fetilizer is NEVER the answer ...

and if they have already been grown into a wall.. let me suggest.. in regard to fert.. they will never need any fert ...

where are you

how bad was last winter.. or this summer ...

snip out to a live green branch.. it will fill back in ...

ken

and how many kids grab on this thing..

looks mechanical to me...

this one spot in this pic.. is much ado about nothing.. IMHO ... lets see the whole..

ken

Do a search for and guidance on how to recognize "bag worm" infestations. That would be the first 'maybe' to check before other considerations.

Thanks for all the replies

I'm in greater vancouver area, in BC, Canada

Last year we had similar situation, but less. Two years ago, same time, nothing. So, it kinda of getting worse. That's why I'm a bit concerned. In Summer, there is nothing, only starts to show up around Sept/Oct

We have no kids in the household.

I uploaded another pic

When is the best time to prune those "dead spots"? Now or wait till Spring next year?

I don't think it's worm infestation, maybe is a sign of "stress" for the trees? But I have no idea of why it just started a year ago. I didn't do anything different. How to prevent them showing up again next year?

Thanks again! Much appreciated!

all you had to do.. was reply to the old post.. and it should pop back to the top ...

mine looked a lot worse than yours.. after an extremely harsh winter here in MI ...

you can ALWAYS prune out dead stuff whenever you want.. its dead ... but .. to make sure its dead.. you can wait until after spring flush to insure its dead ...

ken

Have you been affected by the west coast drought? You mentioned that last year it wasn't as bad. The effects of the drought should show up in late in the summer as the stress is greater after all the heat. If you can call the Pacific coast having heat.

Kens advice is good. If you don't want to look at it cut it out. Dead is dead!

As far as your neighbors looking better than yours, the grass is always greener... Do you have the same sun exposure? Do you both water the same amount? Is yours at the bottom or top of a grade? Lots of differences to consider.