I’m so sad but the blue spruce we planted last November is looking worse for wear. You can see an early photo from June when it looked perfectly healthy.
We live in the DC area in Maryland where our soil is more claylike. My partner is convinced the tree is dead but I’m not convinced it’s there (yet). He thinks it’s an issue with the soil drainage or fungus (or really both). I did just pull a lot of mulch away from the root flare and I’m waiting for some mitogrow to show up in the mail.
I thought the issue might have been transplant stress given the two heat waves we had and watered the tree deeply when needed but not excessively.
Any help would be much appreciated!
e
by Temporary_Shower_638
4 Comments
Could be stress or needle cast. Unfortunately colorado spruce are poorly suited to hot humid summers.
Similar issue with mine in Toronto, though it was much older. Being planted last year makes some type of planting error more likely.
I’m not a pro, but I don’t think it will look good for a while even if it recovers. That, combined with the fact that it is likely to die prematurely due to the climate, makes me think you should replace with something more suitable
Mine is similar size. I hose drip as needed at the base for about an hour. About every 5-7 days. What’s your watering like?
It’s better it started looking like this now…so you can replace it with a better tree…then wasting 10 years growing it before the disease starts. Blue spruce just can’t handle humid summers…they are western, dry air, mountain trees…hence the name, Colorado Blue Spruce. Nurseries everywhere sell them because people buy them, not because they are suited for your location. Being such a large tree at planting probably hastened the needle cast disease. It’s a fungal disease that thrives in warm, humid summers, after a wet spring. Norway spruce…or a dwarf version of Norway…or even an arborvitae would grow much better in your location.
Blue spruce are not native to your area. These trees want to be above 8,000 ft.
Why would you not pick a native tree to the area?
The **Blue Spruce** (*Picea pungens*) is native to the **Rocky Mountains** of the western United States, with its natural habitat primarily located at elevations between **6,000 and 11,000 feet** (1,800–3,350 meters).
* **Northern Range**: In states like **Wyoming**, **Montana**, and **Idaho**, it typically grows between **6,000 and 9,000 feet** (1,800–2,740 meters).
* **Southern Range**: In **Colorado**, **Utah**, **Arizona**, and **New Mexico**, it is found at higher elevations, ranging from **7,000 to 11,500 feet** (2,130–3,500 meters).
* **Specific Habitat**: Within these elevations, the tree prefers **moist riparian corridors**, stream banks, canyon bottoms, and north-facing slopes where soil moisture is abundant.