Its winter burn. Its caused when the roots can't supply amble moisture to the needles.

Alberta spruce are extremely suseptiable to winter burn, ecspecially on south exposures.

Sun/wind burn on Alberta Spruce, usually the south side. Quite common east of the Rockies here in the States due to a particularly brutal winter.

tj

the future is all in the buds .... and i just checked mine here near ann arbor MI to day ... and all the buds look viable ...

most likely it will flush out.. and hide most of it..

and as the heat rises.. they will fall off ...

you might try putting on a leather glove.. and see if any rubs off easily /w/o damaging the buds ... but i suspect that will take a little time ..

it looks like those things were planted when the house was built 10 or 15 years ago [am i close???].... and it is time to remove them.. and do a better design.. for your very nice house.. we could make suggestions.. after they are removed...

the next proper planting time is fall ... so you have all summer to get rid of them ...

they were cute and appropriately sized.. when planted.. who knew.. that as trees.. they would get big and ugly ...

this house cries out for a much better design ...

good luck

ken

Yup they look like Alberta Spruce (after googling).

Sun wind burn is a thought? The wind is westerly prevailing.

These trees have been there a while and seen harsher winters though.

The cedars were not affected by whatever it is.

The future is in the buds and they should start to growing soon. I'm hoping it goes away as well as whatever causes this.

Landscaping is gonna have to wait for now. But thanks for the suggestion.

Thanks for the responses.

Has anyone with Alberta Spruce had this same affect this year?

I see it everywhere in SE Wisconsin this year.

tj

Extra crispy here.

there is no doubt at all that it is winter burn .... no need to speculate further ...

this was the worst winter in at least a decade .. it doenst matter how long yours looked fine ...

i have at least a dozen of various types... ALL LOOK LIKE YOURS ... to some extent ... i am not concerned ...

ken

Over 25 years I've experienced much harsher winters. But had never seen this effect. Even when they were much younger.

ALL other Alberta Junipers I have seen in the city do not show this effect.

i dont know what you want us to say ... it was a bad winter.. and they are old men ...

perhaps when they were younger.. more vibrant.. they could handle it all ...

this year they didnt ...

was there drought or intense heat last summer.. that made them go into winter less than healthy???

BTW.. your juniper are showing no damage.. but your picea glauca are ... and that is what DAS.. are.. picea glauca 'conica' ... DAS = dwarf alberta spruce... spruce.. not juniper ...

they will either bud out in a few weeks or they wont.. and if they dont.. they are dead ... regardless of what they did the last 25 years ...or the live parts will only be an ugly fraction of the dead stuff.. and you will remove them ...

good luck

ken

Depending on what is causing this browning is (it seems to be topical) if it is removed I think they will get better and greener.

I posted to get some opinions and ideas on this. I had never seen it before.

I don't think it is age related. The ones that have space and have not been transplanted are healthy and strong. Yet they have the browning. As does the one which has been transplanted and is not doing so well. I'm keeping an eye on them.

again thanks for your opinion and input.

Depending on what is causing this browning is (it seems to be topical) if it is removed I think they will get better and greener.

I posted to get some opinions and ideas on this. I had never seen it before.

I don't think it is age related. The ones that have space and have not been transplanted are healthy and strong. Yet they have the browning. As does the one which has been transplanted and is not doing so well. I'm keeping an eye on them.

again thanks for your opinion and input.

Winter burn, as others have said.

A secondary possibility - SALT burn from road salt, which would explain why it's only on the road side of the trees.

Road salt or something from the road is a new perspective. I'd expect road salt to occur every year as they have always used a lot of salt around here. Possibly more salt in previous years as they are supposedly suppose to be trying to scale this down. Although it could vary with the harshness of the winter.

I'd still point out tat this effect is completely new to this year. It's never occurred. Not even faintly. This year it appears and quite noticeably as can be observed from the pics.

As I mentioned other trees of the same variety that I've observed in the surrounding area do not exhibit the same effect at all. However some trees close by have it to a lesser degree.