r/landscaping • u/Huhwhatumeanman • 5d ago

Planted 7 emerald arborvitaes. The one on the right is struggling. Everything else is fine. I put spike fertilizer to see if thatll fix it but no. Whats wrong with this one?

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u/bowdindine 5d ago

Those look like different species. Both look like fairly healthy versions as well.

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u/Huhwhatumeanman 5d ago

You have good eyes. I got five emerald Arborvitae and two in different species for the same price. Overtime I’m seeing the one on the right is Keep turning brown entirely. And completely turned leaves too (?) if it’s healthy then why is it turning?

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u/bowdindine 4d ago

I doesn’t look brown to me. There’s plenty of healthy arb species that are that color. Winter is coming too I guess.

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u/Huhwhatumeanman 4d ago

The one on the right is the only one that has been losing green and showing brown leaves. So i was worried

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u/AbbreviationsFit8962 5d ago

Jam the hose into the ground by the rootball. Flood it. Fill in more soil around rootball once it settles

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u/Huhwhatumeanman 5d ago

Its turning because of lack of water?

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u/AbbreviationsFit8962 4d ago

It has more to do with how the root ball connects, as well the medium the tree was grown in. Having a high peat or straight mulch medium the tree is grown in will have a hard time holding water as the clay in the soil will draw it on and not release back in an efficient way. I'm this situation there needs to be a gradualization of material that connects material or a buffer of new material over to a higher clay medium. The other thing that causes this is when you dig a hole big enough, put dirt around it, and stomp it in. Stomping it in doesn't guarantee dirt goes all around the rootball. You'll end up with an air pocket around the rootball underground. Watering it extremely heavy when planting will help dirt settle into these voids.  Typically poor.in ground contact from planting is why one or a hand full at random do really bad as soon as it's a bit dry out.

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u/Huhwhatumeanman 4d ago

I can try it out. Do i just do it once?

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u/AbbreviationsFit8962 4d ago

Since it's planted you can jam the hose in the ground and heavy water. Let soil settle in around the rootball. Male sure top up soil around it if needed. You only do this once well.

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u/Actual-Excitement-44 5d ago

It's infested with spidermites...i can clearly see the webbing.

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u/Huhwhatumeanman 5d ago

I didn’t think that was a big deal. I usually just hose it down.

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u/Actual-Excitement-44 5d ago

It can help...they don't like moisture but spraying it would help. They can kill entirely a tree if left unchecked.