Our 4 year old cedar, the focal point of our front yard is dropping its needles and not full with lots of limbs like other beauties. Its roots may be in a more porus fill dirt under the two feet of top soil, it gets plenty of water and although on a hill in the front of our house we have reinforced the bank so there isn't erosion. No other plants are effected, gets full sun, mulched with washed manure in the fall, lots of ground cover around it but not at the trunk.