Asked on Mar 18, 2015

Lemon Cypress

Lois St Peter
by Lois St Peter
My Lemon Cypress tree is turning brown on the inside. Can it be saved?
  5 answers
  • Lois St Peter Lois St Peter on Mar 18, 2015
    Sorry about the sideways picture....it was correct when I downloaded it! But you get the picture.
  • It is hard to determine with a picture but once any evergreen starts to turn brown it is very hard to bring it back to its full beauty again. Did the plant dry out? If you do try and save it, It will take years for it to grow to that size again. I save many plant and from my experience once a cypress or arborvitae dries it out it is not ever going to look the same (and for many it will die). How long has it been in the spot? If not long I would pot it up and trim it up and put it somewhere to be watered and cared. Good luck and happy gardening.
  • Seena Seena on Mar 19, 2015
    my first question would be what state are you in? No need to answer here, but if you're in a dry/warm area, this is nothing short of heaven for . . . spider mites :( They pierce the plant to get the water out of them and they are VERY tiny! If you suspect you 'might' have spider mites, the easiest way to check for them is to take a blank white sheet of paper (copy paper works) put it under the tree/plant and give the plant a good, but gentle smack. Give it a second or two and then look to see if there are 'moving' specks . . . if your debris moves, you probably have spider mites. Do a Google search for ways to get rid of these seriously damaging creatures. Your tree is certainly 'showing' signs of SM damage. Hope this helps :)
  • Lois St Peter Lois St Peter on Mar 19, 2015
    I am in Washington State. I'm pretty sure it didn't dry out - even though we had a warm and dry summer - it still got watered when I watered my lawn. It was looking so good - until around January I would say....that I noticed anyway. I will try the test for spider mites! Thanks for the input! Stay tuned.....(:
  • Rhonda B Rhonda B on Mar 19, 2015
    How long has it been in the ground? If you tug on it does it seem secure or easy to pull up? If not it might not have established it's root system. If it seems secure and it has been there for a while it might be a watering issue or it could be wind drying it out (they like some humidity) Another potential issue would be cypress canker which you should be able to rule out by checking the trunk for oozing sap.