18 planted last year in July, watered all summer and cover with burlap for the winter but they all turned brown. I realized that be reading the information here on this site I have done a few things wrong. 1. Planting in July - bad time during a hot a dry season last year in Winnipeg 2. not digging a larger enough hole when planting - to encourage root growth 3. planted some tree balls a little to deep 4. covering the base of the plants with plant paper and then adding rocks on top 5. I fertilized them but I heard that I should not on the first year due to the possibility of burning the roots before they grow into the new soil conditions. Is this true? Does this make the plant more vulnerable to winter kill in the first year? Anyway, this spring they are all Brown approx 75% to 80% of the tree has dead leafs. So I cut them back some and have been monitoring them. There appears to be new grow on the main stems but very slow. ( the trees look like hell but I don't want to give up on them yet since I noticed some new growth) It appear at this rate of growth I will have brown trees this year, if they survive. Questions: 1. If I top these trees about a foot or more will this help them produce more growth and at a faster rate? Will this help them survive? 2. Has anyone experienced this and had full recovery of these types of trees? 3. Is the the new growth that I am seeing on the tree's main branches just a short lived cycle before the completely die out? I appreciate your advice. Thanks
No, only remove dry, dead foliage. They should recover eventually, but to be honest, if the browning is very severe, I suspect you'd do better to get rid of them and replant with fresh plants.
Depending on why they are browning. If it is something that will happen to replacement plants, no point in spending the money and effort twice. If the Province offers something similar to our Cooperative Extension Service, try to get help from them with identifying your difficulty. Or try a trusted independent nursery.
