Something wrong with my C. leylandii Golden Rider

What a pitty it's gone like that. Maybe you could put it on the questions page. Some people don't look at the blogs, and might give an answer if you put it on there.

skwright knows where to look :)

I just hope, he will return to GOY. :)

Katarina ... ask Bluespruce for advice ... he is an expert on this type of plant ... :o)

Thank you. I did :)

And what did he say, Katarina? Not my specialist area, conifers, unlike Bluespruce, but it just looks to me as if its not had enough water at some point(s) in the past - given the older needles are affected and there is plenty of nice new growth, that seems to me to be the most reasonable explanation.

Bingo! That could be the reason. I really do not have water source in this garden (not close to my house) and the summer and autumn were quite dry. So I am happy you have this opinion, as I was worried about some form of plague...:)
Thank you!!!!

Bamboo, rkwright thought it could be just natural exchange of leaves, but when he said that he did not have my photos yet.

I'm sticking to what I said...

I think you are right.

Sorry I have been very busy lately so haven't been able to get online much! Likely it is just shedding the inner scales, especially if it is something you noticed in Autumn. Some conifers only shed needles every few years, so it may not be something you notice every year. If it has been too dry then you will see more brown then a tree that gets watering in periods of hot weather and drought.

Thank you, rkwright :)

Could it be cold wind that has caused this? I know it can - Wind scorch is one name for it.

I am not so sure. This C. leylandii is sheltered from north and is turned to the south.

Does it get full sun there? If temps get very cold and it is exposed to sun the foliage can burn. Wind can certainly do it too. The damaging winds where I live are usually out of the west. If it's been in the ground less than 2 years that could be another cause. Some conifers will burn more the first couple of seasons until they're well established.

After all I think Bamboo is the one who is closest to the true. I just read in a special German magazine for gardeners that exactly this is what evergreens do, if they suffer from not enough water. That means, they get rid of older leaves, which are close to the central part - and it can happen on sunny places, as evaporation is there more intense, even by leaves themselves. This C. leylandii shouldn´t suffer from sun burns, rkwright, as it is the sort with yellow shades which likes the sunny places. Also C. leylandii is known as a pretty resistant to strong winds, that is why it is used along roads as wind barrier.

I had the same thing happen to a huge Juniper that I`ve had in my garden over 25yrs, a couple of years back I cut off all the dead and dying branches right back to the main trunks, I`d read somewhere that it would not grow back but thought it was worth a try anyway, I`m pleased to say that it has new stems growing all healthy looking so I`m hoping it will keep going for a few more years...

I am not horticulturist, but in Juniperus it could have been different problem. They extremely rarely have problems as they are able to adapt very quickly to dry weather. If there are long dry periods, they extremely slow down their metabolism. So if the Juniperus grow in dry and sunny places, it would not have brown spots all over like other more sensitive conifers, will be green, but smaller.