Trees - Cedar
Back to Trees

  (April) I'm sure you have answered this question many times, but we couldn't find the answer. On the cedar trees around here are hard brown things on the branches, from the size of marbles to maybe a golf ball. When it rains, orange stuff comes out and then disappears later. I have enclosed some pictures for you to see.

  Your tree is covered in the fruiting body of cedar apple rust. This disease has two hosts--cedar trees and apple trees. On the cedar trees there are usually a few orange tentacled looking growths in the spring, which eventually harden off to a brown ball. They are actively emitting the disease spores while they are orange. These spores then fly and infect apple trees, giving them yellow spots with orange centers. A heavily infected apple tree can defoliate. The disease is usually much worse on apple trees than it is on cedars, but from the looks of your pictures, you have quite a case on the cedar. If you can, remove and destroy the galls on the cedar, and hopefully the problem will be greatly reduced for next year. I hope you don't attempt growing apples anywhere nearby.

  I have a cedar tree that is about seven years old that I have been trimming every year to keep it from getting too tall. I shaped it in the form of a Christmas tree and decorate it every Christmas. Last summer, the needles on it started turning brown and it looked like it was dying. I sprayed it with a fungicide and it helped. Would it hurt to trim it again this winter? I trim it pretty severely every year normally. What disease do you think it had and what should I use on it?

  Cedar trees, as with other needle-type evergreens, only have the new growth buds on the green needles--there are none on the old wood like there are on broadleaf plants. If you prune branches severely back--past the green needle growth, those branches will not releaf. Therefore, you are limited on how severely you can prune them. It is possible you may have been overzealous in your pruning, which could account for some of the browning. There are both insects and diseases which attack cedars. Insects include bagworms and spider mites, both of which can cause browning, and a twig blight can also cause dieback. If the browning should occur again this summer, take a branch to your county extension office for diagnosis. As to more pruning, make sure that you leave green needles on all branches that you prune.

  I have a couple of cedars that are growing so well that I need to trim them back. What time of the year can I safely do this need trimming?

  Light shaping can be done at any time. Remember, however, that cedars only have growing points where there is green foliage or needles. If you cut a branch back to old wood--you have stopped growth on that branch--it won't leaf back out. So prune sparingly.

Back to Trees