After a rough winter here in New England my arborvitae trees seem to be shedding, but only at the very bottom. The rest of the tree still seems green and healthy. Has anyone seen this type of damage before? Could it be from the massive amounts of snow we got this year? They are in a fenced in yard so deer are not an issue, however we have lots of rabbits.
I have a truckload of mulch being delivered tomorrow. Should I mulch up higher to cover some of the dead part? Or continue to only mulch around the base?
Thanks!
by jimbo1245
10 Comments
Deer can hop pretty high fences.
Rabbits. Look for rabbit poop around. This happened to my cedars this winter. I saw the bunny several times doing this. Thought he was just hiding from the cold but the bugger was digging into the snow around the trees and eating the bark of the branches.
I genuinely don’t know the answer but I continue to be amazed at the number of people still putting these in. They seem to be pretty universally disliked for anything but a “fast fashion” approach to landscaping.
Do not mulch up higher. You will choke them. The rabbits foraged those lower bits under the snow during the winter.
For everyone blaming animals, which is possible. Low level browning can also be a sign of stress from drought, heat etc which is just as likely. People hate on these trees just to hate on them.
In my experience arborvitae’s die from the bottom up.
That does look like animal damage to me at first glance, but you can also see the foliage on the ground below, and I wouldn’t expect that if animals are eating in it. Kinda strange, I dont really know what is causing that.
Was a bunch of snow sitting at the bottom about that height for a while? That may have done it
Might have something to do with the fence and blockage from the sun.
Should’ve planted a fence of about 56 cypress trees instead 🤷🏻♂️