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Two of my arborvitae turned brown
over the winter and died. I figured
this would happen eventually.
I planted
too many trees along the back
border in a desperate attemt for
privacy: the October Glory red maple
and
several arborvitae. When the maple
was small, this made perfect sense to
me. But now that she's big, and
shading
everything in sight, those arbs
don't have a chance. Besides the
shade, maple trees soak up a lot
of water and
nutrients from the
soil. Somebody had to win here;
I knew it would be the maple.
(Next time I will think more
about
the future. I have learned SO much
about trees since I started out.)
Holes where the arborvitae used to be.
What will I replace this hedge with? I'm
looking for
an evergreen that will grow
to 5 feet tall, and can withstand competition
from the maple in terms of shade and sustenance.
Hmm. Have an idea? Send me Tree-Mail.
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See what I mean by multiple trunks? Next project: figure out how long it takes for the trunks to decompose.
Even this one (which is the stump of the rightmost dead arborvitae in the top left picture) has a
multiple trunk system. If you look closely at the stump picture, you can see growth rings forming in multiple areas within
the larger circle.
See my arborvitae detailed facts page for a guide to choosing quality arborvitae trees. Hint: Single leader! (Like the ones in the picture of my neighbor's
arborvitae.) No multiple trunks! (Like mine.)
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