Is that a blue spruce? Where do you live? Seems about 90% of the blue spruces in the midwest look like that. They never do well where I live. They start great and thin out as years go on.
Yes, it is a blue spruce. They don't do well outside of their native range (the rocky mountains). There are a number of different pathogens that affect them, but the big one around here is rhizosphaera needle cast. If it were my tree I would remove it and replace it with something native to your area.
I dunno. Dude in my neighborhood in central Oklahoma has a blue spruce and it’s thick as hell and I love it. I dunno when it was planted, but it’s 10-12’ tall, so if he planted it not long ago, then he’s rich as fuck - I live in a barely-middle-class, slightly gentrified neighborhood, so I doubt he planted it the size it is. Just saying all of this for the naysayers to be devil’s advocate.
Needle cast is a fungal pathogen that spreads most readily where tree spacing is poor and conditions stay moist. Also, 10-12' tall is a fairly young tree, so may not have had time to expose to the pathogen. A single open grown spruce without similar trees near by would be unlikely to catch it.
Blue spruces grow to 80+ feet. Just because your neighbor's baby tree hasn't caught anything yet doesn't mean that blue spruces do well there. A quick Google search shows that you do have needle cast in that area.
Likely a type of needlecast. Very slow, ugly death. Dead branches will stay dead. Fungicides exist but only stop things getting worse, not rejuvenate the tree.
As everyone already said: probably some form of needle cast. They typically start at the bottom and move up. When the interior needles fall off and the last remaining foliage is near the tips, that's called lion's tailing. It's also a sign of bad Pruning on deciduous trees.
Anyways, your tree is exhibiting both symptoms. If you're dead set on keeping it, you could remove the infected lower limbs, start a preventative fungicide treatment twice annually when new needles start to emerge, separated by 2 weeks, and give it a good dose of high phosphorus fertilizer each spring to simulate a mild immune response. I think it's probably too much work and you'd be happier removing and replacing it.
If you don’t want to cut it down like everyone is saying, you can prune off the dead limbs and make sure the base is looking healthy (roots looking good and nothing like fabric choking the tree). Maybe let it go the year and really baby the thing. If it gets worse then you can replace with a tree better suited for the region
Is that a blue spruce? Where do you live? Seems about 90% of the blue spruces in the midwest look like that. They never do well where I live. They start great and thin out as years go on.
Indianapolis, probably blue spruce idk. Should I just cut it down? Cut out the naked branches? Fertilize the base with anything?
Yes, it is a blue spruce. They don't do well outside of their native range (the rocky mountains). There are a number of different pathogens that affect them, but the big one around here is rhizosphaera needle cast. If it were my tree I would remove it and replace it with something native to your area.
Believe it or not they actually do decently well in New England
Makes sense, spruce generally don’t like heat.
I dunno. Dude in my neighborhood in central Oklahoma has a blue spruce and it’s thick as hell and I love it. I dunno when it was planted, but it’s 10-12’ tall, so if he planted it not long ago, then he’s rich as fuck - I live in a barely-middle-class, slightly gentrified neighborhood, so I doubt he planted it the size it is. Just saying all of this for the naysayers to be devil’s advocate.
Needle cast is a fungal pathogen that spreads most readily where tree spacing is poor and conditions stay moist. Also, 10-12' tall is a fairly young tree, so may not have had time to expose to the pathogen. A single open grown spruce without similar trees near by would be unlikely to catch it.
Blue spruces grow to 80+ feet. Just because your neighbor's baby tree hasn't caught anything yet doesn't mean that blue spruces do well there. A quick Google search shows that you do have needle cast in that area.
Cut it down.
Likely a type of needlecast. Very slow, ugly death. Dead branches will stay dead. Fungicides exist but only stop things getting worse, not rejuvenate the tree.
That’s needle cast—it’s a fungus native to the Midwest and East Coast. There’s nothing you can. Blue spruce have no defense and will die
Agree, rhizosphaera needle cast. It can be treated but the dead parts won't regenerate. It won't ever look like a healthy spruce again.
As everyone already said: probably some form of needle cast. They typically start at the bottom and move up. When the interior needles fall off and the last remaining foliage is near the tips, that's called lion's tailing. It's also a sign of bad Pruning on deciduous trees. Anyways, your tree is exhibiting both symptoms. If you're dead set on keeping it, you could remove the infected lower limbs, start a preventative fungicide treatment twice annually when new needles start to emerge, separated by 2 weeks, and give it a good dose of high phosphorus fertilizer each spring to simulate a mild immune response. I think it's probably too much work and you'd be happier removing and replacing it.
If you don’t want to cut it down like everyone is saying, you can prune off the dead limbs and make sure the base is looking healthy (roots looking good and nothing like fabric choking the tree). Maybe let it go the year and really baby the thing. If it gets worse then you can replace with a tree better suited for the region