Why are my evergreens almost dead?

[mitcherneaf]

I'm guessing I'm probably too late to save these guys but was wondering if you guys could help me out. From central PA with slightly above avg rainfall this year. This while row of bushes has gone sour on me. (pics below) Any place to start? I tried google but just confused me.

Thanks Mitch

 

[ATH]

They are Eastern redcedar.

The first 2 things I'd look for are a canker or cedar bark beetle.

 

[MountainHigh]

Red cedars on west coast are struggling in many locations. Small drop in water table at a given location, along with hotter than usual summers and the shallow root cedars are first to struggle - once they get stressed, signs of bug start showing up. Deep root firs on the other hand, seem to be holding up ok as they have long tap roots and can handle changes in water table better.

If soil is rocky or very fast draining in your slope location, even with normal rain, soil might not be holding enough moisture to get them through a long summer, which stresses trees and can make them more susceptible to disease.

 

[ATH]

eastern redcedar does very well in dry rock soil.

It is in family Juniperus. Depending on which cedar you are talking about in the west, it might be a Thuja (often called western red cedar), Calocedrus, or Chamaecyparis.

 

[MountainHigh]

eastern redcedar does very well in dry rock soil.

It is in family Juniperus. Depending on which cedar you are talking about in the west, it might be a Thuja (often called western red cedar), Calocedrus, or Chamaecyparis.

I may be talking apples to oranges ... jumped in because we're seeing lots of trees struggling here in BC and we've had 2 very hot dry summers recently that seems to be making them struggle. Western Red Cedar here is Thuja plicata.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thuja_plicata

 

[ATH]

Yeah...sometimes things translate across the coast, so it is always good to hear what is happening across the continent. And I'm not saying that heat and drought are not contributors for the trees in question, but less likely because of the species.

 

[Raintree]

Phomopsis blight on upright (columnar) juniper.
Trees are listing, most likely planted too deep which would be the initial stressor.

 

[Marine5068]

Red cedars on west coast are struggling in many locations. Small drop in water table at a given location, along with hotter than usual summers and the shallow root cedars are first to struggle - once they get stressed, signs of bug start showing up. Deep root firs on the other hand, seem to be holding up ok as they have long tap roots and can handle changes in water table better.

If soil is rocky or very fast draining in your slope location, even with normal rain, soil might not be holding enough moisture to get them through a long summer, which stresses trees and can make them more susceptible to disease.

We actually been in drought conditions for the past 10 years in Ontario with the past 3 years having been extra hot and dry Summers.
Lake levels dropped huge end of last Summer too.

 

[MountainHigh]

We actually been in drought conditions for the past 10 years in Ontario with the past 3 years having been extra hot and dry Summers.
Lake levels dropped huge end of last Summer too.

Ya, not a great world we're leaving our kids/grandkids. We've been lucky out west this year with lots of rain in July ... getting hot now though.

 

[cedarhollow]

could be global warming, lots of stuff is dying

 

[under_the_hill]

Phomopsis blight on upright (columnar) juniper.
Trees are listing, most likely planted too deep which would be the initial stressor.

No mulch, either - anymore at least.