Are my arborvitaes dying? Signs of over watering, under watering, and transplant shock.

I wanted to give a status update on how my recently planted arborvitaes are doing so far, and give you all signs to watch out for when planting your own arborvitaes. Identifying if arborvitaes are over watered or under watered can be tough since both can appear the same on an arborvitae. Hopefully some of my own trees can help you to identify what's going on with your recently planted arborvitaes as well.

Soil Moisture Meter (Helps to identify over or under watering as well)

Green giant arborvitae, thuja, emerald green

[bjf]

With how difficult it is to care for a tree, it amazes me that every forest is filled with millions of them just surviving on their own.

[kenb]

I see so many people lose rows of arborvitaes and the number one reason is not shock, or watering etc. It's SPIDER MITES. Unfortunately, by the time most people suspect a problem, it is already too late and the entire shrub will go brown. That is why you should use a miticide every year (rotating different types so as not to encourage resistance).
As soon as you see any signs of stress - DO THIS.
(Note - spider mites are extremely small and hard to see).

Take a piece of plain bright white paper. Fold it in half. With one hand hold the paper close to - or even a bit inside - of the green foliage. Shake the tree with the other hand. Then take your open hand and rub it across the paper. If you see little brown or red streaks - those are the spiders mites you have crushed with your hand. One or two streaks - not much of worry. A bunch of streaks - quickly run out and buy a miticide ASAP and spray those shrubs thoroughly.

I have close to 80 arborvitaes on my property and I learned this the hard way. Spider mites can wipe out an entire row of arborvitae in short order.

Do this paper test about three times a season even if you don't see any signs of damage.

Like I said, most times, by the time you see evidence of mite damage, its TOO LATE, and no matter what you do, the shrub will go completely brown and die.

BTW - a lot of arborvitaes that come from the big box stores are already infested with spider mites. If you buy from these places (which usually have the best prices) assume they have mites and just use the miticide as soon as you plant. Even if they don't have them, the good miticides will offer your shrubs several months of protection.

[amanda]

Literally the questions I ask everytime I look at my trees.

[janemyfoodandflowers]

Drainage and pH are very important as well as moisture. When planting in dry area, make sure the tree and that area both are well watered. The best time to plant them without problem and less work/no work is right before winter.

[miked]

If your neighbor on the other side of the fence puts down some herbicide, it could adversely affect your trees. Mine had some dieback along the bottoms when my neighbor installed a vinyl fence but luckily the side facing me stayed green. He later added some larger evergreens so there's competition for light, water and nutrients. But so far all the trees seem to be co-existing. Yours look nice and straight. I randomly need to straighten mine out every once in awhile. Not sure if it's something I did wrong when planting or because the arborvitaes seem to hold onto snow which gets heavy. It's always an adventure working in the yard...

[vinylsound]

I bought 10 1ft last year. They survived the winter and doing good now.
Bought 10 3ft, one is having trouble but 9 are good. The brown ones I water more then they come back. All 20 are alive n green now.

[dmitryr]

thanks for showing what overwater looks like

[Spacesprocketz]

Thanks for this video! I trimmed my Evergreen last year away from my deck area and the side that I trimmed has been browning ever since. I hope I can nurse it back.

[Flannery]

I planted 11 arborvitaes in moist conditions and found out that clay underneath is not letting my soil drain correctly. Some are doing fine others have turned brown right away. Not sure why some tolerate the clay and others don't, leaving me to wonder if it really is the clay?. Anyways I asked Davey tree specialists to come by for free and they advised that its the clay as well as me not digging the holes big enough and putting good soil in so the roots have a chance to spread. in some places these things grow like weeds and others they are difficult to grow. Thanks for the video, Ill take any advice I can get.

[martinbrodie]

I just transplanted 62, 4-ft Green Giants along the edge of hardwoods on a power easement facing south (6 hours of full sun). Only 5 have browning issues, probably from transplant shock and under watering initially. We've been in a drought recently in northeast Georgia. Thanks for the diagnostics!

[catsrus-eseu]

Thank you! Planted in july....browning galore

[gardeningjunkie]

I don't know if this is your issue, but just in case, here's my thoughts. Emerald Green arborvitaes are known for loving moisture. They should never be planted on a berm or on soil that is higher than the surrounding area. If you want something narrow that can handle drier conditions, look at the American Pillar arborvitae. They do bronze somewhat in the winter, but they are beautiful in the summer and are very fast growing.

[Crystal-beze]

If you trim all the dead stuff off will it grow new green shoots and fill back in?

[mikibihon]

I live in Michigan, my arborvitae are about 20 y.o. Most of them died thsi year 2023, started lated 2022, due to spider mites? Some have survived. First time my whole neighborhood got hit with this pest?

[pauly]

All the same questions I ask my new trees.thanks !

[lynnrussell]

I’m curious can recently planted arborvitae’s become sun burned? I’ve noticed the trees facing the sun don’t look as good as their backside. We are only watering them 2-3 times per week and I think they may need more water. They have been planted ~6-8 weeks.

[vanessam.w.]

Thanks for this video!! First-time arborvitae planter and I'm experiencing random small browning inside my trees. Ugh!

[sdbzzrj]

update these two years later would be nice-- did new growth make them healthy?

[DJdavefromlondon]

Hi. I have green giant arborvitae, some in full sun, some in part sun . I planted them about this time last year, 3 feet high. Texas. They were all doing great till 100 degrees . The full sun ones, 4 of the 6 have died. The other 2 doing quite well. The part sun ones doing ok, going a bit yellow.
We had a sprinkler ban so I installed drip system, I may have over watered, but my blue point junipers are all doing amazing. As are my Italian Cypress. Watering is my main question. How much ? and does the amount of watering change when temperatures get over 100 ? Also do I prune off any brown parts ?

[percival]

Plants/tress go into shock when they are planted or handled too much. Plants that are in shock don't drink water. Now if you plant when it's hot ...that plant/tree will be in dire straights