Baby Blue Colorado Spruce Dying from Top of Leader
atommiller
8 years ago
Hi All,
Planted a 4FT blue spruce early April 2015. Doing well until early July. Now dying at top. Rest of tree appears healthy but there are streaks of sap along entire trunk. Looking for advice on how to save this tree. Gets full to part sun most of day. Has been watered or heavy rain at least once per week, keeping soil moist. Was planted in 36" diameter hole no deeper than root ball, with root crown slightly above ground. Soil is loam/clay/rock with good organic matter.
Eastern PA, Zone 7a
Thanks for any ideas. I love this tree and would really like to save it.
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Comments (7)
gardener365
8 years agolast modified: 8 years ago
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
8 years agoRelated Discussions
New Baby Blue Spruce Dying
Comments (1)I've planted 30 or 40 blue spruce trees of the same approximate size as yours on my own property over the past 8 years or so. They have had about a 60 or 70% survival rate. One thing I never do is uproot a spruce that appears dead, because they can remarkably come back to life after losing all their needles. Sunshine is good, but small seedlings/saplings do much better planted amidst overgrown meadow grass or weeds to shield them from too much sunshine while they are small, and also the mulch from unmowed plants is very beneficial. Good drainage is important, so the slope you chose sounds like a good choice. Seedlings that spring up near a mother tree receive nutrients from the parent through its root system, so a single seedling (or even a number of seedling trees) planted alone without its/their parent will always be at a disadvantage. If your tree doesn't make it, I'd recommend planting several new small trees in the same area next so you have a better chance of getting a survivor. Good luck! Don't give up on the tree yet....See MoreColorado Blue Spruce: color vs statue
Comments (12)i can not speak to your heat and zone .... as i am life long z5 handicapped ... the girards peep are just great peeps.. great value for price ... the only caution i might make.. is to nearly bare root anything you get.. no matter from who .. and find out if the plant is root bound in the pot ... untangle or prune to reduce future problems ... below are the pix i promised ... in closing.. for 20 odd bucks.. plant one if it thrills you.. if in 10 years it is a problem .. get rid of it.. most likely.. you will blow more per year on a coffee rather than the 2 bucks over ten years ... no matter which plant you choose ... good luck ken here are some pix 2006 2008 with growth chart .... and some closeups .......See MoreTwo Colorado Blues.....one OK , is the other leader disseased?
Comments (8)Two thoughts, Chester. First, in the pic, it looks like there is a sizable deciduous tree behind the spruce with the bent top. Could this simply be the tree going where the light is? The other thought is that new growth on conifers is often not straight for a time, but does later straighten out. It's a little hard to tell in the pic, but it looks to me like the previous year's growth has assumed a more or less vertical orientation and this would suggest that this year's growth may well do the same.......in time. I certainly do not see any disease process at work here. +oM...See MoreProblem with Colorado blue spruce
Comments (46)I have never posted, but thanks for the answer. I bought the tree in December 2011 and covered the pot with bags I had of mulch. When summer arrived, I had to go away for a month so it never got planted until July. My husband added 2 gallons of water everyday until I came home to plant it. I don't like anyone in my flower beds, but me. I will look for another small tree to plant in front of it. I did plant the ball last year with some Myke. I hope that helped it. My ground is very damp. I put my hands down there last week when it was very warm here in Ottawa. The nursery who sold me the tree, said to leave at least 2-3 inches of the crown out of the ground. Otherwise I cannot get air to the roots. I am new at this, so I am looking for some experienced people who can help me. Thanks for the info....See Moreatommiller
8 years agoatommiller
8 years agoMike McGarvey
8 years agogardener365
8 years agoMike could be right or it could be bark beetles. Spruce Health: Utah
A photo clip from the above Utah PDF.
Dax
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ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5