we really need a pic ...

all my yellow plants have taken some amount of needle damage.. these last two horrible winters ...

and once damaged by winter.. other things can attack.. but solving those problems.. if any .. doesnt really fix the already damaged leaf/needle ...

what you dont mention.. is if it buds out with vigor??? ... pines .. down here near ann arbor... are just extending ... needles arent out yet.. i presume your arent either ,... a pic of that process.. in a few weeks ... might tell us something also ...

i had one dragon eye pine.. [half white needles] ... lose every needle for 3 years running ... and thereafter.. stopped that nonsense.. but just about every stitch of white tissue burns off every winter ...

how about a pic now.. and in a couple weeks... if you want to get to the bottom of this ...

ken

ps: no pine holds its needles forever.. every year.. some should be shed ... and some years are worse than others ... if you look at the pix at the link ... they are a lose tree ... not the standard full SHEARED xmas tree look ...

https://www.google.com/search?q=chief+joseph+pine&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=lSZWVY7bC4vssAW2tICYBg&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAg&biw=893&bih=745&dpr=0.9

who knew .. the beauty of this forum ...

ken

BTW .. i have killed 5 of these.. over the years ... all but the last one.. from CK ... but its only been a year or two ...

I bought it in 2009, from Gossler Farms in OR. They did not return my call asking about the root stock last year. I paid $80 for it, bare root.

Candles look good on most of the tips, it has lost some growth at the bottom. I really think this is sylvestris stock, in which case it is just a lost cause. I think I will dig it up and move it somewhere different (maybe the burn pile!)

we had this conversation last year,,,,mine burned also,,,so this winter, I put up small shade"curtain",,,still burned,,,,growth is rocken now

would larger curtain help,or will mine look like Liz's

maybe I could take picture,,,blow it up,,,,laminate it,,,plant that in garden

ron

The problem is, as people have pointed out in the past, winter is the season of interest for this pine. who wants to look at a shade curtain?

I haven't decided what to do. I gave it an iron/Mg supplement and watered it today, I don't have a better place to move it to really, so it either limps along one more year or I give up on it. I'm going to wait until the new growth appears and see if it can redeem itself. It's right next to a maturing Ginkgo Spring Grove and it is detracting from that....after 6 years in place it should have hit its stride root wise, it's on a berm of great soil, well drained, nice sun. there's no excuse for this plant's poor performance other than the problem rootstock.

re picture, why not pick up a Charlie brown Christmas tree at the thrift store and spray paint it yellow? that will be more convincing ;)

The more root mass it has, the better it will handle the cold, so you may have to give it time. Did you plant it so the root flare is visible? I can't see it in your pix.

tj

P.S. I've thought of spray paint myself, on occasion. lol

No, it is planted to the crown, in a berm of blended compost and topsoil/ garden soil, about 18" above grade...the soil below it is good, with water table about 24-30 inches down most years throughout the summer. It is mulched. I haven't watered it after the first summer, maybe I will start?

It was bareroot when it shipped, so not a lot of mass to work with.

It was only about 24" at the time, so it has grown quite a bit height wise...it is just so burned, especially the past 2 winters. I don't mind the loose habit, I actually like that look, just not all the brown needles.

I lost several mature Moonglow juniper spirals in the same area in the past 2 years...that part of the yard is down a west facing slope that gets a lot of wind, even though the whole yard is sheltered by giant Norway spruces on the south and west sides and a double hedge of 20' Arbor vitae and junipers on the north side.

The cold air settles there and it is noticeably behind the upper part of the yard zone wise, by as much as 2-3 weeks. That's why I was thinking of moving it somewhere more sheltered from the cold and wind, maybe up closer to the house. Even if that just gives it a break and buys some time for it to recover....

When on sylvestris it will drop last years foliage when new candles appear in spring. On going and never ending. When on contorta under stock it should never burn and it always

I should plant it next to my skimpy Abies c., I could have a "nudist colony" themed section lol

I haven't decided what to do.

==>>> though i fully understand putting things out of YOUR misery ...

i dont know why you would give up on it ..

but, come to think of it.. on 5 acres.. i can ignore things ... but back in space limited suburbia ... it would be a misery ...

ron/killer .... its periods.. not commas ... lol ... i noticed in some other post earlier in the week ...

just get rid of it.. if its pissing you off .. every time you look at it.. lifes to short ... most of us dont garden to get pissed off ... the stress its bringing you isnt worth the 80 bucks ... sometimes you just have to teach these things a lesson ...

that is all my cliches for today ...

ken

Liz, you're not the first to ponder this question...

Hidden Lake Gardens CJ in winter

Now I have a new problem- my boyfriend feels sorry for it and won't let me move it!!

Time to get out the spray paint....

Lis, your boyfriend really doesn't understand what the problem is with this cultivar. Keeping it around hoping it will recover is not going to happen. Replace it with one guaranteed to be on contorta understock. Let the boyfriend buy it for you. Also, I should add, never fertilize a conifer that is sick or under performing.

Dave- does adding iron count as fertilizer? I sprinkled some Iron/Mg around the base. I know you are right about this tree's understock and I will remove it. The biggest motivation to take it out is I would like to see a blue-green round form in its place, to complement the neighboring Spring Grove ginkgo that has now begun to thrive. It has taken on a jaunty 4 leader shape and is heading up to 4 feet tall now! The CJ is the wrong form and color in this spot. So when I find my next conifer I will make the change,

Thanks to everyone who commented- I have been coming back to this forum over the years and I am always thankful to see so many familiar names and gardens on here! There are few people in my world who get my passion :)

I never add amendments to a conifer that I know has issues. Usually it will put them over the edge and they will die