Can this dwarf alberta spruce be saved?
dedtired
11 years ago
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dedtired
11 years agoRelated Discussions
help with Dwarf Alberta Spruce (I think that's what it is)
Comments (14)AL! You found me!!! I'm so happy. Thanks very much for responding. Yes, I can absolutely be patient and 3 or 4 years will be more than fine with me if I have an end result even half as cool as your blue spruce. To the rest of you, I absolutely appreciate your input also. Being a beginner at all this,I am fully aware that I might not be able to achieve the results I want, just because another who happens to have a world of experience, did. But I'm willing to take the chance for several reasons. 1) the tree, while admired maybe by many, is expendable to me. If it doesn't work out, I can just remove it. 2) I have all the time in the world. We plan to raise the kids in this house. 3) most importantly-- Al's globe blue spruce is actually what led me to gardenweb in the first place! I joined last year bc of some plumbing issues but never even checked out any of the garden areas. Then a few weeks ago I was googling all kinds of conifer stuff and came across what I thought was the coolest little mini-tree ever, in one of the coolest gardens ever, and I tried emailing the dude who posted it all... and he actually emailed me back. Pretty exciting if you're me, which I am. Hehe. So if Al says I could give it a shot, then by golly I am going to give it a shot. I've got nothing to lose really except some time. But at worst I'm sure I'll learn a thing or two along the way-- like the best ways to not get needles in my arms, Ken : ) so even that couldn't be wasted. Ok so now Al, can you recommend a method to start this process? I'm more than happy to get a book if you have one you can recommend-- I don't want to burden you any more than I have to. I know in your email you mentioned taking the top off your spruce-- is that something I should do too or is it too late for that? I know I said she's expendable but I'd obvioulsy like to do whatever in my power to avoid that. Also on another note, isn't there a way that I can click on a members name and see all their posts? I can't seem to find a way to even see *my own* without going back into each forum and finding my post somewhere in the list. As I spend more time on here, that is going to get very difficult. And I'd really like to see more of what you've all written/posted, both for inspiration and to gather more info and even to just have fun looking at all the beautiful stuff. I'd love to see some of your hosta Ken, for example- I see it's your favorite forum. I love hostas but again, just a newbie. Thank you everyone and Al especially, for making my day : )...See MoreSickly Dwarf Alberta Spruces (I think that's what they are)
Comments (4)I checked today & see some type of mite in each of the plants. There are pretty large sections of the tree that are like the brown section, and other parts of the tree (on all sides) appear to be healthy. I took several branches & shook them over a piece of white paper & could see some specks that moved. I looked under magnification & could see a little reddish creature that had a black spot at one end. Assuming it is a mite, what is a good treatment for them that doesn't target beneficial insects & bees?...See MoreDwarf Alberta blue spruce
Comments (9)I have had 2 in my frount yard right in the middle, north facing no protection, and the 1st one died the 1st winter b/c hubby buried it with snow from our driveway that had been driven on many times so was packed with road salt. Last spring we replaced it with another one from a neighbor who'd had it for 3 years and wanted to change her yard around. It grew lots over last year, overwintered again no protection, (this time not buried with driveway snow) and this spring it's grown twice as big as it was last year! The more I learn the more I think we are Zone 2B not 3, and I'd totally get another one! Put it in a bit of a protected area, give it more winter protection and go for it. It never hurts to try. I have carnations I bought from seed thru Thompson & Morgan last year, they say zone 7US (so canadian zone 8), I was told by everyone not to bother even trying to start the seed, but I did anyways and not only did they germinate but by mid Aug I had buds! Course they hadn't bloomed by mid sept yet so I cut the flower stalks off and started getting them ready for winter. In beginning of Nov. I covered the whole plants with leaves from a neighbors yard and left them be. In end of March I pulled the leaves off the plants themselves but left the leaves inbetween the plants and cut back all the dead plant material. By mid April it was obvious the new growth, last wk I noticed flower stalks starting and 3 days ago I saw the 1st buds forming. I lost less than 2% of the plants I started last year from seed. This year? I bought another pkg of seeds and had 100% germination rate, my plan for winter? same as last. I wrote to Thompson & Morgan and told them what I thought of their zone hardiness rating, they responded and said I must be doing something right and to enjoy my carnations and they hoped I'd send their company pictures of them in my beds in bloom b/c they were amazed. Get your Dwarf Alberta spruce, the worst thing that can happen is they don't survive. But honestly Alberta has terrible winters, I bet the reason lots of people have little success is they baby them too much. Myself, 2 neighbors and my best friend have never given ours protection and they are doing just fine....See MorePlease help - Dwarf Alberta Spruce dying??
Comments (1)You have to host your pictures like on Photobucket or someone like them. Once you've done that, then copy and paste the HTML address of the picture into the body of your message. Once you're done, when you hit preview you should see the photo appear as it will when you post it. mark...See Morededtired
11 years agobotann
11 years agoken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
11 years agoken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
11 years agodedtired
11 years agommajicmann
11 years agodedtired
11 years ago
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