Labradoodle & Goldendoodle Forum
My Arbor Vitae Problem
As you can see, my $1500 privacy screen is not looking too great, and it sure isn't giving me much privacy. These 5-6 foot arbor vitae "Techny" were planted two years ago as part of a professional landscape project. They are supposed to be the darkest green of all the arbor vitae, and get very thick and very tall. In the beginning, they were covered with new buds. But the buds just sat there, turned brown, and shrivelled up. The same thing last spring. All those little brown things you see above are the buds that never opened over the past two years. No new growth, and all that brown doesn't make for a lush green privacy screen, or even very attractive landscaping. The bushes look sparse, and from a distance, some look more brown than green. One of them died by the end of the first summer and was replaced. At first I was told maybe I wasn't watering enough. Then I was told maybe I watered too much. I have noticed that the soil there doesn't seem to drain as well as it does on the rest of my property. It takes a very short time when watering for the grass on the other side of the bushes to be flooded, as if the water isn't being drawn down by the roots of the arbor vitae. I also wonder if the shrubs may have been overfertilized when they were planted. Could that account for the abundance of buds that never opened?
The first year they had bag worms, which were professionally treated (I think the bushes came with the infestation, but the landscape company denies this); the second year, one of them looked sickly & pale, and my tree guy said it might be spider mite & treated for that. My tree guy is also the one who called all those unopened brown buds "overbudding", but I haven't been able to find any reference to that term anywhere else.
That side of the yard faces a much travelled sidewalk and fairly busy (for a suburban subdivision) street. My patio is on that side, and I would really like it to feel less like sitting in a goldfish bowl when I'm out there. I'd also really like to salvage these bushes rather than have to start all over and lose the investment. Any ideas on how I can get these guys healthy & growing?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Melissa & Porter on
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I hope you get some answers. My Arbor Bitey are plagued by canine chewers "only." My fishbowl has curtains--they just stop at the thighs aka the height to which Porter and his friends bite/rip.
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Permalink Reply by F, Calla & Luca on
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LOL
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I will look into it.
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This is the first articles I found on what seems to be what your "guy" called over budding and it says it's normal. Will keep going.
http://en.allexperts.com/q/Plant-Diseases-715/2009/9/emerald-green-...
http://en.allexperts.com/q/Shrubs-735/Question-Techny-Arborvitae.htm -
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Permalink Reply by Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle on
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Thank you, that was helpful. Apparently the buds are not the problem. Maybe I need to water more often after all, I think I'll try to find some guidelines on the watering & fertilizing schedule.
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You're welcome. We need to look into if pruning can make them bushier as it does with so many plants.
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Here is an article on pruning:
http://www.bachmans.com/Garden-Care/divHomePage.html?cnb=GardenCare... -
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Honestly, I would be afraid to prune them. There is so little foliage there as it is. Perhaps I can study it, I know how to prune deciduous shubs, but evergreens grow differently.
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Yes, I saw repeatedly that you should not cut back beyond the area in which a branch is still showing green growth because old, bare wood will not produce new growth. Here is a video from Fine Gardening. I subscribe to the magazine, which is good.
http://www.finegardening.com/how-to/videos/pruning-conifers-size-co... -
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You are a great resource!
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Excuse the syntax, I added an article.
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Another:
http://www.ext.nodak.edu/extnews/hortiscope/tree/arbrvtae.htm
What is the distance between the arborvitae? Could they be too far apart? -
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