Incense Cedar w/ browning branches / needles

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GregManning

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Location
Chardon, OH
My Incense Cedar w/ browning branches / needles
Cedar is 4.5” BHD.
No visible critters on top or bottom of needles.
The lighting today was poor for photos.

Don't think it is water related - i.e. not too little, or too much.
The lush green tree directly behind is an Eastern Hemlock.

This is unusual for my tree. What's up ?

220705 Incense Cedar.JPG
220705 Cedar looking up from underneath -IMG_0881.JPG
220705 Cedar browning 1 -IMG_0880.JPG
220705 Cedar browning 2 -IMG_0879.JPG
 
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I’d chalk that up to fall flagging.
Perhaps it’s just their species timing in your area. Some shed in the late summer, some in the spring.
Haven’t worked with enough incense to get a feel for what they do in my area. Any chance of finding a comparison locally?
We have been unseasonably cool and wet, but after last years fucked up weather, we are seeing some weird growth responses across the board. Sounds like most the county experienced our last few springs/early summers.
Regardless it really looks like fall flagging, a normal shedding of older leaves. For reference western red cedar tends to shed out 7th year leaves in a normal kinda way around august/September
 
I've seen a lot of brown foliage, like 'fall flagging' this spring on my Port Orford Cedar/ Lawson cypress.


I've been curious about that age of shedding foliage in WRC, and conifers in general. Interested to hear about that 7 year number. Not challenging. Curious.

Never bothered to explore it, hands-on.
 
I got two (2) Incense Cedar "seedling - Test Plants" from Holden Arboretum in Ohio in 2005.
One was killed by "deer-rub".
The other has been "rubbed" twice, but has survived, and is healing. The steel pipe you see in the photo has been a good deer deterrent on the "open side" of the the tree for the last several years.
 
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southsoundtree said:
I've seen a lot of brown foliage, like 'fall flagging' this spring on my Port Orford Cedar/ Lawson cypress.


I've been curious about that age of shedding foliage in WRC, and conifers in general. Interested to hear about that 7 year number. Not challenging. Curious.

Never bothered to explore it, hands-on.
Click to expand...
Can’t remember where I picked it up, but I verified it and it was consistent in a 90% kinda way. I know that this is also a ID thing in pines. Of course there are some blights that change things up a bit too.
 
GregManning said:
I got two (2) Incense Cedar "seedling - Test Plants" from Holden Arboretum in Ohio in 2005.
One was killed by "deer-rub".
The other has been "rubbed" twice, but has survived, and is healing. The steel pipe you see in the photo has been a good deer deterrent on the "open side" of the the tree for the last several years.
Click to expand...
One of the more tasteful deer protections I’ve seen around here is a 8 length of rebar bent like a upside down u. Much better than tee posts or rebar just poked in the ground when looking down on it (from in the tree!)
 
GregManning said:
Just FYI, the "deer-rub" is not the cause of the browning.
The last rub was 3-4 years ago.
Click to expand...
So taking a closer look, zoomed in.. on the photo that shows the protection one sign nearly square on.
What I see is a weird furrow on the bark just up from the root flare. I’ve noted that this can be a sign of not a SGR but a root that takes a 180 under the main root flare.
I really can’t tell much zoomed way in as everything is too blurry. But besides the above you might want to pull back some of the duff, and look at the roots a bit. A leaf blower and a garden hose will get you really far on a RCX, often more than enough for a RX.


Saying all that I’m still sticking with normal shedding. I make a mental note to drive by a few known plantings, but I’m in a very different area. We are nearly a month different than Seattle but about 30 miles away at the same elevation!
 
@evo - Thanks for the comments.
The furrow is the trunk healing-over from the 2nd deer-rub several years earlier.

Actually, the 1st deer-rub a number of years before, was in exactly the same spot; and had not completely healed.
 
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