Blue Spruce Trees dying - Ask Extension
Hi there, I had 16 blue Spruce planted in May of last year. They did well last summer. In Dec/Jan one or two began to look bad. By April one was comp...
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Blue Spruce Trees dying #480289
Asked August 22, 2018, 10:00 PM EDT
Hi there,
I had 16 blue Spruce planted in May of last year. They did well last summer. In Dec/Jan one or two began to look bad. By April one was completely dead and another died in July. Now 3-4 others look the same way the others did before they died. I've had an arborist come out and fertilize and check for bugs but no result. I'm watering every other day ~30 gallons as I was instructed. I love in Golden on North Table Mountain and the soil has a lot of clay in it.
Can anyone tell me why the branches are losing all needles and turning orange/brown at the ends (outermost 3-5 inches)? This seems to happen as they slowly die. What am I doing wrong? Are they salvageable?
Thank you!
I had 16 blue Spruce planted in May of last year. They did well last summer. In Dec/Jan one or two began to look bad. By April one was completely dead and another died in July. Now 3-4 others look the same way the others did before they died. I've had an arborist come out and fertilize and check for bugs but no result. I'm watering every other day ~30 gallons as I was instructed. I love in Golden on North Table Mountain and the soil has a lot of clay in it.
Can anyone tell me why the branches are losing all needles and turning orange/brown at the ends (outermost 3-5 inches)? This seems to happen as they slowly die. What am I doing wrong? Are they salvageable?
Thank you!
Jefferson County Colorado
Expert Response
Hello,
Based on the terminal needle scorch/loss pattern shown in the photos you include, the most likely diagnosis is winter injury/drought stress. Since evergreens do not go dormant in the same way as deciduous trees, their water needs continue through the winter. When water lost through the needles can not be replaced by roots because the soil is dry, leaf scorch results. This typically shows up first at the tips of the branches. Some questions to help us figure out whether this is really what is going on, and then how to manage it.
Based on the terminal needle scorch/loss pattern shown in the photos you include, the most likely diagnosis is winter injury/drought stress. Since evergreens do not go dormant in the same way as deciduous trees, their water needs continue through the winter. When water lost through the needles can not be replaced by roots because the soil is dry, leaf scorch results. This typically shows up first at the tips of the branches. Some questions to help us figure out whether this is really what is going on, and then how to manage it.
- How often/much did you water last summer right after the trees were planted?
- How often/much did you water last fall and winter?
- Did any of the trees that now show scorch have new growth this year?
- Did you plant the trees yourself so that you know there is no burlap, wire, etc buried with the root ball?
- How was the soil amended?
- Have you pulled up any of the dead trees to look at the root ball? Can you tell how much the roots grew beyond the original rootball?
- When you have a chance, check the soil moisture just before you water. you can use a screwdriver or moisture meter to probe down about 8 inches below the soil line, about 18 inches from the trunk.
