Gonna need a lot more water than once a week. Especially if it’s been hot out.
The brown ones are dead
atlboy2000
Compact soil.
madjejen
I would think a hedge a better option for compact space along property line.
mungie3
Were they just recently planted? Newly planted thuja need daily water.
dnev6784
I’d maybe get a quick soil test.
How wide did you dig the holes? It looks like there’s not much around them other than weeds/grass, so i’d guess the hole was WAY too small to allow for them to “dig in”.
Complex-Foot6238
I planted some emerald evergreen in April and I’ve been drip watering them for up to 25 minutes per day everyday in my New England summer (90-95 degrees). They’re holding strong and even have new growth. I’d guess once a week wasn’t enough or it wasn’t a super deep soak. At once a week, I’ve heard stuff like an hour per plant with the garden hose on a low pressure, big reason I went drip. It would have taken me **24 hours** to water my plants with my one garden hose!
Personally, a drip system was about $70 for 24 plants with a nice brand (rain bird), so it’s the way to go in my eyes. Took maybe 2 hours to setup.
jmb456
Weekly is pretty sparse watering esp without regular rainfall. That being said I’ve begun to try and steer customers away from these in my area. Very finicky trees and will eventually surpass previous fad landscape plants in commonality
Upstairs-Rope-8596
I once had a landscaper plant 8 arborvitaes on my fence line. After months of watering and fighting to keep them alive I dug one up to find they never removed the burlap from around the root. Just dug a hole and tossed them in. May want to see if they were planted properly.
parrotia78
Improper planting
IllustriousArcher199
Next time try laying a soaker hose at the base. They died from being too dry.
atlboy2000
Plants-trees also turns brown from drowning. Compact soil, hole not wide deep enough
rhowsnc
u/captainxcuddles example for ya
imgaybutnottoogay
Aside from the watering issue, shallow/small holes, and lack of nutrients, you’re never going to get arborvitae to grow in this much shade. You have two massive trees shading them out.
KilgoreTroutsAnus
All valid points being made here, but arborvitae often just chooses to die.
Fudge-Purple
Thank goodness you killed them. They are too far apart for any meaningful hedge and geez could you get any closer to the fence? Get those 4’ away minimum.
Tribblehappy
New trees are stupid thirsty, and these were planted under big trees that probably stole all the water.
Next time get a moisture meter and check the soil around the roots. The trees don’t yet know they can get water from the surrounding soil; they think they’re still in pots. So the surrounding soil can be wet but the root ball bone dry. I thoroughly watered my juniper and 12 hours later the moisture meter read dry. Weekly is not nearly enough for these. Every other day would be a bare minimum.
Briscoekid69
Poorly planted? Root bound? Not enough water? No mulch?
Spartacus_115
I feel so incredibly bad for you. Your line up is impeccable, the presentation is amazing, yet this stupid heat has killed yours and wasted all of that hard work like it is starting to kill mine too.
chloenicole8
Water.
Water daily x 2 weeks, then every other day for 2 weeks then 3x a week for another month etc. 10 gallons of water per inch of trunk diameter. If you plant in the fall, you can get away with less but in summer, you need a lot of water.
SchoolForSedition
Did you soak them and fill the hole you were going to plant them in before you did plant them? Last time I saw a row like this, my friends had not done anything like that.
lizardRD
Many reasons are possible. Not enough sunlight, not enough water (they need a lot on the beginning), too hot, sometimes they just like to randomly die. Emeralds thrive in full sun and moist soil. You also did not mention your zone. In many places emeralds are best planted in early fall to give them time to establish root structure before the summer heat. If these were newly planted in spring/summer you’re setting yourself up for a ton of watering (much more than you’re doing) and likely some not surviving
We put in a western red cedar this spring and water it daily at least 5 minutes, and I also have a drip line that goes off an hour a day around it and it’s doing great! Maybe do a drip line along the next batch and be sure to water for a few months while the roots are restablishing themselves in new soil? Good luck! Love the emerald cedar/arborvitaes.
showme200
Dried before u watered
Dangerous_Forever640
Probably not enough water, but worms or mites are possibly… I’ve had spider mites in mine before.
jackparadise1
How much compost did you plant them with? Why didn’t you mulch them?
There are excellent planting instructions at the UMASS extension service website. Should be on all the extension service websites, I just haven’t looked. It will save you some $ in the future!
26 Comments
Gonna need a lot more water than once a week. Especially if it’s been hot out.
The brown ones are dead
Compact soil.
I would think a hedge a better option for compact space along property line.
Were they just recently planted? Newly planted thuja need daily water.
I’d maybe get a quick soil test.
How wide did you dig the holes? It looks like there’s not much around them other than weeds/grass, so i’d guess the hole was WAY too small to allow for them to “dig in”.
I planted some emerald evergreen in April and I’ve been drip watering them for up to 25 minutes per day everyday in my New England summer (90-95 degrees). They’re holding strong and even have new growth. I’d guess once a week wasn’t enough or it wasn’t a super deep soak. At once a week, I’ve heard stuff like an hour per plant with the garden hose on a low pressure, big reason I went drip. It would have taken me **24 hours** to water my plants with my one garden hose!
Personally, a drip system was about $70 for 24 plants with a nice brand (rain bird), so it’s the way to go in my eyes. Took maybe 2 hours to setup.
Weekly is pretty sparse watering esp without regular rainfall. That being said I’ve begun to try and steer customers away from these in my area. Very finicky trees and will eventually surpass previous fad landscape plants in commonality
I once had a landscaper plant 8 arborvitaes on my fence line. After months of watering and fighting to keep them alive I dug one up to find they never removed the burlap from around the root. Just dug a hole and tossed them in. May want to see if they were planted properly.
Improper planting
Next time try laying a soaker hose at the base. They died from being too dry.
Plants-trees also turns brown from drowning. Compact soil, hole not wide deep enough
u/captainxcuddles example for ya
Aside from the watering issue, shallow/small holes, and lack of nutrients, you’re never going to get arborvitae to grow in this much shade. You have two massive trees shading them out.
All valid points being made here, but arborvitae often just chooses to die.
Thank goodness you killed them. They are too far apart for any meaningful hedge and geez could you get any closer to the fence? Get those 4’ away minimum.
New trees are stupid thirsty, and these were planted under big trees that probably stole all the water.
Next time get a moisture meter and check the soil around the roots. The trees don’t yet know they can get water from the surrounding soil; they think they’re still in pots. So the surrounding soil can be wet but the root ball bone dry. I thoroughly watered my juniper and 12 hours later the moisture meter read dry. Weekly is not nearly enough for these. Every other day would be a bare minimum.
Poorly planted? Root bound? Not enough water? No mulch?
I feel so incredibly bad for you. Your line up is impeccable, the presentation is amazing, yet this stupid heat has killed yours and wasted all of that hard work like it is starting to kill mine too.
Water.
Water daily x 2 weeks, then every other day for 2 weeks then 3x a week for another month etc. 10 gallons of water per inch of trunk diameter. If you plant in the fall, you can get away with less but in summer, you need a lot of water.
Did you soak them and fill the hole you were going to plant them in before you did plant them? Last time I saw a row like this, my friends had not done anything like that.
Many reasons are possible. Not enough sunlight, not enough water (they need a lot on the beginning), too hot, sometimes they just like to randomly die. Emeralds thrive in full sun and moist soil. You also did not mention your zone. In many places emeralds are best planted in early fall to give them time to establish root structure before the summer heat. If these were newly planted in spring/summer you’re setting yourself up for a ton of watering (much more than you’re doing) and likely some not surviving
It is necessary to water at least twice a week. [https://www.thisoldhouse.com/gardening/reviews/emerald-green-arborvitae](https://www.thisoldhouse.com/gardening/reviews/emerald-green-arborvitae) – read, maybe this information will be useful for you.
We put in a western red cedar this spring and water it daily at least 5 minutes, and I also have a drip line that goes off an hour a day around it and it’s doing great! Maybe do a drip line along the next batch and be sure to water for a few months while the roots are restablishing themselves in new soil? Good luck! Love the emerald cedar/arborvitaes.
Dried before u watered
Probably not enough water, but worms or mites are possibly… I’ve had spider mites in mine before.
How much compost did you plant them with? Why didn’t you mulch them?
There are excellent planting instructions at the UMASS extension service website. Should be on all the extension service websites, I just haven’t looked. It will save you some $ in the future!