I know....so I just corrected myself a little. I am quite sure it gets to pH 7 locally BTW. I just can't measure everywhere. Anyway: found out Picea glauca will tolerate pH 8 and variety densate 4.0 to 7.5... Glauca can tolerate clay and to top it of: they are happy in Sunshine zone 1 to 6, I live in 4. Just a final question: what I have very very rarely seen is any spruce actually reproducing in clay. They can grow there, but I have seen no reproduction. Over here they do so in moss and sandyloams. Does Glauca reproduce on clay?? And my question remains: how well does this variety do comapared to Alberta spruce??? Thanks!

i dont care if you use chem's .... BUT .. always a big but.. 99% of the time you dont need chems... you should never spray chemicals willy nilly without a proper ID of the bug ... and you should always mix according to instructions ... and apply accordingly .... ----- since you did not ID them .. answer these questions ... did you kill any beneficial insects? did you needlessly expose the kids [i know you are a lost cause ... lol] in killing said bugs... etc ... i used to use chems all the time when i was hooked on roses .. luckily they all started dying as they are prone to do in z5 ... the foo foo collector roses .... and then kids started rolling in .. and i just decided that the bugs can have what the bugs want... because i dont need to expose the kids to it all ... i would like to confirm a recollection i have ... the biggest polluter in the US is the home owner .... spraying what need not be sprayed.. using improper mixtures.. and improper application.. etc ... etc ... anyway buckie .... you planted them last year... they were shocked from it all .. you tended them perfectly .. and they are thriving as indicated by the great growth ... you did well ... as the learning curve increases... just skip the chem's ... i just dont think you will ever really need them ... trim what.. those branches inches from the bottom.. yeah.. even it out ... ken

The overhead sprinkler could be causing a lot of your issues. Are the needles getting wet from this system? You want to water at the base of the tree, preferably using a drip system of sorts. Needle moisture is the biggest problem I see so far. Watering at night is a very bad idea as well. In lawn care it is highly frowned upon because the water doesn't have a chance to dry off the surface of the grass quickly without the sun, moisture sits there all night, which again, encourages fungus. The same is true for trees. How are you checking moisture. How fast does you soil drain? I'm assuming slow, since it is clay. You will need to be especially careful with your watering program in clay soil. Spruces do not like wet feed, they like a quick drink and then near drying. Insert your finger to first knuckle to check for moisture. If dry water, if not, leave it alone. Dig a whole 1ft by 1ft. Fill it with water, let it drain. Then refill the hole and time how long it takes to drain. This will give you a visual understand of how long the water is sitting at the root level. How much Sun are the trees getting? This post was edited by SC77 on Thu, Jun 12, 14 at 14:11

I have read several lists of trees and shrubs that are tolerant to the juglone toxicity caused by black walnuts, however, I have not found anything about whether black hills spruce are resistant or sensitive to juglone. Can the two species co-exist? I have seen that Norway Spruce are juglone tolerant but I would prefer the black hills variety.