they are conifers ... which are also trees ...

in my world of WORDS.. they are not shrubs.. no matter the common usage ...

its really hard to tell you much of anything w/o a pic.. and i know you have that technology ...

in the mean time.. think vines.. as in: whats your story.. morning glory .... [for the life of me.. i cant find a rhyme with clematis]

ken

ps: and if you want to try to root them.. i suggest rooting MEDIA.. not canal dirt ...

Are you sure its iron in the water doing that? Can we see a pic or two?

The arbs would turn that color as they die regardless of what is killing them or if there were iron in the water or not.
BTW arbs grow in the iron range of the midwest where there is plenty of iron in the soil.

How fast they grow depends upon what cultivar they are.

tj

Ken~
I'll take pictures in the morning and post them here, even though they're not "shrubs."
I don't think vines would work for this area, as they would climb what's left of the Arborvitae? I might be willing to try something, but it would have to be 'gratis.' (Sorry, it was the only thing I could think of to rhyme with "clematis")
I understand about the rooting media. Problem is, I'd already taken cuttings from them about 3-4 weeks ago, so they're in "store-bought-potting-mix." But those are the small ones. I could possibly try rooting some larger pieces in the proper media. If someone could tell me what the appropriate size bark would be for them?

Tj~
I'm sure it's the water causing the problem. If you take a drive down any street here in Florida, you'll see tree trunks, shrubs, conifers, buildings, mailboxes, and sidewalks/driveways that are covered with what we all refer to as "iron." The same problem above happened with my Dwarf Yaupon Holly, causing me to have to prune it up so that its "skirt" wasn't getting watered by the sprinklers.
This orange coating is very dry and brittle. It causes leaves or fronds, or what-have-you, to become smothered and fall from the original plant.
Maybe you might know what cultivar it is with pictures?
I'll post in the morning... glory...

~Bridget

I wonder if this is a lichen.

No, I don't think so. This happens to EVERYONE's plants, houses, concrete, windows, trees, shrubs, etc... when their well hits iron. It doesn't spread, and nothing that's tall enough to still keep some "clean" leaves above the spray line dies from it.

Yipes, I guess it IS a common problem in Florida.

tj

Here is a link that might be useful: Iron across this

It's why we only use the well water for watering the lawn. The problem is, if the wind blows while the pump is running, things get hit with this water that weren't intended to get hit.
We use city water for everything else: Inside the house, washing the cars, filling the pool, etc.
Once the sun comes up, I'll take those pics.

Even though Arborvitae are conifers, they are affected by this iron problem in the same way that people's shrubs are affected, which is why I posted it here.
If there's a better forum for getting answers to this specific issue, I'm open to suggestions.

The first two pictures are to show what the well water does to trees. They don't seem very affected by it, since their foliage is over the line of demarcation.

{{gwi:242849}}

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Here is what it's done to my Arborvitae. Everywhere that is orange is brittle enough to break off if you touch it, or in a strong wind or rain:

{{gwi:242851}}

A close-up of the foliage, in case someone can identify the cultivar:

{{gwi:242852}}

Your plants are Platycladus, and if you think the watering method is causing the buildup then what you need to do is change this method.

Bboy, we ~have~ changed the watering method. These haven't been hit with well water for 6-7 months. The problem now is that they don't seem to be recovering. My questions were: "Is there anything that can be done to get them to fill back out?" and "Also, how fast do they grow? If I started some from cuttings...8<...>Now that I have an ID (thank you kindly) does anyone know how fast I could expect replacements or underplants of same to grow to at least 5-6' tall?
TIA!
~Bridget

PS. Ken, if you're still reading, I'll be using media to root the new cuttings. You so proud!