Hello,
I planted a few Cupressinas 5 years ago, in New Fairfield, CT, and some are doing very well, while others are struggling. We had a very dry summer last year, and one of the cupressina trees started getting dead branches at its very top during the winter, and by early spring was entirely dead. Another tree, located at the other end of the property started dying off its top branches this spring (photo attached), and the rest of the tree seems to be struggling. It has been a wet summer in Connecticut, but we did have a dry spring. Since there was a bagworm infestation in a nearby arborvitae, I have sprayed the cupressina with malathion as well, but without success (the arbovitae is now doing great though).
Have you any advice on how to minimize the chances of losing this tree?
Many thanks,
Phil
New Fairfield, CT

Welcome to the site!
Moving the question to the Trees and Shrubs forum.

Hard to tell from that one photo, but looks to me like they are planted way too deep.

Have you been irrigating them during the first one/two years of establishment? Were they b&b, pot grown or bare root?
Hard to tell as of now. Chances are tough they had a terrible root system. I've lost dozens of trees/shrubs because of disastrous root systems...

Also, keeping competition down (ESPECIALLY from lawn/grass) by mulching thickly in a wide enough area will increase chances of succes.

When a tree dies from the top down, its a sign it isn't getting enough water. It could have gotten too dry during one of the dry spells you described.

It could also be buried too deep but in that case, the tree would turn yellowish and lose vigor. Your trees just aren't getting enough water during the dry spells.

Thank you for the quick feedback. I think the lack of watering looks like the most probable cause (dry summer followed by dry spring). I recall now that I watered the other cupressinas on my property last summer, only because they were very near arbovitae that were struggling, and these cupressinas are doing very well.
Thanks again