thuja turning brown and yellow and dying!!!

[goliath]

after 3 years, my thuja (think they are green giants) are all turning brown and the branches and needles are crispy dead on one. THere are 15 about 5-6 ft apart and the odd thing is that the one on the extreme right of the row of trees is completely dead and the brownness gets progressively less on each tree from right to left. Almost like some kind of disease was spreading. the soil is moist and everything was fine for 3 years. I did just fertilize with some home store evergreen product per the specificsation. but that was only because the yellow was worrying me. I probably hastened their demise. Anyway, what can I do to figure out what is happening? If I have to replant some, I don't want them to end up inthe same condition. Could there be an iron deficiency requiriugn chelated iron?

[rainbowgardener]

usually by the time conifers like this are showing much brown, they are already dead, unless you are talking about ordinary winter browning. But when you say crispy brown, that doesn't sound natural. Sometimes in winter, the leaves of the tree will yellow or brown naturally. Winter browning does not reddish or dry brown. The leaves may appear slightly yellowed, with brown hints. However, when bent the leaves will spring back quickly and show signs of moisture. If the leaves do not return to green when winter is over, then a more serious problem is at hand.

Otherwise I would guess it is a disease, perhaps some kind of blight.

[applestar]

Where are you located and what kind of winter did you have? If like mine, then this winter was much more severe compared to the last three years'.

Spring dead and crispy evergreens always makes me think of winter dehydration as possible cause. If the shrubs didn't get/absorb sufficient water in the fall before the ground freeze, evergreens can lose too much moisture to the air, particularly if exposed to dry winds and severe freeze-drying air temps during the winter.

[nancyvreuls]

Did you ever figure out why your trees were dying? We planted ours three years ago. I noticed the leaves beginning to yellow and die yesterday! Our trees were always so healthy before!

[schrambow]

I have 16 green giant thuja's I put in the ground on june 15th, central Wisconsin. I have watered 20 seconds with a hose on each plant every other day for a week. Supplier is saying this is too much, therefore I have backed off to every 4th day to water. they are about 14-17 inches tall I planted 5 feet apart. Please see photos, these are the two worst ones here, they look like they are not getting enough water. any suggestions?