Brown Evergreen Tree | Blog | Spring Green (2024)

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I am always a little sad when I have to tell someone that their tree is going to die or that it is already dead. There are certain tree and shrub diseases and some species of insects that have done or will do so much damage to a tree that there is no hope for its survival, regardless of the heroic efforts put forth to save it.When I get a picture of an evergreen tree that has turned brown, there is usually little hope of it surviving. When a deciduous tree loses its leaves, there is often still hope for its recovery. Deciduous trees have the ability to regenerate new leaves, often within the same growing season. An evergreen tree, on the other hand, does not have that same ability. Once the needles or fronds turn brown, they stay brown. Depending on the cause of the browning, an evergreen may be able to generate new growth from the tips, but sometimes the tree ends up looking like a tree made up of bottle brushes.Many arborvitae trees succumbed to the drought of 2012. Once that species of evergreen begins to turn brown, there is not much you can do to save it.We had numerous reports of arborvitaes dying throughout the drought areas in 2012. Unfortunately, there is no amount of tree care that can bring those trees back. The only thing that can be done with those trees is to cut them down.It can be discouraging to the homeowner to replace the dead trees with new ones. Many times, two or three die in the middle of a row of 15 or 20 plants that have all grown to be about 8 feet tall and the biggest ones you can find as a replacement are only 4 feet high. They will eventually grow up to match the height of the other plants, but it can take many years to do so.