Browning Thuja hedge

MeOhMe

Is there anything I can do about this brown Thuja hedge? Can I save it? Or does it need to be removed?

looksee

I don't think there is any hope for the hedge, once conifers brown off like that they are not usually rescuable.

Jim_Hodge

I'm in the same boat with a 38 year old 180ft of Thuja gone brown in sections. There's nothing you can do. It's too big a job for me to replace it now.

standardg60

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120305990#Comment_120305990

Ivy underneath isn't so much of an issue, it's when it climbs through and swamps the foliage, you just need to sever it where it starts to climb.

Anything you replant will be fine as long as you keep the ivy out of it.

ttnov77

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058285241/browning-thuja-hedge

As said previously once conifer browns its dead, and thuja like most conifers doesn’t re-sprout from old wood.

best to remove, top dress and plant something native. Mixed native hedge is great for biodiversity :)

Jim_Hodge

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120302600#Comment_120302600

No offence intended tt but sometimes a native hedge just doesn't fulfil the remit of why a hedge is planted. I have mixed native hedges and several hundred feet of hawthorn but the thuja forms a better all year round screen where required. Just as letting a lawn revert to wildflowers is great for biodiversity but doesn't fulfil the role people may require of a lawn. I'll guarantee that my formal garden has as good a range of inserts, birds etc as my wildflower and wooded areas.

ttnov77

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120302688#Comment_120302688

No offence taken, it was only suggestion. Not sure if I understand correctly but if you mean that some people want evergreen tightly clipped, uniform and fast growing hedge then perfect native alternative to thuja is privet :)

Jim_Hodge

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120302883#Comment_120302883

Privet has it's place but thuja tolerates badly drained ground much better than privet.

But we digress from the topic,

standardg60

It's Chamaecyparis lawsoniana is it not?

Anyway it's been swamped by ivy so not a lot to be done for it.

Jim_Hodge

It's identical to my Thuja occidentalis.

It certainly has a lot of ivy but that neither caused the browning nor influences it's chances of regeneration,

cap.in.hand.

I have the same problem... I'd say it's the wind hitting it from the back through it browned it like burned toast

standardg60

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120303170#Comment_120303170

I'd be glad to see a pic of yours so.

To my mind there was a lot more ivy on it prior to the photo being taken.

Jim_Hodge

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120303271#Comment_120303271

Not sure what you mean. I clear the ivy from mine regularly BTW.

standardg60

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120303304#Comment_120303304

A pic of your hedge. Yours might be Chamaecyparis too, Thuja would be pretty uncommon here. I was referring to the OP in relation to the ivy as it looks like that caused the damage to theirs, not yours.

cap.in.hand.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120302967#Comment_120302967

It's ferns more so then ivy

Jim_Hodge

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120303480#Comment_120303480

Thuja Occidentalis was widely available from the mid 80s to the late 90s. I know a Thuja from a Lawson Cyprus.

Thuja goes like this after 30+ years - its the nature of the beast. Although the OP's is particularly bad from being trimmed to tight too often. I've had ivy try to take over in it but it doesn't kill it off.

standardg60

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120303538#Comment_120303538

Knowing the difference I assume you'll be happy to post a pic so..

Jim_Hodge

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120303659#Comment_120303659

I'm not going to go out to take a picture of my hedge or garden and post it on a forum just because you, for some reason, can't accept that it's a Thuja hedge. If you want it to be a Cyprus then carry on so. It still doesn't regenerate the OP's hedge. 🙄

standardg60

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120303677#Comment_120303677

I can't accept that it's a Thuja because it isn't, you say you have identical but won't post a pic, which was the basis for your identification.

Horticulture is my profession.

MeOhMe

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120303721#Comment_120303721

Thanks. The native mixed hedge is everywhere else around the boundary. This part needs to be protected from the winds, and also all the living are winded face out this way so I’m thinking I may go for something evergreen (but not Thuja!).

MeOhMe

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120302967#Comment_120302967

Possible - I always struggle with these two 😬

MeOhMe

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120303271#Comment_120303271

I wouldn’t know if there was more ivy prior. I understand that the ivy should be also taken out from underneath all other hedges (there’s a lot under internal beech hedges too…and everywhere on the trees) or can I leave some for the wildlife?

celticbhoy27

Have to agree, that's not thuja occidentalis

standardg60

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120306765#Comment_120306765

Cheers, it's just so rare here, i've only ever come across it once and that was freshly planted. Funnily i actually had a row (what's new!) with the owner because they'd been assured by the supplier that it was Thuja 'Emerald', which it wasn't :-).

If Jim has a mature occidentalis hedge then it's worth a pic even for the rarity value if not for identification purposes.

Jim_Hodge

Thuja hedge. It looks browner than usual as it's that time of year.