I planted a dozen Emerald Cedars 2 years ago. They have been doing well with the exception of losing 2 over the previous winter, but they survived this winter and are growing better than ever. I don't excessively water them and take good care of all of them. They are beautiful, tall and strong. My question is: there is alot of dead growth at the base of the trees. So much so on a couple of the big boys that I can't jam the hose in for a soak at ground level! I know this could be caused by having the soil/mulch up too high. The trees themselves are in fantastic condition though, and very little browning on the interior of the tree. Again, mainly lots at the bottom. I was curious if I should remove or "dethatch" for lack of a better term, all of the dead, brown leaves from the base of the trees, or is it best to leave it be? I would guess removal would promote more air circulation, but would leaving the leaves there put nutrients back into the soil? Thanks!
I see there are no comments posted on this thread and my research isn't really getting me anywhere. Any thoughts?
