brownout2014
Newly Registered
Posts: 1
Joined: Sun Apr 12, 2015 8:18 pm

Tree Shrub Help

I need some help. I have some tree shrubs in my front yard, that I think are dying. I don't know why they are turning the brownish color. Included are two pictures of the shrubs. My questions are: 1) Are these plants dying? 2) If so why? 3) What can I do to make them turn green again instead of brown?

Thanks!
Attachments
image1.JPG
image2.JPG

User avatar
rainbowgardener
Super Green Thumb
Posts: 25279
Joined: Sun Feb 15, 2009 6:04 pm
Location: TN/GA 7b

Sorry to be the bearer of bad tidings. I'm not sure what the shrub in top picture is, since it is in such bad shape. The low brown ones in the bottom picture are probably some variety of juniper and they are almost certainly dead and past saving. Whatever disease or pest they have is spreading to the tall tree next to them. If you have any chance of saving the tree, you have to get rid of the shrubs.

Commonest causes of browning junipers are some kind of blight (fungal disease), root rot (also a fungal disease that attacks the roots, when the soil around them stays wet too much), or spider mites. You can check for spider mites (which are tiny) by looking very closely for little bits of greyish webbing and by shaking a branch over a piece of white paper. If it is spider mites, they will be knocked on to the paper and will be visible as tiny dots.

I'd cut a piece of the brown part of the tree off and send it to your local agricultural extension, so they can identify exactly what the problem is and help suggest if there are ways you can save the tree.

Welcome to the Forum, anyway!

User avatar
applestar
Mod
Posts: 30514
Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 7:21 pm
Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)

Yes, hopefully nobody sprayed them with weed killer....

User avatar
rainbowgardener
Super Green Thumb
Posts: 25279
Joined: Sun Feb 15, 2009 6:04 pm
Location: TN/GA 7b

good point, applestar. Herbicide is another thing that could cause that, but I thought brownout would know if they had been sprayed with herbicide, but maybe not always true, if it was a neighbor (herbicide can drift on the wind).



Return to “Trees, Shrubs, and Hedges”