how did you plant this conifer?

ken

I dug the hole the same depth as the container and doubled the width and mixed in a tiny bit of nitrogen fertilizer.

Did you loosen the roots at all? When you water, are you sure the rootball is getting wet?

tj

I have 3 of these planted in front of my house and yes they are slow growers but I love them. Mine have also turned a little brown on top over the summer. I planted them in the fall of 2008 and they've done fine but I really think it's this hot weather we've been having, 100 deg. we have everyday. I just try to keep mine watered. I've had several people ask me what these shrubs were because they're so different. Haven't been able to find them since I bought them at Lowe's in Sept 2008.

I wouldn't consider cryptomerias to particularly drought tolerant. Most sources indicate moderate drought tolerance and an equal number recommend evenly moist soils. Regardless, newly planted ones must receive adequate deep watering to become established. Browning may indicate insufficient water......various selections do change color in reponse to stress and that may be what you are seeing. They also tend to be more shade tolerant than the majority of conifers.

Thank you all for your responses. I won't give up on these shrubs because I really like the way they look. The heat is definitely a factor, but I think the watering frequency is about right because the other shrubs I planted (gold colored juniper, otto luken laurels, dwarf mugos and some grasses) are doing fine. As an experiment I moved one of the cryptomeria to a location that receives only morning sun and the other to a location that receives only afternoon sun. I trimmed all of the brown from these two and water them all the same amount. After two weeks the two I've moved are not turning brown.