Yellowing hemlocks in Syracuse New York can you help?

[steiner]

Central NY landscaper here. I have some outer yellowing of two hemlocks I installed in late spring. Here are the details:

Details:

Zone 5 Syracuse
Installed in late June
Clay soils
Full to partial sun
Amended soils with 50% compost.
Hole was 2x the size of root ball
Pierced holes in hole to aid in drainage.
Did great all summer and fall. Lush and green. Despite drought.
Customer burlapped trees to protect from drying winds. Not to my specs!

Customer sprayed a desicant product on a few weeks ago before burlapping, then called me last week to come out for yellowing leaves. Hmmmm...

Problem:

Yellowing inside. Green lush inside.

I went over and checked for wooly adelgid but could find no white wool or the reddish pests. I also did the white paper test for spider mites but came back negative. I don't really know what rust looks like but I am hoping someone can clear that up.

As you can see from the pictures I found yellow tips but a nice green inside. Other hemlocks 2 houses down are lush and green. My thoughts are either this product he sprayed, sun scald, or wind damage since the affected area is surface only. He also tends to over do things and I wondered if he watered too much.

Can you help me? Any ideas?

-Thanks Chris

 

[Ed Roland]

welcome to the site Steiner.

Interesting the chlorosis is uniformly limited to foliage chemically treated. I'm careful to label my backpack sprayers used to apply herbicide. I wonder if your client is as conscientious?

Too much intervention is often more detrimental than not enough.

 

[TreeGuyHR]

Yup, I would suspect the desicant! You did mean anti-desicant, right? I still would. That the outer layer of foliage was affected, but not the inside of the crown supports that.

You might put a few needles under a high-powered dissecting scope as well. You may see a chemical coating.

 

[Urban Forester]

There are certain formulations of anti-dessicant that are not labeled for Arborvitaes and Hemlocks. Was the A.I. a synthetic polymer or parafin wax?

 

[Raintree]

I'm with Ed, if they yellowed within a week or two of being treated = homeowner error.

 

[expertech]

I'm with Ed, if they yellowed within a week or two of being treated = homeowner error.

Agree. Problem with evergreens, and most trees, is it's easier to keep them healthy than it is to fix them once a problem is evident. Good luck.

 

[steiner]

Update

Homeowner used wilt-pruf but said they were yellowing before he applied and I believe him. He also has a tendency to overwater things. He has been adding 2 5 gallon buckets of water a week to heavy clay holes and I wonder if that did it.

But it is weird that it is only the surface needles. Hmmmm

WHat do you guys do when you encounter heavy clay like this? Build up? I usually just poke holes through the clay layer with a pick but I am not sure how effective that is. Are there any other ways?

-Chris

 

[Ed Roland]

Calcium sulfate (gypsum) and proper mulching are sound remediation for heavy soils - test first.

 

[Raintree]

Plant appropriate species for soil and site conditions: water-tolerant trees like Larch vs. water-intolerant spruces & hemlocks. If your roots are flooded the feeders are first to die from oxygen deficiency. It may be best to dig them up & re-install in raised bed.