Help! tree trouble.

[BigStevo77]

Hi all first time poster here...please forgive me but I have a serious issue with one of the conifers in my front garden. I have 3 Cupressus Wilma Pyramids planted in a long raised brick bed out front of my house. They were planted around 2021/2022 and were around 18 inches tall when planted. Other than occasionally having to upright them in really high wind; they've thrived and are now around 4-5ft tall. A week or so ago we noticed that the middle of the 3 was changing colour at the top and appears to be drying out and dying (see pics) and seems to be increasing quite rapidly. I last had to re-upright 2 of the trees earlier this year and have since spiked them upright using metal fence spikes and rubber tree straps (due to limited space in the bed, the spikes are inside the trees growth which is why you can't see them in the pics). My front garden faces South/South East...ish and my road can sometimes be a bit of a wind tunnel (wind from the west) hence having to upright the trees occasionally...I can't see any damage to the tree from when I spiked it and wondered if if was a fungus or a bug issue. I'd hate to lose one, but if I have to then so be it...the other 2 are in fine condition. All help appreciated in advance.

 

[Logan]

Hello and welcome, does the dieback go right in? If so there's not much you can do, it won't grow back from the old wood in the middle of the tree. But someone else might know more like @Tetters.

 

[Tetters]

At this time of year especially, Cypress aphid can attack these trees, and cause this kind of damage. If you have those, they need to be dealt with, or you'll lose the others as well.
The other problem to watch is the more obvious one, and these trees are most definitely not suited to a wind tunnel. They need to be in more protective surroundings to do well.
In this case, the fact that they have needed picking up after cold wind may have damaged the roots.
If you decide to buy in any more (and offer protection for them) you can get hold of small ones at B&Q for a very reasonable price - I bought in a few myself recently.
Our weather in this corner has been exceptionally brutal recently, as the wind and air temperatures have shown - even really hardy perennial plants here have been affected.
Good to have you on the forums

 

[BigStevo77]

At this time of year especially, Cypress aphid can attack these trees, and cause this kind of damage. If you have those, they need to be dealt with, or you'll lose the others as well.
The other problem to watch is the more obvious one, and these trees are most definitely not suited to a wind tunnel. They need to be in more protective surroundings to do well.
In this case, the fact that they have needed picking up after cold wind may have damaged the roots.
If you decide to buy in any more (and offer protection for them) you can get hold of small ones at B&Q for a very reasonable price - I bought in a few myself recently.
Our weather in this corner has been exceptionally brutal recently, as the wind and air temperatures have shown - even really hardy perennial plants here have been affected.
Good to have you on the forums

Hi Tetters, thank-you for your reply....I was down at my local garden centre this morning and found someone in there with a bit of knowledge to ask...she said its one of two problems, either a water issue or a bug problem. She said it could be something called a conifer/pine mite or its being starved of water. I explained about the uprighting because of the wind and she said it sounds like the roots were damaged during the storm earlier in the year that blew them over (not fully over, about 10 degrees off upright). She said go home get the hose out and water it liberally, it may save it it may not, also it may also be a good idea to cut out the damage and look for mites as we do it and burn the detritus...anyway, as there is some green still in the centre, we've given it a good watering and sprayed it for the mites and aphids. We have resigned ourselves to losing it, but we're going to give it a few days and see if it recovers first....thanks for your input anyway, much appreciated.

 

[BigStevo77]

Hello and welcome, does the dieback go right in? If so there's not much you can do, it won't grow back from the old wood in the middle of the tree. But someone else might know more like @Tetters.

Hi Logan...thank-you for your input. There is a little green in there and after seeking advice at my local garden centre; we've given it a good watering and sprayed for potential pests. If you see my reply to Tetters, I go into more detail about the advice we were given...thanks again, your advice is much appreciated.

 

[Tetters]

While you are giving the trees loads of water, make sure the drainage is good, or else they'll rot ... and give them some shelter (maybe with fleece) if you have more cold winds whistling through there. Staking them with bamboo or similar might help too.

 

[BigStevo77]

While you are giving the trees loads of water, make sure the drainage is good, or else they'll rot ... and give them some shelter (maybe with fleece) if you have more cold winds whistling through there. Staking them with bamboo or similar might help too.

The drainage is quite good...we've already staked them with fence spikes and rubber tree ties about halfway down; 2 spikes per tree, the tree ties aren't too tight or cutting in any way. You can't see them in the pictures as they're inside the tree's foliage because of limited space. The bed is about 22 foot long and only 3 feet wide and limits how we can stake them in relation to the winds direction, so we staked them on the basis of, if we can drive the stakes into the ground deep enough they may hold better and so far so good judging by the last storm that hit since staking...we used 1.2m steel fence spikes and drove at least 60cm into the bed and into the ground underneath that so they're quite solid and seem to be holding, unfortunately we think the damage may have happened during one of the storms back in the latter half of January.

 

[Tetters]

Don't forget to check out B&Q!

 

[BigStevo77]

Don't forget to check out B&Q!

Thats where we got the fence spikes