it is a little early to be giving up .... sometimes i will leave dead leaders on for 2 or 3 years.. they come in handy for tying new leaders onto ....

unless it is in some prime location .... and just has to go ...

any chance at a picture??? not much info to go on ...

and i will presume you know our basic thoughts on the size of transplants...

if there is any way to get up there... see what the buds look like... firm usually means they might pop ... mushy means dead ... while you are up there.. tie up a new leader .... you can always release it later if the other recovers ... this way .. new fresh growth is upright .. rather than lateral ....

and .... i have had young foo foo pines.. lose all their needles... and bud out just fine ... so give it a little time ... at least until the other trees and conifers in z6 .. start pushing new growth ... and that is probably not for another 4 to 6 weeks.. at least ...

ken

Don't worry about this tree. I think the leader is dead--once any branch/twig, etc. on a Norway spruce turns brown it is gone.

But, but, but, this is not a problem. The tree will grow a new leader and in two years the loss will not be an issue.

If you replace this tree, you will be starting over with transplant shock on the new tree and another risk of some problem. If you get a new tree, and plant it right next to the tree you already have, the one with the dead leader will still be ahead--it is already well on its way to becoming established.

One possibility is that your tree will replace the one lost leader with two, but the chances of this are less than 5% or so. And if that happens, let both new leaders grow for three years and then cut off one then.

I have been growing literally thousands of NS trees for over 25 years. Trust me on this.

--Spruce

I cut the dead leader off this tree.
But unlike all the other NS on my property which have now candled as much aa 6 ins - this tree has yet to candle. Just now it has produced evidence of tiny little grren buds - but not consistently over the tree. This tree is planted in clay and I wonder whether the roots are too moist? I dont even water it but the rootball is always wet.

If some of the buds are beginning to "green up," you should be fine. Keep the tree moist--giving it "extra" water will do no good. Norway spruce trees vary a lot in when they break bud, and transplanted trees tend to be late. Usually a few buds begin to show green before others--my guess is that they will all green up in their own time.

--Spruce

I'm having this problem with 3 of my Norway Spruce trees. They are 5 years old, and 6-7 foot tall. The leader stem is brown and the 2 layer of stems are brown and falling off. So from what I have read, I should cut the leader now and just wait for another to grow? What causes this?

bor

start your own post.. and provide pix ...

ken

most likely the dreaded pine weevil- happens a lot to my nor ways. won't kill the tree- but makes it look kinda funky for a while. I just cut it back and let it do its thing. I also had a norway lose a bunch of needles and turn all brownish within a week or so- turns out it was spider mites. but it came back looking like new.