Shrubs - Leyland Cypress
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  (January) About 3 years ago we planted several Leyland Cypresses in our community park. The trees had been doing quite well; they grew nicely providing some privacy for the pool from a very busy street. This morning, I noticed that three (3) of them had large areas which had turned brown! Touching the branches, the needles fell off. I did not detect any kind of bug . The brown areas seem to be located mostly towards the north side. Eliminating those particular branches would result in very lopsided and ugly trees. They are beautiful and have been cared for, i.e. watered during the hot months. Additionally, I personally do not like to lose ANY tree. Can you, please, help??? Thank you.

  This is one of the downsides to growing Leyland cypress. They can be plagued by a canker or twig blight that can affect them one stem at a time. Fungicide sprays are ineffective. Make sure the plants are in a well drained location, since low spots which retain water seem to make the problem worse. Plants of all sizes and ages are affected. Cankers may form on stems or branches. Cankers appear as sunken, dark brown or purplish patches on the bark, often accompanied by extensive resin flow. Avoiding water stress and tree wounding may reduce infection. Infected branches or twigs should be pruned and destroyed as soon as symptoms are noted. Prune at least one inch below the canker, and sterilize the pruning tools between cuts by dipping them in rubbing alcohol or in a solution of 1 part chlorine bleach to 9 parts water. Tools should be cleaned and oiled after using bleach to prevent rusting. Severely affected plants should be removed and destroyed.

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