Photo 1

Photo 2

Cedars will thin pretty quickly in shade/partial shade...the Russian Olive isn’t helping.

our arborist said to feed them now and water regularly, which I did all year but they don't seem to have improved.

==>>> things happen in tree time with the trees ... which is counted in decades ... i am not surprised you havent seen any change ... or apparent change ....

i dont believe in fert'ing trees ... i think its a waste of money ... and im not to impressed with a pro who suggests such ...

these trees are stressed,. not hungry ... and the stresses have been noted above ... lack of full sun.. and probably water competition ... i agree on removing the tree .. if you the best odds of saving these ... and since the tree is competing for water ... i dont see any downside to giving them such ...

perhaps others can chime in .. if you take the tree out.. might the plants get sunburned ... so is timing of the tree removal important ... before the tree leafs out and before the plants start active growth this spring.. or wait until fall as the sun declines for winter ...

ken

Thanks for the replies. The tree has been there for longer than the cedars. It is regularly prunes to maintain otsits shape and size, so the environment for the cedars shouldn't have changed much. Also this is our 'mock' apple tree that fertilizes our apple so it has to stay. Any other advice would be appreciated. Other cedars in the neighbourhood look similar so maybe it was an environmental problem.

Thanks, this agrees with what iI have previously read. When would be the best time for me to shear here. The temp is above 10 celcius on the day but can still drop below 0 overnight. Also how much do I take off?. Thanks again

I can't tell you that for sure. Your climate is very different from mine :-)) Is forsythia or the spring bulbs blooming there yet? That would be a good marker.

And I would shear quite lightly. You do not need to take much off to encourage denser regrowth....about 1/2 inch or so should do it.

I'm not sure as we don't have early spring bulbs but I doubt it as nothing is even out of the ground.

Any spring blooming trees showing color? Or maybe I should ask you what signs of spring can you see :-)

The snow just melted :-). There are no leaves in any trees but the apple, lilac and plum are all just starting to bud. Out last frost date is May 24 so I am just worried a frost will burn them if I do it too soon. Thanks again for your help

Arborvitaes are pretty much frost proof :-) But you do want to wait until the trees come out of dormancy otherwise the shearing won't achieve the desired result. Maybe wait until the first of the month? Or just keep checking until you see other clear signs of spring growth going on.

Thanks. One of our first plants to bloom is an allium. It is something like ivory queen we think, we inherited most of these plants. It is just coming out of the ground.

Not sure how you see arb needles on the ground, could they be bits of branches? If so, squirrels here ravaged a neighbor’s arb here this winter to where it looks like yours and a large area beneath it looks like it was mulched with branch bits.

tj

I am not sure what you mean, I am referring to the brown needles that have fallen off the tree to the ground