Help Im loosing my Blue Spruces and not sure what to do

15 years ago

I have lost one of my 30 yr old blue spruces and Im not sure why, what is happening is the needles are falling off from the trunk and working their way out to the branch tips. I inspected them and dont see anything unusual. The tree that died is on my north side of the house. But I have now noticed I have two planted side by side on my south side of my house and one of them it is doing the same thing and it cant be dying of old age because I have new growth this spring on all the tips of the branches and it seems to be spreading to the tree that is planted next to it. These two tree are 20 yrs old, around 30 to 40 feet tall and around 20 to 25 feet in diameter, its heart breaking. I always thought spruces were maintenance free, are there sprays I should be using or diseases I should be worried about???? Please help... Also I am located in Indiana an hr north west of Indianapolis so zone wise is there things I need to worry about ie insects or diseases. Like I said these trees are well into there mature life and just now having these life threatning issues, never any problems before the last two or three years.

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Comments (5)

WendyB 5A/MA
15 years ago
At that age and size, you may want to call in a full-fledged tree specialist certified by some reputatable organization. Most likely its insects rather than disease.

You might have borers. I found borer damage on a 8-10' spruce a few years ago. I could see the holes in the trunk below the browning area. The tree was small enough that I could cut out the damaged area (had to grow a new leader). I treated with merit soil drench and have kept my eyes on it since.

Look around see if you can see insects or their damage, but think you need the pro's for this one. If it is insect damage, only a pro will be able to treat a tree that size successfully. Many contact sprays can ruin the blue tone of spruces. Perhaps an injectable will work.

Personally, I think a lot of spruces don't age well. I recall some 30-year old spruces at the neighbors of my Mom's house. We remembered when they planted them years ago and they were pretty, but they got droopey and open with age. They became overpowering (in their spot) and an eyesore in a way. It was a small lot for two huge trees.
wisconsitom
15 years ago
Sprucehelp

Do a search on the two diseases, cytospora canker, and rhizosphaeria needle blight. These are two fairly common afflictions for this tree. Both can be dealt with if caught early enough.

Let us know what you find.

+oM
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Wow - you dug up a seriously old post! So I did end up planting a very long screen -- basically the entire length of the property line -- and I'm actually really happy with how it turned out. We used Thuja Green Giant arborvitae in the center where the tallest part of the house we are trying to block out is -- we planted them a decent distance apart, not all jammed up like I see people do for a property line screen. They have grown fast, widened out, and are basically almost up to the roof of the house we are trying to hide. I think they should cap out right about 35 feet or so, which won't block the view. We planted a few during our initial planting then filled in with a few more a couple years later -- those later plantings are a bit stunted - not sure if it's because we squeezed them into less space or they were just inferior to begin with (originals came from a nursery and were planted by a landscaper, later ones from Home Depot and we DIYed them). But they are all growing well and healthy, and seem impervious to deer, wind, cold, snow, etc. To the sides of the arborvitate, we used Nellie Stevens hollies. They too have grown fast. They don't much care for the wind -- they ended up looking pretty bad by the end of the last two winters (which were brutally cold and windy) but they filled in with new leaves in the spring. The deer don't seem to eat them either. And again, I think they cap out at 20 feet or so. To the sides of that (which is getting away from blocking the house and now just screening their yard from ours) we used forsythias planted very close together that we let grow wild into a thick hedge -- mainly because I love forsythia. It's not evergreeen but the hedge is so thick and branches are so close together that it does a decent job of screening even in winter. And in spring when it is in bloom, it is an absolutely stunning wall of yellow. Again the deer don't bother them and they seem to grow well without much care. And finally at the very end of the property lines, we used sea green junipers -- again, we were looking for something evergreen but it didn't need to be tall - we were only trying to hide the neighbor's "junk pile" which was unfortunately located so that it was the first thing you saw when you pulled into our driveway. Those are the plants that look the sickliest -- there's always big brown patches in them and the snow breaks the branches. But they are farthest from the house and from far away they look ok, so I don't mind them. I think if I had to do it over again, I'd have used all forsythia instead of also using juniper -- the forsythia are just so amazingly gorgeous when they are in bloom. I would take a picture for you but we are in the middle of a storm right now -- if I remember, I will get one tomorrow. Here's a link to a pic of what it looked like when we first planted itin 2009: Newly planted And here's a shot from the summer of 2012 (sorry for lousy pic -- best I could find): Three years old I would say that this year it really started to look good since the green giants are basically touching now.
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ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
15 years ago
yeah..

its not a bug..

its a disease..

the issue .. simply put.. is it worth a $100 bucks a year to spray 40 feet into the air ???

that isnt something you are going to do with a hand tank

ken
sprucehelp
Original Author
15 years ago
I looked up those two diseases that you mentioned and to me I dont think that is the issue, most of the pictures I saw of the diseases they were blotchy or started at the bottom and worked there way up the tree. In my case it is uniform from top to bottom starting at the main trunk and working its way out to the tips of the branches, I will work on taking some pics tonight and try and figure out how to post them on here so you all can see what Im dealing with... I do remember several years ago my parents had a problem with one of their spruces and they said it was an insect and they showed me. They took a white piece of paper and put it under a branch shook the branch and there were these very tiny red bugs that dropped on to the white piece of paper, I will try that tonight as well but I cant remember what the bugs were called and my parents are past now. May have to seek professional help, but keep the information coming please. Thanks alot
wisconsitom
15 years ago
Sprucehelp

The test using a piece of white paper held under a shaken branch is for the detection of spider mites, technically not an insect, but rather, more closely related to spiders. But unlike the carniverous spiders, which are our friends, spider mites are vegetarians that suck the juice out of foliage. This could indeed be what is ailing your spruces.

There are many remedies for mites, ranging from quite toxic miticides to relatively benign materials like oils and insecticidal soap. I always reach for the least toxic material when possible. Do note though, that horticultural oils sprayed on blue spruce will dissolve the waxy coating that gives the needles their blue coloration.

Insecticidal soap will kill spider mites. But......as Ken has already alluded to, the spraying of thirty foot trees is quite an undertaking. And in order to be effective, very thorough coverage of all needle surfaces will be required. Still, to get the tree(s) past this infestation may well be worth it. Spider mite populations fluctuate quite widely and it may be years before you would need to treat again.

This might well be a case of it being worthwhile to hire an arborist to do the spraying. With a bucket truck, they could make fairly short work of it.

+oM

Help Im loosing my Blue Spruces and not sure what to do

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WendyB 5A/MA

wisconsitom

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