Tree trouble

Mister Sifter

I planted a few trees in the garden a couple of years ago. They started off good but I've noticed them starting to turn brown at the bottom lately. Getting quite bad now - question is, should I ditch them now or can they be saved? Pic attached.

pwurple

Conifer browning can be caused by a few things... Root establishment problems (drought), aphids, frost, even clipping too harshly. Looking at your picture, the plants look to be fairly close to a wall in a housing estate. I would guess there isn't great soil beneath them, possibly compacted. The roots could even be restricted by the foundations of that wall. I wouldn't say that is a great situation for those conifers.

If I were you, I would take them out, and either try to dig down and improve the soil, or failing that... replace with something shallow rooted.

Sonnenblumen

In addition to the possible causes outlined by the other poster, I would also add that these are vulnerable to a range of problems usually poor soil or poor growing conditions often leading to wind rock, poor root development and dry conditions. They are also susceptible to attack by various bugs, red mite etc

The bad news is I would suggest that you compost what you have and before you replace, check ground conditions and make adjustments before planting replacements.

An alternative and easily managed option to conifers etc might be Prunus Lusitanica especially the small leaf variety (Angustifolia). An excellent species grown individually or as a hedge. Tough as old boots too, but most plants will require a helping start with good soil conditions. Adding regular/ericaceous compost and other soil conditioners will help but for troublefree longterm plant wellbeing and development add some good soil.

A good piece of advice which is repeated often by a famous TV gardener celebrity is to "spend twice as much on the hole as you did on the plant".

Mister Sifter

Excellent advice, guys. Many thanks!