Question
I live on Long Island (just outside of New York City).  We had about 100 or so arborvitae planted in the early fall of 2008.  Some of those (about 5 or so) have turned all brown and are obviously dead.  I have read that it is best to plant these shrubs in the early fall.  My question is whether I should plant a few new ones this spring to replace the dead ones or would I be better off waiting until the optimal time later on this year?

Thank you in advance.

Mike

Answer
Hello Mike

Usually I would say 'Plant in the fall', but under the circumstances it might be better to replant now before the roots of the other plants have spread too much to allow for digging out the dead plants and putting in new ones.  

Once they are planted give all the plants a good watering and apply a mulch to keep moisture in.