I have a Baby Blue Eyes Spruce that I just noticed is loosing its needles, even on new growth, from top to bottom, but the bottom has a lot less needl...
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Spruce needle drop #763838
Asked July 25, 2021, 5:37 PM EDT
I have a Baby Blue Eyes Spruce that I just noticed is loosing its needles, even on new growth, from top to bottom, but the bottom has a lot less needle drop. Needles are not changing color, just dropping. Its 11 years old, never had issues before. I have several other spruce trees, but they are not showing any issues, but I had watered them during the new candle growth, but I did not water this one as I never had issues with it or growth. Could this be a draught stress situation? I have a bubbler on it now to soak the ground. If this is suffering from draught, will the needles grow back and if so how long before I see the new growth. I live off Highway 86 and County Road 27, which is about half way in between Elizabeth and Kiowa.
Needle drop is a natural part of evergreen trees life cycle. However, it sounds excessive in your case. This could be due to winter desiccation damage. It is important to water your trees year round, not just during new candle growth. (and don't count the lawn watering either, as trees have different water requirements than lawns). In the summer water your tree once a week 10 gallons of water per inch of tree trunk diameter measured at waist height) Forest Service recommendation. In the winter make sure your tree is watered once a month on a warm day, when air and soil temperature are above 40 degrees.
Question #0033769 has been assigned to you by CSU E.
Spruce needle drop
I have a Baby Blue Eyes Spruce that I just noticed is loosing its needles, even on new growth, from top to bottom, but the bottom has a lot less needle drop. Needles are not changing color, just dropping. Its 11 years old, never had issues before. I have several other spruce trees, but they are not showing any issues, but I had watered them during the new candle growth, but I did not water this one as I never had issues with it or growth. Could this be a draught stress situation? I have a bubbler on it now to soak the ground. If this is suffering from draught, will the needles grow back and if so how long before I see the new growth. I live off Highway 86 and County Road 27, which is about half way in between Elizabeth and Kiowa.
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Hello, thank you for the response. So based on the photos, you do not think this is a disease the tree has? During the winter time this particular tree not only gets the snow, but its along side the concrete walk to the front porch, which is 4' wide to 6' wide in that area, so all the shoveled snow is thrown at the base of the tree and that's a lot snow melt. Can you see, if you enlarge the photo, that the top 14" of the tree has no needles. The worst is at the top, with the least at the bottom. Does that tell you anything? Do you think the branches will grow back the needles and if you do, how long does that process take??? I watered the tree again with a bubblier for about 4 hours today.
In a message dated 7/26/2021 2:35:09 PM Mountain Standard Time, <personal data hidden> writes:
Thank you for your inquiry. If your tree damage was caused by drought stress it is hard to predict how long it will take before recovery. It sounds like you are doing the right things to ensure there's no water stress going forward.
It is possible that there is something else going on as well. The symptoms could be caused by Pine Beetles (Ips), I've attached a link to a fact sheet that provides more information on them. You should be able to identify some signs if you have an infestation.
