Weather... Dax

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.

I would approach the question of which tree to plant as "which conifer can handle a reasonable amount of shade (but that a good number of hours of direct sun wont hurt), that also looks like an Xmas tree". Upon first look that does not appear like an ideal situation (it obviously isn't, that fence height is a good % of the final height you want your tree to be), but as mentioned earlier it appears to get full sun in the later afternoon which have the strongest rays. Having said that, I think it is more than workable to get something that you will be happy with. My experience has shown that norway spruce are a reasonable amount easier to grow that colorado blue spruce(handle shade better, etc). Now you are faced with the dilemna that 50% of the questions on here revolve around (I needed a (row of) tree(s) yesterday that is 20' tall, 9' wide already and wont grow anymore). If you are willing to wait 20+ years then go buy a small reasonably priced smaller (slower growing) conifer, be patient and wait (eventually it may/will grow bigger than you want, perhaps much bigger than you want) Or (if there is even a nursery around you that sells older (and larger) slower growing conifers, you could shell out big big big big bucks and get something bigger so you dont have to wait as long. What Im learning about this hobby is that it is a lot about being patient(or having deeeeep pockets, but even then still being very patient). Im not the best person to recommend specific trees, not much experience. Ive got a lot of basic conifers- norway, colorado, black hills, serbian, canadian hemlocks, etc but not so many fancier/slower growing ones (and Ive only been into conifers/trees for 3 years) Canadian Hemlocks like shade but growing them can be finicky in Ohio(and they may not have the Xmas tree look you are looking for). Actually that is way too much sun for a Canadian hemlock(at least in Ohio, up North not as much, but I would say still too much sun, even where you live). Im thinking some type of slower growing Norway spruce, but like I said, not an expert. Im sure others will offer specific suggestions. The Norway spruce is the most bullettproof conifer I have met. Ive got a bunch planted in shady areas. They dont fill out as much when in shade but they still look great to me and plenty "Christmas-tree like".

Shelley, You've had an assessment done by experts, which I am not, I just love trees. I've met Ken and toured his garden in Michigan. I consider Ken a mentor and have followed his posts from the trees and conifer forums for a decade. He knows his stuff! I don't know that we have much rhizosphaera needlecast here, but it's often the cause of declining Colorado Blue Spruce in Michigan and in the east in general. I think the arborists you had out would have identified needlecast if the tree had it. I would not fertilize until you've done a soil test. I'm linking Colorado State University's soil test info. Soil testing CSU While there is a school of thought that a little fertilizer won't hurt, it might be a waste of money if it's not needed. You can also do some real harm if you over-fertilize a stressed plant. What the soil test won't tell you, unfortunately, is if chemicals were applied in the area. Have you or any of your neighbors sprayed chemicals or applied weed and feed around the tree? I'm suggesting a soil test because it will give you a report that explains your soil composition. It will tell you what nutrients you have and what you're lacking. That narrow things down for you, so you can focus on adding only the nutrients your soil needs. If you don't want to send a sample to CSU, your county extension may be able to provide you with containers and instructions. I'm pretty sure your extension will send the sample to CSU anyway as that's the state lab. I'd recommend the routine + SAR test just to make sure you don't have too much sodium. I think it's $38 well spent to know what's in your soil. I do have some other thoughts. 4 years ago would have been the year after our 2013 flood. Our landscapes got inundated with moisture which stimulated terrific growth. The following year, 2014 is when we had the flash freeze. In the fall of 2014, leaves stayed on the trees and didn't turn color till very late in the season as night time temps stayed warm. The trees were still actively growing and hadn't slowed down for winter like they normally would. It was 65 or 70 degrees one day and the next day it got to 15 below. I don't know if you remember, but it killed some trees (especially fruit trees) outright and damaged many others, all across the region. It's possible that what you're seeing with your tree is residual damage from the flash freeze, it just took a little while to show up. Once the bottom branches died and you cut them off, it exposed the soil at the base of your tree. What used to be shaded was now exposed to sun, which dried the area out. Blue spruce like water and It's been pretty dry the last couple of years. It is recommended that you water trees over the winter once a month if it's above freezing and we don't have snow cover. The arborists have said the tree is basically healthy. I would take them at their word. Did they or you dig around a bit to check soil moisture around the base of the tree? My suggestion would be to cut off the remaining dead branches, give the tree a thorough soaking, (hose at a trickle for hours at the base of the tree, moving it around the dripline every hour or so until water runs off), then apply 2 -3 inches of mulch at the base of the tree, keeping it a few inches back from the trunk of the tree. See if that stops the progression of die back. It looks like we are in for a dry year, so check your soil moisture and water when needed this year. I didn't mean to go on so long! I hope my random thoughts help. Barb