Question
I have two clusters of 25+ foot tall cedars in the back yard of my brand new Boerne, Tx. We trimmed some branches and used pruning spray on the cuts.  Around the trees I added soil and planted colorful Texas native plants (and used RoundUp and Mracle Gro on the plants, careful not to touch the trees).  Suddenly, my trees are all brown. The trees are at the bottom of the yard and so we suspect the excessive rains of this summer may have caused root rot damage, despite cedars loving water.  But my next door neighbors trees are as green and healthy looking as ever. I see no signs of beetle infestation on the bark.  What could have caused their brown appearance, and is there anything I can do to revive them? Thanks so much.

Answer
It depends on how much soil was added. More then 3-4 inches will cause the roots to have damage and could kill the tree. Also if you dug down and damaged some of the roots this could also be the problem. If the Roundup was sprayed on the trunk that had been pruned the herbicide can get into the tree's system through the pruning cuts. Check and see if the branches are still alive --near the end of the branch scrape a small bit of bark off the branch and if the color under the bark is green the branch is still alive at this point on the branch, If the color is not green (brown) the branch is dead at this point on the branch--continue down the branch if brown until you find green color. Cedar is very susceptible to root disease and if the roots were damaged this maybe the problem , if so not much can be done. I would call the local office of the Texas Forest Service (state agency) and ask one of their Foresters to come take a look. An on the ground inspection may see what the problem is. This is a free service in most states.
Here is the web link to their contact page the drop down menu will give the county offices.
 http://txforestservice.tamu.edu/main/article.aspx?ctrl=3