Question
QUESTION: I live in Cumming-GA and I planted 9 Emerald Green Arbivatae around mid April 2007. Five of them started getting yellow and  now are light brown. The others that were looking very good started with some brown leaves. This is my first experience planting trees. In the first 3 weeks I was watering every other day and now I am watering twice a week.
It is very frustrating to see it considering the amount of work and dedication I have put on this. I talked to the Nursery (John Deere) but their response to my issue was very bad. At the end they don't really care.
I have read a lot of things about it, but I could not find a something that matches my problem. Edward Gulliksen answered a thread on this forum saying something about the clay soil that may apply to my case.

Any help will be very welcome.

Thanks,

Sandro

ANSWER: Sandro,

Soil type is very important to the survival of this type of Arbirvitae. Clay soils, or any poorly drained soil, will create a root rot condition or stop the rapid growth of the fine roots.

Another factor that must be considered is if the plants were planted properly. Was the burlap removed from the root ball (if balled and burlaped). Or if they were container grown, was the roots scored to encourage new growth out of the standard pot shape? These are also important to the rapid establishment of the roots that the plants need for survival.

I would recommend continuing your watering and put down some fertilizer to spark new growth.

Good luck,
Ed Gulliksen

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi Ed,

Regarding the planting procedure I did:
1) made a hole twice as big the the size of the root ball
2) put a product to control the soil Ph
3) Put the tree in the hole. I left about 2-3 inches of the root ball outside the ground (as recommended by the nursery) . The root ball was about 15 inches tall. I cut/removed the burlap with a scissor. Just left the part under the tree (the nursery rep said I did a bad thing by removing the burlap).
4) Then I put a mix of local soil and a Nursery soil, and a product called tree saver.
5) Put some water and put more dirt.

I called Scotts Tree service to my house this week and the person told me that I should never leave part of the root ball outside the ground. She said I always should level with the ground (different of what 2 nurseries have told me). What do you recommend?

Thanks for your answer,

Sandro  

Answer
Sandro,

The planting procedure that you followed is perfect. I have to disagree adamantly with the nursery in that removing as much of the burlap as possible will actually encourage fine root growth outside the root ball.

As far as Scotts- I have little faith in a company that does lawn care and only does trees and shrubs on the side. Planting high is a good practice to get into. I have seen more plants die from being buried in the soil by landscapers and home owners. There is also the fact that many nurseries use tree spades to harvest the plants and these mechanical spades kick soil up around the base of the plant covering the crown.

Hope this helps,
Ed Gulliksen