where are they .... big city name .... what was summer like ...

what is the height of the damage... as compared to someone walking down the street ...

how long they been there ...

whatever it is.. its EXTREMELY MINOR .... other than checking for drought .... i dont think there is much to worry about ....

btw .... what direction do they face .... are they south facing.. with sun reflecting off the sidewalk ...

just fyi.. they are conifers ... which are also trees ... but commonly called shrubs ....

ken

long island (outside nyc) summer was pretty mild.

im thinking it might be from the harsh winter amd the heavy snow / salt.

they face East. not in any specific area, just the tips of most of the each one.

thanks for your help!

If you're super-worried about salt, a soil test would tell you, but...again, that's so minor and the rest of the Thuja looks so healthy that I wouldn't bother.

It's a bit late this year, but if you feed them next spring with any good fertilizer, they'll overgrow any damage caused by the previous winter. In your case, they don't seem to have much room to grow much more, but you might be able to allow that on the side that doesn't face the street, at least.

they will outgrow the damage without fert ... so i would skip the fert ... as trees.. these things will probably never need fert ... and if you fert the lawn behind.. they will get ore than they every need ...

they will soon be overgrowing the sidewalk.. and you will have to start shearing them ...

road salt might be an issue .... who knows ...

ken

Thuja are a titch more demanding than most trees in the fertilization department, being fast-growing, but don't generally require a specific fertilization. But it's certainly an option if the OP would want to. In my case, I pushed mine from three feet to twenty in eight years to cover a particularly obnoxious neighbor, but that was an exception to the general rules...

Although I'd recommend a low-powered organic one and in smaller amounts due to the lower amount of space available and on the lower end of the pH scale due to the preferences of the family to begin with.

As I think on it, pH can be an issue, but most Thuja adjust well and aren't that particular about it. Still, as noted, excessive salt additions not only add sodium but boost the pH toward the alkaline. Which can cause some spotty browning. It's not of any concern, and the standard fix (yellow sulfur) is generally ineffective. But it's another possibility. And the only way to be sure is, again, a formal soil test. The home ones aren't accurate enough to be sure.

Off the cuff, a small amount of Holly-Tone or Milorganite (fairly neutral, but does contain plenty of iron sulfate, which is acidic and the sulfates happily locate calcium, magnesium, and sodium and bind to them and remove them as highly soluble salts) wouldn't be taken amiss.

But, of course, it's absolutely optional.

If all this were me? I'd be out there with a fine clippers removing the brown tips. Because I'm seriously that picky. Been there, done that on my Green Giants.

First, Green Giants are a completely different species (actually a hybrid) than the Smaragd's/Emerald Green, and known for their very fast growth. Standard eastern arborvitaes, Thuja occidentalis, are not exactly very fast growing, considered to be intermediate in conifer terms, and only putting on 6-12" annually (compared to the GG's potential of as much as 5').

I see nothing in the photos that would indicate these trees need any fertilization. Aside from a few browned tips, color is good and foliage is thick and dense. Eastern arbs are moderately salt tolerant (GG's are not). Browning and drying of the tips could also well be the effect of cedar leafminers, especially as sporadically as it appears to be occurring. I'd just loosely shear all that off - the new growth in spring should fill all that in no time and it will be virtually invisible.

Hi Chris,

Like you I also live in eastern US with hot, muggy summers. The browning in your pix reminds me of the Phomopsis that I see on my procumbens 'Nana' junipers. AAMOF mine have it right now. This blight produces little fruiting bodies but you might have to use a hand lens to see them. THIS link tells you more about it.