How to Revive a Thuja Hedge

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If you have planted a Thuja hedge it is very likely that with good care, it will thrive into the future because they are very resilient plants. Thuja is a popular hedging choice, although slightly slower growing than some other conifers, Thuja is easy to identify with glossy green foliage and fan-like sprays. Thuja hedging dying is quite rare but you can still be prepared to act quickly if there is something amiss with our below advice.

Why is my Thuja dying?

Signs that your hedge is struggling

The good news is Thuja are very resistant to pests and disease but sometimes a plant might succumb to something and start to appear brown and dying. Thuja hedge revival is possible depending on what the problem is so it’s important to know what it could be and look out for signs of pests and diseases.

Diseases: 

Most diseases will cause the foliage to turn yellow or brown and maybe even fall off. You may see brown or black patches on the foliage or bark, perhaps lesions on the bark as well. These can be a sign of diseases such as blight, canker or dieback.

If you see white fungus growth with honey-coloured mushrooms growing near the base in autumn then you have Honey Fungus which is more of a problem than other diseases. To control this read our blog on advice for honey fungus on trees and hedging.

Pests:

Scale insects, Minors and Aphids can take a liking to Thuja which may have similar signs to diseases with the addition of the remnants of Scale insects that leave behind a stickiness on the bark and foliage. 

Other:

There are other reasons why you might need to revive Thuja hedging which could be due to over or under-watering.  Young Thuja plants will need watering weekly to establish the roots and twice weekly in drought conditions for the first year. Mulch will help to retain moisture. After this, the plants will become more tolerant of dryer conditions.