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Dwarf conifer losing colour turning brown

katedanehillkatedanehill Posts: 2
in Problem solving
Hi all - new to this forum but not to gardening but need some advice! I have 2 identical dwarf conifers Chamaecyparis obtusa Nana so I believe in one particular soil bed along with different conifers some are also dwarf. All of the conifers were only bought shortly before lockdown and both of these two  were in a healthy condition - in fact identical. All have survived the exposure to the winds during spring and now the weeks of intense sun and heat except for one of the two I mentioned above by name. The other is fine as shown and only feet away from the dying one. I have brushed with hands some of the browng dead foliagebut it still does not look healthy! Can anyone explain this? Same watering same exposure!

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  • BobTheGardenerBobTheGardener Posts: 11,391
    Your soil looks like it is exceptionally well draining and appears extremely dry, so it might be worth increasing the watering significantly - newly planted trees and shrubs are totally reliant on you for water for the first year as it takes them a long time to extend roots out into the surrounding soil.  I would give it (in fact each of them) a bucketful of water a couple of times a week and twice that in this sort of weather.  Tip the bucket slowly and let it drain right down into the roots rather than running off over the surface.  Hose sprays and sprinklers are fairly useless in this sort of weather unless you can leave them on for several hours or overnight.
    A trowel in the hand is worth a thousand lost under a bush.
  • katedanehillkatedanehill Posts: 2
    Thank you Bob - Yes we inherited this garden after moving in last november and still learning about the soil condition. It is quite sandy or crumbly not clay for quite a depth. While the property had been empty for around 3 years it was in a state of neglect full of thistles and dandelions previously from what we are told veg plots before that. So I think that is the reason we have not watered the whole plot religiiously as still digging them out. Probably should have left from planting this year just to get to know what to expect but I am not a patient lady ha ha.
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