By Lainedru
Muncie, Indiana,
United States 
Browning evergreens? I have some evergreens that are west facing on the front of the house. They are browning in spots and I'm afraid they're dying. I'm including photos. My box woods in the bed don't seem as bad as the cone shaped tree in the middle (sorry, don't know variety). The cone tree is yellowing towards the back of the plant which doesn't face the sun. I don't believe the roots have dried out... this bed gets the most water in our yard because the gutters like to dribble quite a bit up front (that's a whole other issue!!).
1 Apr, 2011
Answers
I believe it is a dwarf conifer, but I don't know what type. The tag has been lost. I've looked through some pictures online but couldn't find one that matched the shape. This is it's natural shape and I believe it's mature height. I'm pretty sure the tag had said it would get to 4-5 feet, which is about what it is at. We planted it a couple years ago, maybe fall of the year before last. It's been doing good up until lately. I haven't fertilized that bed recently, so it may be a deficiency. I'm also concerned that a neighborhood stray cat may be marking/spraying on some of my plants. I saw yellow snow in the winter around a berberis on the other side of the porch. I didn't know if that might be it too.
1 Apr, 2011
Hmmm, the cat sounds like it would do some of the damage too.
2 Apr, 2011
Are the first two conifer types ?
If so, the brown areas are quite likely to be wind damage and probably dead - i'm not sure if cutting into them would rejuvenate though.
The third picture is a Buxus ? (Box)
I'm not sure what would cause the yellowing foliage but that plant will happily take to pruning it back.
Perhaps it just needs a feed, possibly the soil isn't nutrient rich enough.
1 Apr, 2011