Bizzare ,,,, Pictures. Do you smell gas??? If you stick your finger in the soil is it just moist or soupy? Or even better get a moisture meter.

I tend to doubt that the meter is reflecting much heat. It might be absorbing heat and radiating a bit but probably not enough to bump up soil or air temperatures that much. A meat cooking thermometer works for testing soil temperatures.

I would look to other issues causing your problems such as low fertility, under or over watering, toxic issues related to construction or leeching.

If the meter was leaking you should be able to smell it. A simple test is to spray soapy water on the connections.

I've tried to post this several times over the last few hours, and it hasn't been working---it's been doing weird things with the dashes and stuff, so I don't know if this is gonna be readable or not, but here it is! It LOOKS like it might work now! Others have said some of the same things I'm saying since I first tried!

Hi Dianne,

Is there any chance you could post some pictures of the meter and the area around it, and closeups of the plants that are having problems or are damaged?

If you have a gas leak you should be able to smell that natural gas "rotten egg" smell when you get near to it, but I don't know if that would damage plants or not---"I suspect not, or at least that it would have to be so bad that your house would have probably blown up by now if you had that much of a leak! If you sniff around the pipes into and out of the meter and can't smell anything, I doubt that you have a leak, but if you want to be sure, mix up some dishwashing soap in water and dump a little (or spray it on heavily) at each of the pipe joints, and if there's a leak it'll "bubble!" If you have any reason at all to seriously suspect a gas leak (that wouldnâÂÂt include plant damage!), call public service and theyâÂÂll come out and check it out free! They donâÂÂt like it when peopleâÂÂs houses blow up! Bad publicity! ;-)

ItâÂÂs hard for me to imagine that the meter would be putting off enough heat to do that kind of damage, but if you really think that could be the problem, you could always get one of the silver colored tarps and cut it up to make a âÂÂwrapâ to cover the meter---"but youâÂÂd need to leave the gauges visible if you still have a meter reader that comes around.

ItâÂÂs too late to do this this year anymore, but if youâÂÂre still having the problem next year, you could secure a thermometer to the meter---"or on a little stake stuck in the ground right next to the damaged plants---"to see how high the temp is actually going up to in that area. Seems to me that would give you some good diagnostic information!

I think some pictures would really help us better understand just what you have going on there. Not sure if itâÂÂll help solve the problem---"but it might!

Skybird

Well it came out mostly readable, but I don't have any idea why there's extra quotes all over the place! Thank you GW! What strange thing might it do the next time I post? Stay tuned for the excitement!

It doesn't exactly sound like it might be a soil problem, but I'll toss this out....

At least around here, where ever they've excavated down to put in water, power, or gas lines, they're bringing up to the surface some very alkaline/clay soil that is rather hard on plants. They live, but they sure don't do all that well. The solution is copious amounts of organic matter.

Ditto what every one has said. Just one more comment/question do you plan to keep trimming the arb since it is just 8" from your house.

Thanks much to everyone who responded. Took me a while to get out for pics and then remember (hopefully) how to post them!

Here's a photo from this spring that shows most of the bed and puts the gas meter in context (this was before the arborvitae got really bad, but you can see some browning already):

[URL=http://img822.imageshack.us/i/p5180018.jpg/][IMG]http://img822.imageshack.us/img822/8155/p5180018.th.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

A closeup of the area now:

[URL=http://img838.imageshack.us/i/pa100026.jpg/][IMG]http://img838.imageshack.us/img838/3268/pa100026.th.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

Closeup of the catmint's backside - little stubs up and down the stems where leaves used to be:

[URL=http://img838.imageshack.us/i/pa100024.jpg/][IMG]http://img838.imageshack.us/img838/9095/pa100024.th.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

The other side of the arb, mostly okay with some damage from the other side showing through:

[URL=http://img829.imageshack.us/i/pa100028.jpg/][IMG]http://img829.imageshack.us/img829/6030/pa100028.th.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

And here's a view from the other side of the bed with the healthy arborvitae in the foreground:

[URL=http://img809.imageshack.us/i/pa100030.jpg/][IMG]http://img809.imageshack.us/img809/5209/pa100030.th.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

I stuck my finger down in the soil about four inches and it felt semi-dry (we've had lots of rain in the last week so I haven't watered in over a week). Otherwise, I hadn't been watering this area any differently until relatively recently, and extra seems to be helping a little. (It looked MUCH worse!) The arbs were put in in the spring of 2008. The left one has always looked a little drier but not dramatically worse until this year. (The variety is 'DeGroot's Spire' which is supposed to mature at 2-3 feet wide - so I hadn't planned on any pruning unless I really screwed up and planted way too close!)

I haven't gotten out there with soapy water yet but will do that tomorrow or Tuesday. Assuming there's no leak (hope not!), I'll plan on digging in a bunch of compost and see if that helps. Strange though that it would be so localized right in that spot if it was a fertility issue. I also like Skybird's idea of staking a simple thermometer right there next year, and also one on the other side for comparison. (I was wondering why you used so many quotes everywhere, Skybird...LOL...hopefully you'll have no more issues or new bugs!)

Dianne

Trying that again, same pics in order:

[url=http://img822.imageshack.us/i/p5180018.jpg/][img=http://img822.imageshack.us/img822/8155/p5180018.th.jpg][/url]

[url=http://img838.imageshack.us/i/pa100026.jpg/][img=http://img838.imageshack.us/img838/3268/pa100026.th.jpg][/url]

[url=http://img838.imageshack.us/i/pa100024.jpg/][img=http://img838.imageshack.us/img838/9095/pa100024.th.jpg][/url]

[url=http://img829.imageshack.us/i/pa100028.jpg/][img=http://img829.imageshack.us/img829/6030/pa100028.th.jpg][/url]

[url=http://img809.imageshack.us/i/pa100030.jpg/][img=http://img809.imageshack.us/img809/5209/pa100030.th.jpg][/url]

[IMG]http://img822.imageshack.us/img822/8155/p5180018.th.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://img838.imageshack.us/img838/3268/pa100026.th.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://img838.imageshack.us/img838/9095/pa100024.th.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://img829.imageshack.us/img829/6030/pa100028.th.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://img809.imageshack.us/img809/5209/pa100030.th.jpg[/IMG]

No way could the that small meter cause enough reflected heat to produce that. It almost looks like an arb I lost due to road salt. Maybe crap in the foundation soil.

I often see arborvitae that look like that in the Denver area. Not that they can't thrive in this climate but they often seem to struggle.

My 2â would be a combination of factors including the root restriction from too close to the house, likely construction debris contributing to poor soil, proximity to downspout leading to nutrient leaching, roof overhang preventing adequate moisture...about the most suboptimal spot imaginable.

Dan

Interesting that you mention road salt! It IS right next to our driveway, just behind the spot where my car is always parked. We frequently use snowmelt there, and then all the crap that gets shoveled in that area ends up in the bed. Sounds like that could be contributing also, if not a major factor. The arb on the other side has to contend with all those same issues that Dan mentioned with the exception of road salt and presumably poor soil, but it seems alright. So I guess I will try soil amendments in conjunction with making sure the snow and ice gets dumped somewhere else. I am stubborn and want to keep them pretty much where they are! Assuming I'm not too late to amend this fall, would it be a good idea to get a soil test first? Thanks to everyone for your input!

A soil test is a good idea but don't let waiting for the results stop you from amending. 3 or 4 inches of compost would be a good start.