dead trees

Alison-rimmer · August 2023

had a row of conifers in a border that have all slowly gone brown in big patches , unknown cause, going to remove them, want to replace with something similar but don't want same thing to happen in 10 years time (approx lifespan of existing trees), any ideas welcome

B3 · August 2023

We need some more information. Location, aspect, soil . Some photos would be good too

Fairygirl · August 2023

Size of the border and general climate too @Alison-rimmer, as that has bearing on the eventual size of the hedge.
If the conifers have died off, it's often due to drought, especially as they're shallow rooting, so the prep for any new hedge is very important, as is the aftercare.
We're approaching bare root hedging season, so if the prep is done by October, that means you can benefit form the more economical bare root whips rather than the expensive potted ones

Alison-rimmer · August 2023

Thanks for responding quickly. I’m in Ormskirk, Lancashire. Northeasterly aspect but catches sun most of the day, fairly sheltered as close to the house. Planted between a lawn and a low wall. No obvious evidence of insect damage or disease but then I’m not an expert. Seemed odd that they slowly started to brown, the process started about 18 months ago, when they were previously healthy and well established. Thought maybe they were too big for the location but even the smallest ones met the same fate. Have removed half of them already hence the gaps in the photos.
The soil is on the silty side.

fidgetbones · August 2023

I'd go for a columnar golden Irish yew. Taxus baccata fastigata aurea. Yew can be cut to a very defined shape and will regenerate from brown wood if you've been a bit over enthusiastic.

Alison-rimmer · August 2023

Sounds good, thanks for the advice

Fairygirl · August 2023

Yes - those won't recover now. The Yew @fidgetbones mentions is a very good alternative. They can also get big, but the advantage with yew is that you can prune it successfully.
There are also 'pencil' Junipers which can be kept neat too. This is the most common one available, and many places will stock it
https://www.burncoose.co.uk/site/plants.cfm?pl_id=2405

I slightly misunderstood as I thought it was an actual hedge, rather than individual specimens.

Alison-rimmer · August 2023

That’s really helpful, thank you

plant pauper · August 2023

Mellors said my Juniper Sky Rocket was dead because it went very brown this year. I ignored him and left it alone. I see now it is recovering and has quite a bit of fresh growth.
(He also said my cordylines were dead and wanted to hoick them out like he did at his friend's house. They too are not dead! David's are though!🤣🤣🤣)

Alison-rimmer · August 2023

Thanks for the positivity, however in this instance I don’t think the brown patches will recover as it’s nearly 2 years since the first tree started to go brown and showed no sign of recovering. They have all browned off a bit in the past after being cut from which they recovered but this time it’s different.

My remaining concern is that they were diseased and I’m not sure therefore if whatever caused it is still present and if so how to treat the soil prior to re planting.

Fairygirl · August 2023

No - those brown bits won't recover.

There's been quite a lot of them round here which have gone the same way, and that's purely down to weather as we've had a lot of hot, dry weather in the last year or so, and periods of lighter rainfall, and that's what they don't like. Normally, they grow very easily here with no attention. Any conifer can struggle if they get dry conditions for long periods because of them being shallow rooting, but the effect of that isn't always immediately apparent, as they can cope for quite a while, especially if they're well established. By the time they they have those larger browned areas, it's too late to do anything.
When the bits are small, you can often snip them out, and even wire branches across the gaps etc, but it's too late for those unfortunately.

dead trees

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