would just hate to lose my male holly. Thanks again. S

Yeah, some of the Chamaecyparis can get pretty ugly at the end of the year with the inner browning. I almost pulled my 'Fernspray Gold' from the yard the first year I had it. It was pretty ragged looking but my wife told me to keep it. I've had it 4 years now and It looks pretty cool for a golden, scragally, ferny thing. I actually like it a lot, just look somewhere else when it starts doing the inner browning thing. I also do what Mike does and knock off all the browning foliage to make it look presentable again. I guess mine looks pretty decent for growing in thick clay. Mike, I'll make my unqualified guess and say that your plant is either 'Filicoides' or 'Filicoides Compacta' if it is simply green and ferny. If it is ferny and gold then it is 'Fernspray Gold' and if it is ferny, gold, and has slightly more refined ferny foliage then I would say that it is 'Golden Fern', a sport found on 'Fernspray Gold' which I think was a sport found on 'Filicoides'. Tee hee. This post was edited by garen59 on Wed, Nov 12, 14 at 21:18

"Ignorant"? Moi? I'm thinking you may be the ignorant party in this discussion :-) These are only the first few articles that turn up with a Google search but there are dozens more out there. But then it appears that you do not believe what plant pathologists across the country have come to a pretty firm consensus about. ISU Extension Serivce: "Once a tree is diagnosed with Rhizosphaera needle cast, the management tactics aim to reduce the spread of the disease to healthy tissue. One common misunderstanding about this disease is that once needles become infected they cannot be “cured”. Once needles are infected they cannot be healed or cured and will eventually fall off of the tree. One option for management of this disease is to simply not plant susceptible trees. In situations where spruce is the tree of choice, try to avoid blue spruce and take a look at Norway spruce as an alternative." University of Minnesota extension publication: " Colorado blue spruce (Picea pungens) is highly susceptible and is commonly affected. Do not plant Colorado blue spruce (Picea pungens) or other spruce that are not well adapted to the environmental conditions in your area. Damage typically starts on the lower branches and moves up the tree. If the majority of needles are infected for 3 to 4 years in a row, the branch will die." NMSU extension publication: " Rhizosphaera needle cast, a fungus disease caused by Rhizosphaera kalkhoffii, is primarily a disease of blue spruce (Picea pungens) trees in New Mexico. Infected needles turn yellow in July and then reddish-purple in August. The needles eventually turn brown and fall off one or more branches. A severely affected tree will have many bare branches. Premature needle drop is the primary damage, causing the tree to become unsightly. Branches that defoliate for four or five years may die. The disease usually attacks the oldest needles on branches in the lower portion of the tree canopy first and progresses upward, giving the appearance of death from the bottom up and inside out. If left uncontrolled, the disease can eventually kill the tree. " Wisconsin Horticulture publication: " What is Rhizosphaera needle cast? Rhizosphaera needle cast is one of the most common fungal diseases of Colorado blue spruce. It can make Colorado blue spruce unsightly and unusable in many landscape settings. How do I avoid problems with Rhizosphaera needle cast in the future? The easiest way to avoid Rhizosphaera needle cast is to avoid planting Colorado blue spruce." Morton Arboretum: " Rhizosphaera needle cast is a common foliar disease of spruces and other conifers caused by the fungus Rhizosphaera kalkhoffii. Colorado blue spruce is particularly susceptible and can be severely damaged by this disease. Heavily infected trees can suffer severe needle loss and branches may die as they become defoliated. Trees are rarely killed by Rhizosphaera needle cast, but several years of attack will take its toll and only the current season needles may remain. This disease can be frustrating because severe defoliation can occur quite rapidly and without indication that the disease is even present." Penn Sate Extension publication: "Spruce often tend to lose lower branches and become unattractive with age, especially during periods of environmental stress, caused by drought and frequent rain. Recent wet weather years have been especially hard on spruce trees, as evidenced by the number of dying trees visible in local landscapes. A fungal disease affecting spruces is Rhizosphaera needlecast. Symptoms may first appear in mid- to late-summer as yellowing of the innermost needles on the middle to lower sections of the tree. These needles change from yellow, to brown, or purplish-brown and eventually fall off the tree. Because of susceptibility to this disease, less vulnerable conifers including concolor fir (Abies concolor), Oriental spruce (Picea orientalis), Serbian spruce (Picea omorika), and cultivars of Eastern red-cedar (Juniperus virginiana) should be used in preference to Colorado blue spruce." And from an arborist website: " Sprays control the disease but do not cure it. The goal of treatment is to protect each season’s new growth from re-infection."