Your trees appear to be spruce trees, possibly Blue Spruce. There are a

certain, it should be diagnosed by an expert.  The nearest extension office to you would be in Livingston county where

you could probably take a sample of the branches to have looked at by their diagnostician.  There is usually a charge of about $5 for this service.  Their phone number is  <personal data hidden>  and they are located at 2300 E. Grand River Ave., Suite 111, Howell MI  48843.  Or you could have a local arborist take a look at them.  They should be able to tell you what the problem is and possibly treat it.  If you would prefer, you could send a sample to the Diagnostic lab in E. Lansing, go number of problems that can kill a Blue Spruce tree.

The most common is a disease callred Rhizosphaera needle cast, but there other things that can cause this and to be to this site: http://www.pestid.msu.edu/  The samples should include foot long branches with live and dead needles attached.

The different problems could be:   Rhizosphaera needle cast (Rhizophaera kalkhoffii).  Infected needles turn brown or purplish, needles at the branch tips remain green, tiny black dots can be seen with a had lens on infected needles, discolored needles fall off mid summer on the lower branches and moves up the tree, most common on young Colorado blue spruce, but infects all spruces.

Winter Injury: needles turn brown or purplish brown in late winter, early spring, needles turn brown from the tip down, needle base often remains green, damage often only on one side of tree, damage most severe at the top of the tree, branches covered by snow are unaffected.

Spruce spider mite (Oligonychu ununguis):  needles are mottled yellowish to reddish brown, webbing can be found between needles, most common during spring and fall, mites are dark green to brown 1/50th inch long.

Spruce needle rust (Chrysomyxa spp): needles at the tips of the branches turn yellow, pale orange to white tube like projections appear on infected needles in July or Aug and release powdery orange spores. Severely infected trees may have a tan to pinkish cast, infected needles fall off in September.

Spruce needleminer (Endothenia albolineana): small clusters of brown needles webbed together against branch to form a ‘nest’, needles hollow with small hole at base, larva is brown, gray, reddish and as large as ¼ inch long.

If you determine that it is Rhzosphaera, providing water during periods of drought, mulching the area around the tree, and taking care not to wound the tree are always beneficial to the overall health of the tree. Do not allow lawn sprinklers to spray the needles.  Chlorothalonil can be sprayed in the spring to protect new needles. A second spray should be applied 3-4 weeks later or as prescribed on the fungicide label.  READ AND FOLLOW ALL INSTRUCTIONS ON THE LABEL WHEN APPLYING A FUNGICIDE!  You should have it confirmed that Rhizosphaera is the fungal pathogen causing damage before applying a fungicide.

Hope this was helpful. Feel free to contact us again if you have further questions.

Apparently the entire reply by me did not fully copy, so the first part of my answer is as follows:

Your trees appear to be spruce trees, possibly Blue Spruce.  There are a number of problems that the spruce trees could have.  To be certain, it should be diagnosed by an expert.  The nearest extension office to you would be in Livingston county where you could probably take a sample of the branches to have looked at by their diagnostician.  There is usually a charge of about $5 for this service.  Their phone number is  <personal data hidden>  and they are located at 2300 E. Grand River Ave., Suite 111, Howell MI  48843.  Or you could have a local arborist take a look at them.  They should be able to tell you what the problem is and possibly treat it.  If you would prefer, you could send a sample to the Diagnostic lab in E. Lansing, go number of problems that can kill a Blue Spruce tree.

Ruth