Are my trees dying ?

[Mollymoppet]

Hi all,

i have four trees lining my drive and providing a bit of a privacy barrier.  They have been here about 18 years with no issues.  Last year I noticed the leaves on me of the trees were turning brown, now they all seem to be affected.  I’m really worried they are all going to die and wonder if I can do anything to improve the situation.

we live in west wales and nothing really has changed .

thank you 

[Big J]

Drought stress from the extreme summer last year I wonder? Did you water them through the hot spell? 

[Mollymoppet]

Probably not - I ended up in hospital for 3 months after complications so I doubt they were watered.  Is there anything I can do now , be gutted if they all die.

[openspaceman]

4 hours ago, Big J said:

Drought stress from the extreme summer last year I wonder? Did you water them through the hot spell? 

It looks more like an aphid or mite attack to me

[Mark J]

1 hour ago, openspaceman said:

It looks more like an aphid or mite attack to me

I think you may be right.

https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=931

[Mollymoppet]

Thank you all very much for your advice.

do you think it’s worth joining RHS for a diagnosis ?

[Paul Cleaver]

have a close look on live branches for any mites or aphids - the mites will be considerably smaller than the aphids. If you find some take a photo and post on here

[Mollymoppet]

Thank you guys - I can’t see any bugs ?

but hear are some additional photos of the four trees, all looking equally poorly?

[openspaceman]

As Paul says it is the live bits you need to keep an eye on, if it is little critters they will have gone after feeding on the green bits.

 

They also tend to go for conifers that have been clipped late in the previous season

 

In the old days they would spray with lindane at the first sign of the beasts in late April/May but that is banned now.

 

As I have mentioned in another thread soapy water can be quite successful in removing  them, further confirmed by my plant  pathologist friend but she says the best method is to  add some ladybirds as a biological control.

[Mollymoppet]

Can you see any critters  from the images ?