Spruce and pine trees can be prone to several fungal infections that can lead to needle discoloration and early drop. One of these fungal infections is known as cytospora canker, which primarily affects Colorado blue spruces.

Why is my blue spruce dropping needles?

Needle Cast Disease The Colorado Blue Spruce often loses its rigid needles after wet seasons. The Rhizosphaera fungus, which thrives in the wet conditions, leads to the needle loss as it takes hold of the spruce.

Why are the needles falling off my evergreen?

What else can cause needles to fall? Browning or wilting foliage (and subsequent foliage or needle drop) on both deciduous and evergreen tree species can be caused by excessive heat, drought, and water stress. You may find this stress-caused damage throughout the tree but it’s usually found at branch tips.

How do you know when a blue spruce is dying?

1. Needles Turn Yellow or Brown and Drop Off. It’s easy to tell whether your blue spruce trees are healthy or not. …
2. Drying and Dying of Lower Branches. When you see lower branches of a blue spruce drying and dying, you should expect the worst. …
3. Dying of New and Emerging Shoots.

Can a blue spruce recover from needle cast?

The tree becomes unattractive and may look as though it is dying, but don’t despair. Rhizosphaera and Stigmina, the two most common needle cast diseases of spruce trees, are treatable. You can have your tree looking lush and beautiful again within a few years by following a program of needle cast treatment.

How do you revive a dying blue spruce?

1. Prune away dead branches, twigs, and infected areas of the tree.
2. Remove fallen foliage and destroy it (burn it). …
3. Apply a fungicide to the tree after removing signs of the infection.
4. Deep water the tree once per week to help it recover from the stress.

How do you keep a blue spruce healthy?

Light and Water Needs. Colorado blue spruce thrives in full sun but also grows in partial shade. Once established, the tree needs a medium amount of water, with a deep soaking every two or three weeks. Even though the tree likes the soil to remain moist, especially while it’s still young, it’s also tolerant of drought.

What is the life span of a blue spruce?

Growth and Yield- Blue spruce is apparently a long-lived tree, surviving up to 600 years or more. Diameter growth is slow; trees 10 to 13 cm (4 to 5 in) in d.b.h. may be 125 to 135 years old; at 46 to 56 cm (18 to 22 in), they may be 275 to 350 years of age (84).

Should you trim the bottom of a blue spruce?

Trimming bottom branches of blue spruce creates a neater appearance, and makes it easier to reach underneath the tree to rake or apply mulch. Create even spacing among branches by eliminating branches in thick sections of the tree to match the spacing in thinner sections.

What kills blue spruce trees?

By far the most common complaint of cultivated blue spruces is needle cast disease, mostly that caused by the fungus Rhizospaera kalkhoffii. It infects young needles and overwinters on living or recently killed foliage. During the growing season, the spores spread to other branches, or other trees, by splashing water.

Article first time published on

Why is my spruce losing needles?

Spruce and pine trees can be prone to several fungal infections that can lead to needle discoloration and early drop. … Spruces and pines affected by rhizosphaera needle cast will lose their interior older needles, leaving only the current year’s growth (which has not yet been infected).

How do you treat blue spruce Cytospora canker?

Management: There is no known cure for cytospora canker. Fungicide treatments are not recommended. The Davey Institute recommends maintaining the health and vitality of susceptible trees to manage the disease; healthy trees are less susceptible to cytospora canker.

Do blue spruce Christmas trees lose their needles?

The needles are 1 to 3 inches long and can be so stiff they scratch, so be careful when handling. Colorado Blue Spruce (Picea pungens) has good needle retention, but they will drop in a warm room.

How do you stop needle cast disease?

1. Make one application in spring or early summer when the new needles have grown to half their mature length.
2. Make a second application 3 to 4 weeks later.

How do I stop my blue spruce from needle casting?

Needle cast diseases can be effectively controlled with fungicides containing chlorothalonil. For Rhizosphaera needle cast, two properly-timed applications per year for at least two consecutive years, and sometimes three years, is required for control.

How do I stop needle casting?

The easiest way to avoid Rhizosphaera needle cast is to avoid planting Colorado blue spruce. If you do plant blue spruce, consider using dwarf varieties and allow adequate spacing between trees so that branches will not overlap when trees are full size.

What is the best fertilizer for blue spruce trees?

Slow-release granular fertilizer is the best choice and should be used near the root zone. To prevent burning from the fertilizer, you want to add two inches of water around the trunk. These spruce trees do not need to be pruned.

How do you make a blue spruce bluer?

About Green Needles on a Blue Spruce The blue color of blue spruce needles is caused by epicuticular waxes on the needles that reflect specific wavelengths of light. The more wax on a needle, the bluer it is.

What is the best fertilizer for spruce trees?

Spruce trees do not have very high phosphorous needs and benefit most form an acidic fertilizer designed for evergreens or a high-nitrogen fertilizer with a formula like 12-6-4 or 10-8-6. Organic fertilizer options include compost, fish emulsion, cottonseed meal and alfalfa meal.

Can spruce trees regrow needles?

These voracious eaters strip needles from spruce, and those needles will NEVER grow back. In three years, they can kill a tree. If your spruce is under attack DO NOT PRUNE the stripped branches. The bud at the tip is still alive, and will produce new needles next Spring which will disguise the damage.

What kills the tops of spruce trees?

White pine weevil damage Larvae of the white pine weevil kill the terminal leader and the top two to four years of growth on many varieties of spruce, as well as white and Scotch pine trees.

Do spruce branches grow back?

Generally, spruce trees will regrow as long as buds are available, but pine trees pruned past the last set of needles on a branch will not.

When is the best time to prune blue spruce trees?

In order to promote a positive response, the blue spruce must have enough time to repair itself before entering its dormant period. Always complete this tree’s pruning during the late winter or early spring months, just before the onset of its growing season.

Can you trim blue spruce in summer?

The best time for trimming Also, in the middle of spring, blue spruce will have young growth, and all damage will heal quickly. … Summer is also not the best time, as pruning at this time will stimulate the blue spruce to grow more intensively, and you will get new young growths in the fall.

Can you keep a blue spruce small?

While not a true dwarf ornamental, the Baby Blue Eyes Spruce tree is the closest thing to a dwarf evergreen tree on the market today. A typical Colorado Blue Spruce will grow 50-75 feet tall and 20 feet wide. For homeowners with size constraints, this simply will not work.

How long does it take for a blue spruce to mature?

The Colorado blue spruce grows at a slow to medium rate, according to the Arbor Day Foundation, although it picks up a bit as it gets older. This blue spruce grows from 12 to 24 inches a year. So it will require 30 to 60 years for a Colorado blue spruce to grow from seed to 60 feet tall.

How does Blue Spruce survive in the cold?

The spruce (Picea) is an evergreen with short, blue-green, waxy leaves called needles. The waxy coating on the needles helps evergreen trees conserve water during the very cold winters where they live, when soil water is frozen and not available for the trees to use.

How much does a blue spruce grow per year?

This tree grows at a slow to medium rate, with height increases of anywhere from less than 12″ to 24″ per year.

Why are so many pine needles falling this year?

The culprit is probably some type of disease or insect. So, if one-third to one-fourth of the needles on the inner parts of your evergreen tree are falling off, it is probably just a normal sign of aging. Just rake up the dead needles, or better yet, leave them under the tree for a good mulch.

Why are blue spruce trees dying?

Blue spruce trees are susceptible to an infectious needle disease caused by the fungus Rhizosphaera. … Second-year needles turn a purple or brown color and eventually fall from the tree. After several successive years of needle loss branches may die. In general, trees appear to die from the bottom upward.

How often should I water my blue spruce tree?

However, during periods of drought, be sure to give your blue spruce a good soaking with the garden hose to the tune of about 1 inch of water per week. A deep watering once per week is much better than a shallow watering four to five times per week.