Hello all-

I planted a dwarf hinoki cypress in early January. I'm not sure if that was the ideal time to plant, but that's a moot point now. (My local nursery received their conifers in late fall). The tree is about 3 feet tall now.

The tips of the leaves are turning black and look to be dieing back. Please see the picture below. The picture is one of the worst leaves. About 1/3 of the tree has leaves like this, give or take.

We did have a worse than normal winter in January and February, with intense dessicating winds and 15-25 degrees for many days.

Are the black leaves winter dieback? Will the black tips fall off and will it grown back? I have limited experience with little cypresses.

Also, maybe of no merit, but the inside of the tree was very dusty when I checked on it last weekend. Shaking the tree produced tons of dust. It might have just accumulated it, but I don't notice other nearby plants being dusty. Odd.

Anyway, thanks for the replies.
I am in Portland, OR, zone 8b.

-Ed