Will pruning dead shoots off an arborvitae cause re-growth?

Question

I planted 26 emerald arborvitae trees this summer. All but three are looking good. On each of those three, one of the shoots died. If I cut that part out, will the trees fill in?

Answer 1

Yes, it will if those cedars are healthy. You should investigate to find out why the shoots died. Some possible causes with freshly planted cedars are:

• inadequate watering; new plants need a lot of water the first season
• too much watering: are they planted in a very wet area?
• spider mites or scale or leaf miner are common problems. See here
• physical damage during planting, deer

These answers are also related:

• how to make cedars grow fast
• are these cedars worth saving
• how much damage can cedars recover from