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Conifers New England Gardening Trees

Arborvitae has developed brown spots...now what?

last year

My 6 year old Arborvitae developed brown spots over the last 3-4 weeks. I live in eastern Mass and it has been a very dry spring and summer. Over the last 3-4 weeks, we have gotten above average rain. None of my 6 other Arborvitaes are seeing this behavior. During the drought, I didn't provide much water to the trees. I imagine this is some form of drought stress manifesting. I need some advice on what to do before it gets worse. Do I cut out these dry branches? Do I start watering several times per week? Do I do nothing and it will work itself out?

Comments (4)

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
last year
any kids around to damage it.. say.. kick a ball into it??

at 6 year in situ.. it would have to be a pretty severe drought to affect a mature established tree.. regardless.. it would affect the whole plant.. not one branch ..

prune it out.. it will fill back in in a year or two..

the lower damage looks like dog ..... prune that off also ..

you can wait until spring if you want to see if those pieces recover. but i dont it ... and im not sure i would want to look at it all winter ...

put the hose on trickle and let it go for a few hours.. move it around the plant every hour... cant hurt to give it a good deep drink before winter ...

ken
russell82216
Original Author
last year
Kids and a dog but I don't think the kids did anything to it. Dog likes to run in and around the tree. I'll give it a prune and deep water it. Thanks.
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interior browning is normal as no sun get in there ... one single SPOT.. as you term it... is probably shipping damage... is it about the size of a mans hand if gripping the plant to whip in on or off a truck??? i would not have amended the soil ... i work pure yellow sand also ... did you unwind any circling roots at planting???' insure PROPER WATER... and PROPER MULCH... and you should be all set... ask if you dont know what that means .... there isnt much more to speculate about.. short of a picture to SEE what is really going on ... i would not jump to any conclusions regarding a blight ... without a picture ... ken
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ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
last year
odds are.. if you track far enough into the tree.. it will all be one branch... just look for the damage ... bent or broken or something ...

i was a stay at home dad.. you have a lot more faith in your kids then i experienced.. lol ... not that they die anything intentionally.. but stuff happens .. and for some reason.. they wont just admit it ..

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prairiemoon2 z6b MA
last year
last modified: last year
My Arborvitae gets some brown, just from not enough watering. And I trim it out and I ended up putting a soaker hose around the base so I can water just that specifically more often than other areas. It is an investment in money and time and an element in the garden that brings a lot to the table and is not easily replaced, so, I give that more attention.

I agree with Ken, that the higher brown branch, might have been a break further back on the branch. I've had that happen from a tree branch from a tree that overhangs it, falling into the Arborvitae.

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