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Half dead trees


Hi guys,
Yesterday I cut back an extremely overgrown shrub that I have inherited only to find the surrounding trees are all brown and dried out at their bases where the shrub had been. Can I do anything to bring those parts back to life?
Cheers,
Jo
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Posts
Conifers won't grow back from brown wood, but if there is any trace of green growth still remaining anywhere then they should recover in time. I would tidy them up, cut off any that is obviously dead, tie in that sagging branch on the middle one and then give them a good watering followed by a mulch of home made compost if you have any or some feed. Then wait and see if they show signs of recovery.
The ones on the outside look as if they may make new growth that could be encouraged to cover the bare patches, but that looks less likely for the middle one. However it is probable that it has had the same effect on the two behind it, so taking it out would make things worse. You may have to grow something else in front to disguise it!
The alternative if you want to keep them would be to cut out all the dead lower branches, but it is hard to do this without them looking odd.
Thanks for that Buttercup. I'm definitely going to grow something else there but in the meantime I will try tidying up the trees and I've got plenty of compost so I shall see how I get on.