I think I may have killed my trees...

[btpeters]

we planted 20 nice 7 ft. arbor vitae as a screen last spring. now, half of them look on the way out. i'm pretty sure we planted them right, but there was a 20 ft. maple in the midst of them that may have been some competition with roots and sun. i mulched them heavily with grass clippings all summer to help retain moisture and suppress weeds. my question is...

could i have suffocated them with all those grass clippings?
or--could all the nitrogen have burned them?

and most importantly...even if they are all brown, is there any hope for recovery? what if only half brown?

thanks so much for your help! this is my first time on this site and i'm sure i'll be back as we LOVE to garden!

 

[journey11]

I'd wait til spring is underway and keep an eye out for new growth. Check your soil pH too.

 

[thistlebloom]

As journey said wait till spring. Unfortunately arborvitae wont grow back from bare wood. Sometimes it's possible to have new growth
sprout out in a damaged branch but it's often very slow. If you see new growth and don't mind 3 or more years of a rather ugly shrub there is the chance you can save your investment, ( which with 20 7 footers must have been considerable ). Sorry I sound so pessimistic, but I've dealt with this, and it's usually not good news. I find that frequently arborvitae are root bound in containers and have already suffered some drought stress from the nursery, or honestly , more like the big box stores where they don't always receive the care they need. Evergreens can often be drought stressed and not show it for some time. Check to make sure they weren't planted too high, they are sensitive to that, and it may be possible that the thick mulch of grass clippings prohibited water from soaking around the root zone. Grass tends to mat when laid on thickly. I don't know where you are, and if you live where it snows, but if you are in a harsh environment with freezing winds there's other possibilities for the problem. I hope they turn around for you
And welcome to TEG!!

(ETA: I don't think the maple would have an effect on them , at least not this soon, and the shade would not kill them.

 

[btpeters]

That was very informative, thanks for taking the time. We live in northern ohio and so it gets pretty cold here. but they were already showing signs of stress in the fall, so i think its probably related to a lack of water. i watered it over the summer, but maybe not as much as i should have, or for long enough each time. i also read the grass clippings can heat up like compost and burn the roots...that is what i'm afraid of. luckily, the trees were on sale for only $20 a piece--so its really the labor that was the biggest waste on these. o h well, live and learn i guess. thanks again!

 

[journey11]

I had an apple tree like that once. I just wasn't watering it deep enough. I put the hose beneath it and let it run on low all day. It perked right up!

Good luck with them! Hope they'll bounce back for you.

 

[btpeters]

thanks! me too!