any kids around to damage it.. say.. kick a ball into it??

at 6 year in situ.. it would have to be a pretty severe drought to affect a mature established tree.. regardless.. it would affect the whole plant.. not one branch ..

prune it out.. it will fill back in in a year or two..

the lower damage looks like dog ..... prune that off also ..

you can wait until spring if you want to see if those pieces recover. but i dont it ... and im not sure i would want to look at it all winter ...

put the hose on trickle and let it go for a few hours.. move it around the plant every hour... cant hurt to give it a good deep drink before winter ...

ken

Kids and a dog but I don't think the kids did anything to it. Dog likes to run in and around the tree. I'll give it a prune and deep water it. Thanks.

odds are.. if you track far enough into the tree.. it will all be one branch... just look for the damage ... bent or broken or something ...

i was a stay at home dad.. you have a lot more faith in your kids then i experienced.. lol ... not that they die anything intentionally.. but stuff happens .. and for some reason.. they wont just admit it ..

ken

My Arborvitae gets some brown, just from not enough watering. And I trim it out and I ended up putting a soaker hose around the base so I can water just that specifically more often than other areas. It is an investment in money and time and an element in the garden that brings a lot to the table and is not easily replaced, so, I give that more attention.

I agree with Ken, that the higher brown branch, might have been a break further back on the branch. I've had that happen from a tree branch from a tree that overhangs it, falling into the Arborvitae.