Interior browing in juniper

[ATH]

What do you think?
This is the first I have seen these (new client). He said they were slightly brown last year, but much worse this year. I have a guess, but am curious what others think first.

As you can see the older growth is brown. I can see where there is some longer dead stuff, but most of it looks like it was pretty recent.

Thanks!

 

[S Mc]

ATH, help me out with the ID here. I am thinking it looks like a Chamaecyparis obtusa whose moisture needs are quite diverse from the Juniperus sp whose water needs are virtually nill after establishment.

The Chamaecyparis older foliage will turn brown and stay persistant on the plant. However, this is appearing on "not old enough" foliage?

In your closeup photo I see webbing but as these plants are home to probably thousands of varieties of arachnids I am not immediately detecting an overabundance. I can't tell if the webbing on the left side of the photo is connected to some kind of newly forming cacoon.

So, basically I am being no help but am curious as to what you are thinking is going on here. Please share.

Sylvia

 

[ATH]

Thanks Sylvia,
My first guess is spider mites. I have not seen them on anything besides spruce, but I did find that they do occur on Juniper (and Chamaecyparis). I'll have to admit that I assumed Juniper as I don't see Chamaecyparis planted around here.

I'll go back to look again in better detail to see if it is, in fact, falsecypress.

If it is, this is still 'too much' browing to be natural, right?

I didn't test the soil, but I am fairly certain that it is going to be alkaline if not real close to 7.0 because that is what we have here... If it was a soil problem, I wouldn't expect the most recent growth to look so good.

Here is one more picture showing some of the older browning.

Look forward to hear other input. I am certainly better with the hardwood pests than conifer pests... so the help is much appreciated.

 

[S Mc]

ATH, can you get a picture of the entire tree/shrub so we can get a feel for the affected area in relation to the rest of the plant. Maybe I can do better on my id then also. :blush:

If this is a juniper the water requirements are radically different than chamaecyparis. Over 90% of all problems in junipers are related to overwatering. Many references say "do not irrigate after establishment." They can handle any well-drained soil. So pH would probably not be an issue.

Chamaecyparis, on the other hand, like moist, well-drained, acid to neutral soil.

Sylvia

 

[Urban Forester]

This plant looks like a Hinoki Cypress. I would say the browning is more than normal, but some interior browning on these is normal. The more they mature the more "open" they become. The gray is more of a concern. Off hand it would appear that this shrub has suffered some low temp injury. I too would like to see a picture of the entire plant for the purpose of proportion.