Question
I have 5 hemlock tree's they suffered severe winter burn this year.  I also treated them with Bayer tree and shrub due to the possibility of insect damage.  I hate to admit it but I may have made the solution to concentrated and made my problem worse.  I have since put in fertilizer spikes.  Each of the trees has the beginnings of new growth showing but the tree's look terrible.  They have many brown needles and I have noticed that the top part of the trees are starting to droop.  Is there anything I can do to prevent these trees from declining further?  I have read some information about using root growth hormone but I am unsure of how much.  Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Answer
I would lay off everything and see if the tree will overcome the winter damage. Rooting hormones are for newly planted trees or when you want to root a cutting--not needed here. Sometimes fertilize spikes give too much fertilizer and could cause burning. The insecticide application more than likely did not harm the tree.Make sure the trees are watered if it does not rain for a week. water with 1 inch of water per week--place a pan under the tree and turn the sprinkler on and when the pan has 1 inch of water in it stop. This will deep water the trees.