Yes. Arborvitae are evergreen, so they hold their green foliage all year, even in the cold months. But arborvitae winter color can shift on exposed plants. Harsh weather sometimes turns the wind-facing side a dull yellow-brown. The green you see in summer should be the same green you see in January. That stays true on a healthy plant that sits in a sheltered spot.
I walked my north-line Emerald Green screen one March morning after a brutal winter, and the whole row was still solid green. One spot broke the run. The south-west corner had a patch of yellow-brown foliage, maybe two feet wide. That burned corner faced an open field with nothing to slow the wind off it. The rest of the row sat behind a fence and shrugged the cold off without a single mark.
That patch was arborvitae winter burn, and it always lands on the side of your plant that takes the most sun and wind. The damage is not from freezing alone. It is from drying out. Your arborvitae needles keep losing a little water all winter, even when the air is freezing cold.
Here is the part that surprises people. The roots cannot replace that lost water when the ground is frozen solid. So your foliage runs a slow deficit for weeks. The sun and wind speed up the water loss, which is why your windward, sunny side browns first while the shaded back stays green. A bright, dry, windy stretch in February does more harm to your plants than a calm cold snap. Your arborvitae is not dying of cold. It is going thirsty while its drink is locked under ice.
Your south and west faces take the brunt for a clear reason. The low winter sun hits them hardest in the afternoon, when the air is at its driest. That warm sun wakes your foliage up just enough to pull more water from the needles. Meanwhile the soil below stays frozen and gives nothing back. If you tuck a plant on the north or east side of your house or fence, it almost never burns, because you spare it that harsh afternoon exposure.
Not every color change in your plants means trouble, though. Some varieties shift on purpose. Rheingold arborvitae bronzes to a warm orange-copper in the cold, and that is normal seasonal color, not damage. It greens back up on its own once spring arrives, so you do not need to lift a finger. True burn is different. It shows as yellow-brown tips clustered on the exposed face of your plant, not an even glow across the whole shrub.
So before you panic over arborvitae turning brown winter, check where the brown sits. Even bronzing across the top and all sides points to a variety doing its normal thing. A scorched patch on one wind-hit side points to burn. The location tells you the story almost every time.
You can keep your winter color strong with two simple moves. Give the plants a deep soak in late fall, before the ground freezes, so the roots go into winter fully charged. A well-watered plant has a water reserve to draw on, and that buffer is what carries it through the dry stretches. Then block the worst of the south-west wind with a fence, a burlap screen, or a hardier plant on the windward edge. Those two steps protect the most vulnerable side, and they are the side most people forget about.
Skip the temptation to fertilize late in the season if you want strong arborvitae winter color. Feeding in early fall pushes out tender new growth that has no time to harden off. That soft growth burns first and worst when the wind hits your plant. Watch your young arborvitae most of all, since in its first or second winter the roots have not spread far enough to feed the foliage well yet.
Even a burned arborvitae usually bounces back. Wait until late spring and the green often pushes through as new growth fills the gaps. For the full winter-burn prevention method, including timing and screening details, head to the main guide. Get the fall watering and wind shelter right, and your arborvitae will stay green all winter long.
Read the full article: Arborvitae Shrub: Complete Growing Guide
