Question
Greetings,
I planted several, 5 foot, emerald green arborvitaes in the summer,and they have  been progressively turning brown on inside ,one is browning on oneside and inside.I recently seen some others (un-planted back at the store) they are browning somewhat , but mine are  more than,twice as bad.
When i planted them it was a hot temp out and I was told to water 15-20 mins, every 2-3days, with full faucet flow(the core's top's are even with the grounds surface).I was having trouble with my water and ,I watered them at about half of full faucet flow at 15-20 mins.
Could that be the cause of the excess  browning?
Plus they only get about a 1 1/2 hour of sunlight a day.
Could that be a factor?

They get shade from some  trees above them and I am wondering if trimming branches back  on the  trees above,would help the arborvitaes this late in the fall (sun light is less daily now).
Thank you

Answer
Hello Harold

Arborvitae need a moist, but well drained soil in full sun!

It may be that you were not able to water them enough - this being their first season in the ground, watering sufficiently would be very important.  The 1 1/2 hours of sun a day would certainly be a factor - they really do need to be in full sun!

Trees around them, if they are close, will mean that they are competing for water and nutrients.

All in all - not ideal conditions for these plants!

Raising the crown of the surrounding trees may help a little next year if it allows more sun in.  This is the best time to do this work as the trees are going into the dormant season and will suffer too much from the pruning.

At this stage you might give the Arborvitae a really good watering, then surround each plant with a good deep mulch to help keep the moisture in.

I do hope this advice is of some help.