Deer rubbed antlers on my blue spruce - what do I do now?

14 years ago

I have (had?) a small Blue Spruce that was about 3' tall. The stupid cloven hooved devil rubbed his antlers on it and bent the top off about 10" from the top. The bark is almost gone, but it is still attached.

Do I try to wrap it, prop it up and save it or should I prune it and hope another leader grows?

Any advice appreciated!

Alexa

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Comments (4)

caliloo
Original Author
14 years ago
I took a few pics - thought they might help :-(

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dcsteg
14 years ago
Prune it back below the damage.

Pick out the strongest branch and train up another leader.

If not in a hurry it should send one up on its own.

If leaning stake back upright and wire cage it for protection.

Dave
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yyou have a tree that is going to be significantly retarded in food production.. ergo vigor is going to be limited to the 1/4 inch strip .... it might take a decade to return to vigor .... you MIGHT be better off... cutting the whole thing off ... just below the danmage ... and letting it resprout some vigorous new shoots.. and then pick the best one or two and let them grow like rockets.. since there is no damage to the root zone ... wouldnt be surprised if you dont get one to go 6 to 8 feet by fall ... as compared to the one struggling for the next 5 years.. barely alive.. mending the trunk .... give it a go .. something new to watch and learn about ... its an experiment either way .... which do you prefer to learn about .... i will bet a buck [no pun intended] that you will have more trunk damage to watch heal ... so i vote for truncating [god.. another pun] the damaged trunk .. and watching it grow like a weed .... ken
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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
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TJ, yeah the "bad crotch" would be a big concern down the road for me too. It will literally be a narrow V shape that grows into itself. Right now the Norway seems to be the lead, dominant, and straight trunk, and the columnar blue spruce is kind of growing out of it off to the side at an angle that is also almost straight up. Below is a closeup photo of the graft. The trunk on the right is right is the Picea pungens f. glauca 'Fastigata' (Columnar Blue Spruce). The Trunk on the left is the Picea Abies (Norway Spruce). At least that is what the consensus seems to be on what the root stock for this graft is. So, knowing that one is going to be removed, and that one is likely to be the columnar blue spruce, when would be the best time to do this? Also, given this is not a standard branch prune, anyone know about how close to the trunk I should cut it off? I was thinking of leaving about 1/2". Thanks for all the help!
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I would just turn a blind eye for a few years and see how it does. They're a mess of a plant as it is and have shoots going out every which way so it's not like there's one specific shape you're going to be able to aim for or restore to. Just enjoy that it survived and like gg says make sure it's well protected. I'm really guessing here, but if they ate a Norway spruce I don't think switching species will do you much good. Those must be some hungry deer! You might want to consider staking a shoot higher in order to help the whole plant gain some height as it grows. I'm sure you know it's a weeper which won't gain height otherwise, but the added height might bring it out from among all the other perennials and also (maybe) bring it up out of deer buffet height? Now that's wishful thinking I'm sure. Good luck, and for the record I have plenty of far uglier plants growing here, in fact other than the sparse look I don't think it looks bad at all.
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ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
14 years ago
hey.. slummin in the conifer forum???

let me tell you something.. that is NOT a BLUE spruce.. and it never will be ... get rid of it...

hit the link ... get a REAL BLUE spruce .... and protect it from the devil vermin of PA ....

call them.. and see if they have any problem with doing it today ... you will have it by friday ..

3 stakes .... and fishing line.. will work ... mess with their heads.. literally ... lol ...

if there is some emotional connection to this one... do whatever you want with it.. in a year or two.. it will re-establish a leader.. there never really is any hurry with conifers.. if you can keep the devil from coming back ...

and how about killing the grass and adding a 2 foot mulch circle ....

see you in hosta world..

ken

PS: and may as well throw in a variegated liquidamber [gotta have one.. just to able able to say the name] .... not a great tree to garden under.. but simply stunning ... justify it as an early xmas present
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hoopsi
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Here is a link that might be useful: girards
caliloo
Original Author
14 years ago
Thanks Dave and Ken - I appreciate the info.

And thanks for the link to Garards... I had lost it when my old computer died and couldn't remember the name of the nursery.

A

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Deer rubbed antlers on my blue spruce - what do I do now?

Comments (4)

caliloo
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dcsteg

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Deer rubbed antlers on my blue spruce - what do I do now?

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calilooOriginal Author

dcsteg

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