My blue spruce is drying out what can i do to save it

Ros10313246
by Ros10313246

The branches are dying, help

  6 answers
  • Fiddledd224 Fiddledd224 on Aug 17, 2018

    Ros, I would start by pruning back all of the dead wood and watering it like crazy. Every couple of weeks I would add a liquid fertilizer like Miracle Gro and see if that helps.

  • Judy Judy on Aug 17, 2018

    I’ve had this happen this year.

    Check if its getting enough sun.

    We have a tree blocking the sun on one side of it.

    Even just shadow coverage is enough to black the sun.

    Mince they are dead they don’t come back. Trimming lower branches will help new growth too.

    Makse sure it does not have a disease.

    Is the bark healthy? Did a wood packer get to it?

  • Linda Sikut Linda Sikut on Aug 17, 2018

    Hi Ros,

    It might be because the rest of the tree is blocking the light from getting to the lower branches or it could be a fungus. Click on this article to read more and get more detail to see if you can figure it out. Wishing you the best. - Linda

  • Johnavallance82 Johnavallance82 on Aug 17, 2018

    Hi Ros, Has it had enough water? A lot of things have suffered here in the UK due to the very hot summer we have had. Don't give up on it yet! A trees first line of defense is to lose its leaves, I thought I had lost a conifer tree when we had the "Beast from the East" strick in the Spring. I even cut them off, but Hey Presto! we had rain, and it has started to form new and regrow.......... Best wishes. A bit of food in the water would be good too...........

  • Mode Cable Mode Cable on Aug 18, 2018

    Blue Spruce and any other Conifer, do not like to get 'their feet wet' as we say in the Conservation Department. Over watering or flooding, standing water will do them in. And if not right away, others things could be 'mites'. Blue Spruce are beautiful but not the most hardy. Sad to say, once they start going brown, you can cut and fluff but in the end, they are toast. Remember putting any tree back in the same spot is not a great idea. Landscaping around the house, farm, driveways, patios can change the lay of the land, the run off. Best to call your Conservation Department and have them come out and take a look around, maybe even do a soil sample. Or even see if "Lowe's" will come out. And another bit of advice: If you think of spraying, keep this in mind, spraying is a waste of time. For anything in your neighboring trees will 'blow with the wind' (Airborne) right back to your tree again. Don't know how many times I have heard a Farmer tell me that a tree has been there for 50 years, why is it dying? Or we've always had those type trees for years here, why is it dying now? Bottom line, everything has a 'life span'. The dying of limbs sounds like water or mites, two of the #1 causes of death in Blue Spruce. Two that are a bit more hardier are Black Hills Spruce or Jack Pine. But all are very susceptible to the same problem. Good Luck!

  • Mainiebets Mainiebets on Aug 18, 2018

    Make sure it’s drying out vs bagworms. They are everywhere this year! They literally eat your trees bare but deceive by using the needles which they weave pods to looks like dried needles. I’ve attached a photo of our Arborvitaes so you can compare. To confirm it’s those nasty creatures just squeeze one of the pods and they’ll stick their ugly head out of the top. If you do have them what you need to do is either manually pull all the live pods off and burn them or put them in a bucket of acetone or gasoline they spray the heck out of the tree with an organic bag worm killer that you can pick up in any garden store or even Home Depot. From here on out you’ll have to stay ahead of them and pull off any new pods as you see them. Also make sure you re-spray each spring and fall. Good luck!