Knowledgebase
Arborvitae tip turn brown #419139
Asked August 04, 2017, 12:34 AM EDT
We planted a row of arborvitaes in March. Few weeks ago, one arborvitae's tip starts to turn brown, and the one next to it also starts to look sad. We are worried there're some serious disease which will pass on to rest of our arborvitaes. We hope to get some advise to save our arborvitaes.
Thank you
King County Washington
Expert Response
Many problems can affect arborvitae, but given that this hedge is newly planted and our dry summer, the most likely culprit is cultural. The link to the below article gives a good summary of what those issues might be, and even though it was written for an Eastern Washington locale, most of what is discussed would apply to King County as well: http://ext100.wsu.edu/gardentips/category/arborvitae/.
Another source of information: http://hortsense.cahnrs.wsu.edu/Public/FactsheetWeb.aspx?ProblemId=684
But the best way to answer your question is to visit a Master Gardener Clinic where you can discuss the problem one-on-one with a MG and provide samples, if necessary, for their diagnostic clinic: Here's a schedule for King County MG Clinics: http://extension.wsu.edu/king/wp-content/uploads/sites/14/2017/06/2017-Clinic-Schedule.pdf
And this is the King County MG website with more information about their program: http://extension.wsu.edu/king/gardening/
