any chance taht somebody used any weed control chemicals in the area?

no definitely no weed control was sprayed on the tree-but I have used weed control before and this has never happened-I'm usually pretty careful-besides it seems other norways which are hundreds of feet from this one are showing slightly similar browning- this tree was the worst by far. Anyone have any thoughts or suggestions? I've never come across this before with these trees.

can you get under there somewhat .. and dig a small hole.. and find out about moisture at depth in the old root mass ...

did you have any severe frost/freezes after the buds started growing???

was this the first real heat wave this summer???

any drought??? prior to this weeks rain

ken

I discovered the problem after we got around 2 inches of rain- so the ground everywhere was pretty much moist. we had no severe frosts after budding- Its hard to notice everything going on at any one time with having hundreds of trees and working all day- but I do know this particular tree looked real good a few weeks ago-infact I was pleased with just about everything ( was is rare). Ken, yes this is probably the first real so called "Heat wave" of this year. 3 days of temps in the middle and upper 90s. hen it cooled down this week and soaked us with much rain. Supposed to get back into the 90s this weekend. I know this tree has been through worse though- but we had a very dry and mild winter so not sure if it has anything to do with it- seeing some of the newer norways are showing signs of the same problems- which led me to believe the sudden heat brought it on? not sure really. The only problems I have had so far with any norways is pine weevil at the leader- which this tree and one newer norway seem to have. I just hope its not some disease going around all the norways.

I've seen this onset in the past, and I've never seen a rebound. It's a simple matter that this tree wasn't meant to be.

Dax

not very encouraging, do you know what caused it to happen so quickly? I see signs of it on about 3 other trees (which were all planted this spring) seems hard to believe that all the trees are just bad and not going to make it. hope you are wrong.

any ideas anyone? maybe it is just drought stress- but to affect 3 different generations of norways kinda makes me nervous. any input appreciated.

The heat may have simply allowed the previous damage to now be evident. What is confusing to me is that you had what appears to be normal spring growth and that it is that new growth that died (am I correct?). Had this occurred before that growth it could have been attributed to your dry winter. But this would indicate something happening shortly after that new growth.

tj

That's what was confusing me too- I wasn't sure if the dry winter and spring attributed to this. I talked with the nursery I usually deal with- they seem to think that the new growth had not hardened up all the way and then bam! we we went from the mid-to high 60's to high 90's overnight for 3 days straight, which scorched the growth. He also said the leader damage is definitely the pine weevil and that with the mild winter we had that the damage would be great this year. So I have to cut off the damaged areas and dispose and burn them. It's always something it seems, hopefully this particular tree will bounce back somehow.

hmmm

Here is a link that might be useful: needle browning

oh man I am so sorry to see this. I don't have any advice for you, just empathy.

where exactly are you located?

i didnt see if it was ball and burlap ... must have been at 6 feet ....

when a plant is dug .. and either BB or potted thereafter ...

we cant really tell.. what the root system was after the big dig..

it is usually suggested.. that it was butchered ... and no matter what you do.. you wont win ...

i doubt you will ever know .. until it dies.. and you dig it up.. and hose off all the soil ...

whether it continues to death.. who knows ..

i think you want a definitive answer.. and i doubt you are going to get one ...

if you go for replacement.. go for no bigger than 3 feet.. if you had done that prior.. PERHAPS... it could have survived ... you went big.. for some level of instant gratification .. and you lost the roll of the dice. IMHO ...

i hope it stops.. and recovers.. good luck

ken

ps: i asked you to dig a hole.. and i THINK you answered on observation ... did you confirm moisture thru the whole ball you planted????

pps: you said: but we had a very dry and mild winter so not sure if it has anything to do with it- seeing some of the newer norways are showing signs of the same problems- which led me to believe the sudden heat brought it on?

if it dried significantly in winter.. the evergreen.. would not show the damage until the heat completely dessicated the green needles ... IMHO.. the damage was done months ago .. though the result did not show until the heat ... and there is nothing you can do now.. about it ...

thanks everyone for your replies and links. ken the tree was B&B-but was roughly around 4ft. 2 years ago-it was close to 6ft before the leader was cut off. The newer ones are 5-6ft. B&B. out of 14 only two of them are showing some browning on the needles but no wear as severe as the one pictured. I kind of agree that some of the damage was brought on by the dry winter and spring. we have a good amount of rain since the end of march but probably not enough it seems. I think it was a combination of both the mild winter and the sudden heat. I hope its not a needle disease but seems like too much of a coincidence that the new ones and an older one all got it at the same time. Just my opinion of course and I am by far no expert. I'll keep an eye on it and see what happens.

All of a sudden I'm having the exact same problems with three or four of my Norway Spruce trees. I probably have close to 50 trees ranging in size from 2' to 20'.

I noticed one of my trees looking a littly brown on top Friday morning. The brown spread really fast to the point where it was brown almost all the way down the tree. I watered the heck out of it Friday night along with another one that was starting to brown also.

Yesterday (Sunday) I watered the heck out of any of them that had any brown on them whatsoever. I've been planting five or six trees a year for the 10 years I have lived there. I have only lost three tres in that entire time.

This year is by far the hottest and driest we have had though. I think it's just the very hot weather and the dryness, but I'm not sure.

Sure hope I don't lose all my trees though. I'm just going to keep watering them and hope for the best.

Doesn anybody think it is something more than dryness and heat? All these trees had excellent new growth and the new growth is what is turning brown.

The ones I just planted last year (didn't do any this year) I have kept watered and they are looking pretty good. Not browning, but not real dark green like the other either.

Cytospora canker on spruce is very prevalent this spring. It is a fungus that affects the vascular system of the plant, so infected braches should be removed before spread to the rest of the tree occurs. Cytospora begins attacking the bottom branches and works its way up
like in the first pic. Most likely dissemintated by rainwater splash. A lot of spruce seem stressed by the heat which doesn't help either.

jimmy

The brown on mine started from the top and worked down, and it happened in less than two days.

When I watered them last night I noticed some blue-green coating on some of the lower limbs of a tree that has been in the ground for quite some time. That tree is also turning brown on the top and working it's way down the tree.