# Arborvitae turning orangish brown



## Jeff_MI84 (Sep 28, 2020)

I had 8 5ft tall arborvitae planted on September 4th. It appeared as though there was your typical da map from transporting, etc. it looked as though at the bottom of the branches they were either thinned out or just not full so to speak. I watered the first day, and did about every 2-3 days for the first two weeks. After that I have been maintaining a watering of every 4-5 days (rain depending) along with all of my other arborvitae (planted early May).

After planting, some branches had a light or pale green appearance. The second day in noticed maybe 2-3 branches total that were brown. On around day 11 (September 15) more branches had browned. September 21st was when I started to notice more significant browning. It is hard to tell if it was typical fall die back as it went from the inside out.

This is mostly evident on the outer branches in the center and towards the bottom. I have noticed that branches had shed the mature needles and some groupings of needles (not sure of technical term) fell off. Fast forward to today and they are not really worse looking. My arborvitae from years past didn't look like this. They are planted several feet away from the fence, on the northern side of the backyard. I am not familiar with what type of fertilizer arborvitae need, or how often or when to apply it. I use a watering can or the soaker setting on the hose sprayer. I check with my moisture gauge and don't water if the soil is still wet. If you were to count using my watering method, would you say counting to 30 with a watering can or 60 with the soaker setting is sufficient?

Is this possibly transplant shock or something else? Should I clip the browned areas or leave them be? Any needles that fall to the touch, is that normal this time of year? Any and all advice would be greatly appreciated, thank you.

The last picture is the day of planting.


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## Deadlawn (Sep 8, 2020)

Your plants are still trying to recover from transplant shock! 60 seconds is nowhere near enough time with the hose. You really should be running a tricking hose for about 10 minutes once a week on each plant when rainfall isn't sufficient - about 10 gallons per plant.

Remember, arborvitaes are cedars. Cedars live in swamps and along edges of waterways. They love moisture. They are tolerant of some drought ONCE THEY ARE ESTABLISHED. But your poor plants were most likely pulled out of the ground, had most of their roots hacked away into a ball and sat burlapped in a nursery until you bought them. It's a wonder plants survive at all after this abuse. It will take a few seasons for roots to recover to normal.

Another good thing to do with evergreens in their first few seasons is to spray the foliage with Wilt-Pruf in December to prevent desiccation during cold sunny winter days.


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## Jeff_MI84 (Sep 28, 2020)

Sorry for not responding months ago. I just now saw that there was a response to my post. I cannot do a soaker hose, so how long should I water them if I don't get an inch of water, the first year after planting?


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## Deadlawn (Sep 8, 2020)

Jeff_MI84 said:


> Sorry for not responding months ago. I just now saw that there was a response to my post. I cannot do a soaker hose, so how long should I water them if I don't get an inch of water, the first year after planting?


Get a rain gauge. If the rainfall for a week ia close to an inch or more, no need to water. Otherwise, let a garden hose trickle at each plant for about 10 minutes (a gentle trickle is about 1 gal per minute). Do this for the growing season and into the fall until freezing weather comes around and deems it not possible to use your garden hose. Remember that evergreens will transpire moisture throughout the winter anytime the temperatures are above freezing. This is why fall watering is so important as it will help the plants store water and nutrients in their tissues, so they can make it through the winter.


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## Jeff_MI84 (Sep 28, 2020)

Great. Thank you.


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## SCGrassMan (Dec 17, 2017)

Fill up a 5 gallon bucket and dump it at the base.


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## Jeff_MI84 (Sep 28, 2020)

SCGrassMan said:


> Fill up a 5 gallon bucket and dump it at the base.


Is 5 gallons about the equivalent of one inch of rain in regard to watering requirements of arborvitae?? I can't do drip irrigation and watering cans are all I can do for now. I'm assuming this time of year, every 4 days I need to water (less rainfall)?


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## SCGrassMan (Dec 17, 2017)

Jeff_MI84 said:


> SCGrassMan said:
> 
> 
> > Fill up a 5 gallon bucket and dump it at the base.
> ...


It's the equivalent of what the guys who sold me a palm tree told me to do 

Just get the plant wet and let it do what it's gonna do with it, don't overthink it with math and inches.


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## Jeff_MI84 (Sep 28, 2020)

SCGrassMan said:


> Jeff_MI84 said:
> 
> 
> > SCGrassMan said:
> ...


OK, thank you very much! I have been searching and searching for a simple answer. Some arborvitae I planted last spring on another side of my property, a few of them have started to change color recently. I guess I was over estimating how much the rainfall impacted watering needs. Last year I got more rainfall, thus not needing to hand water as much. Telling me to give each shrub 5gal/ week is simple enough now.

In between watering, in high heat do I need to spray them from top to bottom?


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## Deadlawn (Sep 8, 2020)

Jeff_MI84 said:


> SCGrassMan said:
> 
> 
> > Fill up a 5 gallon bucket and dump it at the base.
> ...


I would say double this to 10 gallons and no more than once a week, no less that every two weeks unless you get sufficient rainfall. Frequent shallow watering encourages more surface rooting which will be less drought tolerant than deep watering less often.


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## Jeff_MI84 (Sep 28, 2020)

Deadlawn said:


> Jeff_MI84 said:
> 
> 
> > SCGrassMan said:
> ...


Wow, I was way off the mark. So 10gal per week, every two weeks. Hopefully this helps turn them around. Thanks a bunch for the clarification!! You made my life a lot easier.


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## Bombers (Jul 14, 2020)

Get 2 5-gal buckets, drill a few holes on bottom, place around base of root ball, fill to top and walk away.


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## Jeff_MI84 (Sep 28, 2020)

@Bombers 
I like the idea, but I have 24 arborvitae in the backyard alone. Now that I am aware of the proper amount of watering, less 1 inch of rainfall, I just take my 2.5 gallon watering can and fill it up twice per arborvitae. Good exercise.


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## Jeff_MI84 (Sep 28, 2020)

Because of everyone's advice, my arborvitae have gotten better looking. Obviously the dead branches are done for, but I've noticed good growth all around.


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## Jeff_MI84 (Sep 28, 2020)

Much better looking,Don't you agree?


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## Deadlawn (Sep 8, 2020)

OMG! They're beautiful! Glad to hear they have recovered!


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## Jeff_MI84 (Sep 28, 2020)

@Deadlawn thanks. This wet summer has helped out a lot, not to mention the time saved not watering by hand. I still need to get around to trimming the dead branches back, but they did fill in nicely within the last few months.


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## Deadlawn (Sep 8, 2020)

And remember, fall wating is important for evergreens as they continue to transpire during winter, yet they cannot extract moisture from the ground when it's frozen. Here again, keep track of rainfall in a rain gauge and water deeply when you don't get at least an inch if rain a week. Do this until the ground freezes.


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## Jeff_MI84 (Sep 28, 2020)

@Deadlawn I check my rain gauge during and after every time it rains, religiously. I even go outside during downpours to see where it is at. I even log it on the lawn care app I use. If I get less than 1/2" of rain during any given week, I fill my 2.5gal watering can and hit every shrub with that amount. Almost half of the summer I have not needed to water at all.

For example, I go Monday-Sunday with my watering. Obviously overlapping if there was a lot of rainfall within the preceding seven day period.

I got .13" today and .46" since Saturday. Depending on Friday's predicted rain, I will fill the watering can up about half or 3/4. I would guesstimate to either go by first frost or using the screwdriver test to determine when to stop watering. I am 5'10 and the shrubs in the back are anywhere from 1-3" taller than me and starting to poke above the fence line.


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## Jeff_MI84 (Sep 28, 2020)

I literally would have been lost without the responses I got on here earlier in the year. There is no real cut and dry answer for watering, but I was steered in the right direction. I know transplant shock goes away after a few years. This was full year number one, next year will look even better.


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## Deadlawn (Sep 8, 2020)

Jeff_MI84 said:


> @Deadlawn I check my rain gauge during and after every time it rains, religiously. I even go outside during downpours to see where it is at.


I think you can wait for the rain to stop before checking the gauge.


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## Jeff_MI84 (Sep 28, 2020)

@Deadlawn I meant when it rains hard, I wait for a break in the storm. This is usually only when it rains over an inch.


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