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Essex, United Kingdom

Hi. Two of my Goldcrest Cupressus have developed brown foilage. There have hardly been any ground frosts as its been mild in East Anglia. It has been windy and rained heavily the last couple of days. The soil type is clay.

I am wondering what is the most likely cause of this and will the trees survive?

I have not noticed any pests this year. My one concern that that the ground is not that free draining as its clay. But its not prone to flooding or anything.

If they don't make it can anyone suggest a conifer that does ok in soil that is not that free draining. Also I live a few min walk from the sea. So this was one of the reasons I chose this connifer.




Answers

 

Only a little bit of damage there - its possibly wind burn. A neighbour had it very much worse than this a couple of years ago and i thought they would never recover, but they did and now look OK. Don't worry unless it spreads and gets worse.

19 Dec, 2013

 

Could also be a local tomcat marking his territory although I don't find goldcrest to be a very tough plant and I've seen lots of them just turn brown and die for no obvious reason

19 Dec, 2013

 

That low damage is absolutely typical of a cat spraying. The colour of the foliage is distinctive, grey or blackening rather than dying off through drought or weather damage.

20 Dec, 2013

 

Thanks for replies.

I did not think of a cat spraying. If its that and I put up a wire fence around the trees, is the damage serious or will it recover when it stops?

20 Dec, 2013

 

I had a Goldcrest Cupressus which had brown bits on it and I just cut them out and tied something round the tree for a few months after which the tree recovered and kept its shape. An old tree man said he would use a stocking or a pair of tights to tie fir trees.

20 Dec, 2013

 

Never thought of cats - much more convincing for that position.

20 Dec, 2013

How do I say thanks?

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