Spruce Tree with dead branches - Ask Extension
The lower branches on the north side of our beloved 20+ year spruce tree in our front yard are suddenly dying and browning in the late summer. It's s...
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Spruce Tree with dead branches #279902
Asked September 22, 2015, 12:15 PM EDT
The lower branches on the north side of our beloved 20+ year spruce tree in our front yard are suddenly dying and browning in the late summer. It's sister tree closer to the street still looks good on all sides. We also have several same age pine and spruce trees in our backyard that look ok. Should we cut these branches off? Do we need to remove the tree? Will this spread to our good trees?
Thanks for your help.
Dakota County Minnesota
Expert Response
The photo shows what's probably a blue spruce with classic symptoms of a fungal disease called Rhizosphaera needle cast.
Go here to learn more about the disease and what to do about it:
http://www.extension.umn.edu/garden/yard-garden/trees-shrubs/spruce-tree-diseases/rhizosphaera-needle-cast/
Go here to learn more about the disease and what to do about it:
http://www.extension.umn.edu/garden/yard-garden/trees-shrubs/spruce-tree-diseases/rhizosphaera-needle-cast/
Thank you for your help. Unfortunately we will be removing the tree as we can see the problem is pretty much all over the tree. Hopefully our others won't get infected too. thanks again.
