Knowledgebase
Dwarf Spruce #847015
Asked August 23, 2023, 5:31 PM EDT
I have a one year old dwarf spruce that for the past two months has been gradually seeming to die. I have attached a current picture. I'm wondering if you can tell me the likely cause of this problem and also what its survival chances look like.
Thank you.
Arapahoe County Colorado
Expert Response
Thank you for reaching out to us with your question and for the photo. Sorry to see your Dwarf Spruce is struggling. It appears that it might have a couple of things going on.
First, wondering how much sunlight it is getting. It looks to be in a fairly shady area, so possibly not getting enough sunlight could be causing it to die back. Dwarf spruce would like at least 4 hours of sunlight.
Also, browning out at the top can be indicative of some winter desiccation, which the damage from that sometimes will not show up until mid summer.
Most importantly, check the soil moisture alongside the root ball 3-4" deep. You should be able to feel moisture in the soil without it being muddy. You should be able to make a ball with the soil and have it hold together. If it crumbles in your hand then you know it is too dry.
As for it chances of survival, the fact that it did push some new growth this spring is encouraging and gives you some hope. Making sure the moisture level in the soil is right will be the most important factor. It may recover and push more new growth next spring but the dead branches at the base of the tree will not recover and should be pruned out.
Just want to add that you do not want to fertilize it this late in the season thinking that it might help it recover.
Thank you again for reaching out to us and hope you found this helpful
I have attached four current photos of the tree.
Photos 1A and 1B are from the same side of the tree. They look healthy to me and, to my untrained eye, it looks like there is new growth.
Photos 2A and 2B are from the opposite side of the tree and it looks, on this side, like the tree is in some distress.
I have checked the soil PH level and it’s around 6.5. I have rotated the tree 90 degrees about every week to 10 days, to try to assure equal sunlight on all sides.
I have watered the tree when the soil in the top few inches begins to feel dry. That amounts to about 15 minutes of gently watering by hose weekly.
I’d appreciate any help or advice that you can give me.
Thank you,
Bob Weston
Based upon your photos, those brown "tassels" appear to be new growth that died. It looks to me that they are all over the tree, but worse on one side. This can happen when there is not enough water available for the tree. This can happen from either over watering or under watering. The rest of the tree appears to be healthy, so the tree should survive.
You seem to be a pretty diligent person, so here's some information that may help guide you along. This first article is called "Growing Evergreens in Containers." It's from Missouri botanical gardens. Take a look at it. It offers some wonderful suggestions. https://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/Portals/0/Gardening/Gardening%20Help/Factsheets/Growing%20Evergreens%20in%20Containers52.pdf
This second article is called "Fertilizing and Watering Container Plants." It's from the University of Minnesota. Check out the sections entitles "Maintain even moisture" and "Watch out for soggy soils." Those are the sections that are most pertinent to your situation. https://extension.umn.edu/managing-soil-and-nutrients/fertilizing-and-watering-container-plants
Your tree should be ok. I'm seeing some new growth where there was some dead.
Let me know if you have further questions.
