We should also bear in mind that, because of the retained foliage acting as an umbrella , the ground beneath conifers doesn’t get as much benefit from rain in the winter as that beneath deciduous trees and shrubs.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
We have some very nice lemon cypress trees, which look very similar to the ones in your photos (minus the topiary). 2 in the back garden, 4 in the front garden. We lost one of the ones in the backgarden about two years ago, slowly turning brown. All others have started this year as well. They started off with some brown patches and and the brown patches are now expanding. In the front the brown patches started from the top extending down, the opposite direction the back garden. It is really disappointing; they are also over 15 years old. We have other shrubs, trees and bushes right next to them which have not been affected. I will check the roots when we dig them out in autumn, it’s a bit odd that these trees are the only ones affected by the potential lack of water. We also have other conifers in the garden which are absolutely fine.
We will check out the roots when we take them out as I know a root virus can kill them. It is so disappointing. Thank you for taking the time to reply.
Conifers have shallow roots, usually in the top three feet of soil. As they don’t have deep roots which would enable them to search for water, they need extra watering in times of drought. Your trees are close to the fence, in a rain shadow, which makes watering even more important in extreme temperatures. Their shape would also lead to rain run off, acting like an umbrella and reducing the amount reaching the root area. Your vigilant watering would have been sufficient in normal times but last summer was extraordinary. Many of us have seen trees and shrubs suffer as a result, compounded by an unusual winter.
Thank you so much, that really all makes sense. We planted them nearly 18 years ago as the field behind them is slightly higher than our garden. When it rained, the water ran from the field onto our lawn, making it like a sponge. It didn't make much difference so we planted conifers on the other side to help soak it up before it reached our garden, which helped enormously but sadly it's probably not helped at all with the dryer summer. Thank you for replying.
The sunny south side? Or perhaps the windy side? Or perhaps weed-killer overspray. Your hard landscaping looks quite new, might you or your contractor have disturbed something?
location: Surrey Hills, England, ex-woodland acidic sand. "Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
Maybe the type of conifer also plays a role and makes them more susceptible to drying out. Just speculating . Only the golden cypress ones seems to be affected, all other conifers are as lush as ever. Our ground is clay, very moisture retentive, we are still squelching this year in some parts of the garden in mid May.
I completely agree with the rain umbrella, the mulch around the cypresses can be dry even after heavy rain, so I tend to water this area in even if we had rain.
The sunny south side? Or perhaps the windy side? Or perhaps weed-killer overspray. Your hard landscaping looks quite new, might you or your contractor have disturbed something?
We have the sun most of the day in the garden. We possibly thought it might be the snow that we had, sitting on them. Our landscaping was done before the trees went in 18 years ago. I am thinking that it is a lack of water. Thank you for replying.
Maybe the type of conifer also plays a role and makes them more susceptible to drying out. Just speculating . Only the golden cypress ones seems to be affected, all other conifers are as lush as ever. Our ground is clay, very moisture retentive, we are still squelching this year in some parts of the garden in mid May.
I completely agree with the rain umbrella, the mulch around the cypresses can be dry even after heavy rain, so I tend to water this area in even if we had rain.
The cloud bush on one side of the middle conifer doesn't look too good to be fair. I can't see any new green sprouting on them. I am going to give them a light trim and see if any new growth pops up.
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Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
The sunny south side? Or perhaps the windy side? Or perhaps weed-killer overspray. Your hard landscaping looks quite new, might you or your contractor have disturbed something?
"Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."