I bought two of these 4 years ago. They were both a little over 5 feet. This one grew the best and was a sight to see.
This winter was a hard one for us and now the tree has gone brown. It should be evergreen.
I thought maybe the cold got to it (silly idea I know), but the other one, although topped and not as tall, is still green and healthy, planted about 40 feet from the house.
Any ideas?
BTW, I have seen some other cedars in Gainesville area that are suffering the same way.
If that's Juniperus virginiana it's dead. Did it have proper drainage?
It probably is the Juniperus virginiana. I only knew it as Eastern Cedar.
Our drainage here is a pure sand base going down for many feet, although this one sits on the corner of the orchid house hiding a rain barrel that may be subject to overflowing during heavier rains.
I suppose too much water was the problem. Hmm.......now how to get rid of it. I see the crepe myrtle growing by it is suffering from some black mould.......again, too much moisture.
We have had a very rainy season this year.
Better take it down......Thanks for your help.
Molly
You might also want to check for bagworms. They are killing my cedars this year :(
ants
Bagworms, are those them worm things that grow in those webs and hang on trees?
If so, none of them here on my place. When I see them, they get cut down and go in the fire pit.
No, they are different & hard to see. Here is a link.
http://davesgarden.com/guides/bf/go/259/
ants
They are hard to see at first but man when they get big they are easy to see and nasty looking.
Molly, have you thought about replacing it with a moisture-loving Chamaecyparis? There are tons of varieties.
We just tested a stronger branch and it's not totally dead. I suspect given some time it will get more brittle and be easier to remove. We didn't see any critters on them though.
As for the Chamaecyparis, one of the varieties might do the trick.
I really did love that cedar. We put the orchid house up after the cedar was in, so we built it to suit the cedar. It was just last year that we put in the gutters and the rain barrels.
The first three years we were here, we were in drought. I was beginning to think I didn't live in Florida anymore since there was no summer rainy season. Well, this year, the rainy season is here. 4 out of 7 days we get a build up of storms and by afternoon we are drenched.
The 4:00's under that cedar are not going to like losing their shade friend.
Molly
Agree with it being a juniper, not a cedar.
Doesn't look like bagworms, more likely caused by one of the juniper blights.
Resin
No, not technically a Cedrus species. But over here everyone calls them that. Cedar, Red Cedar, Eastern Red Cedar.
In my experience with Juniperus virginiana (Eastern Red Cedar) they turn a copper color in the Winter, its normal, I'd let it live.
Nevermind, it should be green by now, sorry. : ) I know they make terrible Christmas trees because they drop brown pointy needles all over so if its doing that on some branches I'd say its going too.
This message was edited Jul 12, 2010 1:22 AM
