first.. you called it a spruce ..... and a juniper.. so i would start with a picture for an ID ... and then a pic or two about the problem ...

and then go from there ...

it would also be nice to know where they are ... winter could be part of the problem ...

if you did not use a systemic.. then i dont know what good the drench did ...

i got rid of or lost.. almost all my juniper scopulorum .. to tip blight .. decided it wast worth the life long commitment to spraying ... but then... we dont even know if thats what he has ...

this is one of the problems with planting a monoculture ... once a plague hits ... you are toast ... he probably ought to think about replacing them ... maybe every other one this year.. and then the others a year or two down the line.. to keep some of the sight block ...

please do not use any more chemicals ... until you know what you are doing ...

ken

Sorry about calling them junipers then spruces, Ken. I used Bonide systemic disease drench. The photos I took this morning are large, and I don't know if they will upload. I cannot seem to get them sized down. I will try….

Trying to upload again.

Ken, since these forums became Houzz, I have been unable to post under my old name, and have had real problems uploading photos. I had to upload to an album here, and the only choice was to call these photos "wish list". Kinda sad, calling these photos wish list! We are in NE Ohio, in the North Canton, area. I cannot even edit my profile to place the hardiness region we are in. I don't find this new format very user friendly at all. Sorry!

Ken, I used to post under donnaroe. You have helped me on one or more occasions. I broke the bad news to my son today and he said he probably won't remove them until next year. He is doing a number on his yard this week. My husband and I are helping him, and he will be lucky to get done what he has planned, let alone taking 5 large bushes out too. In the meantime, what disease do you think these have, and if we were to try and treat them, what would we have to do and how often? If you don't know the answers to the latter questions, if you know what the junipers have, I can call the Ohio State extension service office. Since the junipers will remain in place for another year, we could try to treat them if it wasn't too cost preventative. If it is going to be, we won't do it. Silly to spend $300 or more on something that isn't a sure thing….. right?

Even if you fix the problem, it will be years before they look good.
They would look better gone than what they look like now....or in the future.
Mike

Phomopsis is the catch-all term for a group of pathogens capable of doing such damage on Juniperus. I don't know of any reasonable treatment, that being partially a judgement call on my part. I don't like plants in the landscape so unfit for the site conditions that something as heavy-handed as regular fungicide treatments are necessary. That's just me. BTW, nearly all fungicides are prophylactic, not curative. You can't treat that problem away at this point.

+oM

tom said it all ... there really isnt anything you can do ... besides polluting mother earth ... and believe me.. i have no aversion to chems.. in a worthy battle ....

boy ... i cant figure how he could look at that all summer long ... if you have a sawzall .. buy a tree blade for it.. and cut them down to ground level ... ... he can dig them out whenever ... they will not grow back from a stump ...

or give him some old bedsheets to cover them with .. lol ...

i dont recall the old name.. but thx for the kind words ...

ken

i am not an ID expert ... but they sure look like my old Juniperus scopulorum 'Wichita Blue' ... which had juniper tip blight ... and then met its maker in a blazing inferno .. after i dragged it to the burn pile ...

Thank you, everyone. I will try to talk my son and husband into getting a saws all blade and taking them down. I wouldn't want to look at them either, in such a nice setting. My son? He is less picky, LOL.

set up 3 chairs.. where all can be seen ..... and a bunch of adult beverages.. and make him sit there and look at them.. compared to his half a million dollar house ... and after he is melted into the chair.. ask him.. WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU THINKING ...

a tree blade has big teeth.. to pull out wet saw dust ... where a lumber saw.. for cutting dry lumber does not.. one makes nice fancy cuts.. the other cuts trees ... second pic at link .. there should be no reason to need to mail order it .. any manly store should have them ... lol

https://www.google.com/search?q=sawzall+tree+blades&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=9PhgVYjzKY_8yQSH5ICoCA&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAg&biw=841&bih=745&dpr=0.9

ken

Ken, you are so funny….. loved your post.

Okay, without thinking farther than my nose, earlier this week I purchased 3 Juniper "Old Gold" to replace some rhododendrons that he removed from the front of his house. What was I thinking? My son asked me today if I thought it was a good idea to plant more junipers. Probably not-right?

I picked the juniper Old Gold, because it was the only thing I could find at the big box stores that didn't get huge-it's supposed to stay 36" high and wider than that. I bought them because we have some Lemon Thread False Cypress in our back yard that my son likes and the Old Gold was around the same color.

Question: should I not plant the junipers, and return them; and wait for Lowes to get the Lemon Threads in? They will sooner or later, as they tend to get the same types of things year to year.

Bumping up for a possible answer.

I have an 'Old Gold' Juniper, either that, or 'Gold Coast' It's at least six feet tall and twice as wide. It was planted in 1979 so I'm not to sure of the exact name. Maybe Juniperus chinensis, 'Aurea'. It won't get near as big as the normal 'Pfitzeriana Aurea'.
When I first planted it, it was in the sun. Not very much sun now that a Noble Fir and a couple of Dwarf Alberta Spruces grew up and partially shaded it so it doesn't have the nice gold color it otherwise would have.
I'm not a fan of spreading Junipers and it's not the fault of the Junipers. It's the fault of the person who decides where they should be planted. They never have enough room and they don't take to trimming very well by most people.
Do you have enough room where they're going to be planted?
Mike

Juniperus chinensis 'Old Gold'

==<>>> they have a middle name for a reason ... use it ...

your boys are sclorprum ... or however it is spelled above ... the whole story above repeats here.. but to be clear ... all my Junip. s. are gone ... i have a whole slew of other junipers.. that have never had tip blight ... its endemic to J. s. 's ... not all juniper ...

clearer??? [barely.. but i am not retyping it.. lol]

confers are trees... the NEVER stop growing ... almost all size estimates are at 10 years .. presume double at 20 ...

ones like OGold... can easily be contained.. by cutting them back .. not a hair cut.. but cutting back sprays that get out of bounds ... come back in ten years.. and see if i am still here.. lol ...

you can do a lot better than bigboxstore ... when it come to slower growing.. and smaller mature sizes ...

browse thru this link .. to see a world you might not have seen before ...

http://www.coniferkingdom.com/


ken

BTW .. it gets very quiet on holiday w/ends .. if it werent raining.. i wouldnt be doing this .. until tuesday

ken

Thank you, Ken. I will browse your link this evening. I am returning the old gold junipers. Probably not the best choice.