Cyrpus Lleylandi turning brown

Ben Greenwood

Hi All,

I've had 2 spiral topiary trees for about 8 months now & they are still very green and growing well, i was just about to trim them to tidy up the shaping when i noticed on moving the branches the "inside" of the tree, quite a lot of leaves on under the surface are turning brown & are very easy to brush off the tree.

I've read this can be down to Aphids, lack of water or poor soil.

My plan was to mulch & put some compost down however if its Aphids i have no idea which chemicals are appropriate could anyone please advise?

Thanks

Ben

Mark56

https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?PID=492

If you look carefully can you see black sooty mould that they talk of? This could rule the first one out.

Fairygirl

It's quite normal for conifers of any kind to be brown on the inner branches as the outer grows. 

Having said that, if they're in pots, which I assume they are, it's more likely to be lack of water and dry soil causing a bit of dead material. They need a lot of water and a soil based medium to grow in. Mulching (with bark or gravel ) after watering  will help conserve moisture.

Ben Greenwood

mark56 says:

https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?PID=492

If you look carefully can you see black sooty mould that they talk of? This could rule the first one out.

See original post

 

Hi Mark,

No black'ness at all that i can see, so it sounds like its just down to poor conditions

Thanks

Ben Greenwood

Fairygirl says:

It's quite normal for conifers of any kind to be brown on the inner branches as the outer grows. 

Having said that, if they're in pots, which I assume they are, it's more likely to be lack of water and dry soil causing a bit of dead material. They need a lot of water and a soil based medium to grow in. Mulching (with bark or gravel ) after watering  will help conserve moisture.

See original post

 

Hi Fairygirl,

They were in pots when they arrived but far too small for the size of the tree so i planted them out almost immediately.

They are positioned up against a wall approx 8-10 inches away about 12-14 inches from any other plants, they are away from each other as well.

The soil is quite sandy so i think it may be a lack of water from your feedback, is there anything i could feed them with as well as the mulch to give them a bit of a boost?

Cheers

Alina W

Not Fairygirl, but in that position they will need a lot of water to stay healthy, although they shouldn't be sitting in permanent mud. You could give them an instant boost with any general purpose fertilizer watered on.