What type of cedar? Eastern red cedar normally gets that brown tinge in the winter. If you are confusing it with Leyland Cypress or Japanese Cryptomeria, that have rand large splotches of brown then that is more likely disease. And yes Leylands and these crytomeria have lately started becoming disease prone. As for the Cedars...I don't know of any disease affecting them.

Don't worry too much. jqpublic is right. My cedars go through this same spell every year and it does look worrisome. This too shall pass and they should return to their normal coloration once spring settles in.

You know -- I *was* confusing them with Leyland Cypress bushes.

So the recent browning in this area is due to disease? Is there anything that I can spray on the bushes?

Thanks

If they are Leland Cypress and they are ALL brown, they are most likely dead, like the thousands of others here in Charlotte. Combination of bad drought and disease. Cut out brown sections if the rest of it looks ok. We had to have 13 removed, what a job. Neighbors on both sides of me lost every one in their yards.

No problem ehud. Glad we could help, but sorry about the trees. If it is splotchy you could try to prune it out and dispose of the bad pieces far far away. Drought could be a factor, but the drought could have made them disease prone. If they are a total loss you may be able to try other trees. What about a screen of several very widely spread out Deodar Cedars? or slightly closer spaced Eastern Red Cedar?

The neat thing about native cedars is they are used to growing in a dense patch so using them as a hedge works well and they tend to support one another. Singular ones are more subject to ice damage.
They tend to be picky about siting. In a good site,you'll see lots of cedar while nearby only hardwoods will grow. Mine are getting a bit too much water and are slower growing but doing OK. Easy to transplant wild seedlings. Set in an area with good drainage and full sun, they grow very fast.

Question here, does the same apply to longleaf pine? I transplanted a couple of babies and they did very well for several months, but have some brown needles now. Dry or diease???

Well I think since its spring, and they don't lose their needles in the fall like other trees lose their leaves, maybe some are just browning before the pines send up their next flush of needles in the spring. I wouldn't worry. Look at this picture. The needles towards the bottom turn brown as the trees are growing out of the "grass stage" they were in for several years. Good Luck! Should be fine.

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:562731}}

Thanks!! I hope they will be OK, I'm just going to keep an eye on them. I love Longleaf Pine, one of the prettiest of the pines IMO. I'm luckey enough to have some growing on my property and found a couple still in the grass stage that was small enough to move closer to the house. Got my fingers crossed for them!

Thanks for all of the tips -- I cut out most of the brown spots and moved it to the dump.

Hopefully the trees will come back.. took several years to grow a nice hedge.

ehud..check the main stems and look for weeping 'sores'. If the sap is running out these sores, you'd be better off just taking the tree down. There's no reliable treatment for cypress canker especially when so many cypress in the vicinity are effected.

Our fault. We found an evergreen tree that grows fast and thick and everyone wanted them as privacy hedges. Too much use of leylands and cypress canker is rampant.