Last years seedlings showing "rust" ??

[Kiss4aFrog]

I received a hundred two year old seedlings from the Wisconsin DNR and planted them. Now that the snow is finally gone I was out inspecting them and a number of them seem to have a very noticeable browning of the needles. Is there something I should be concerned about, something I can do ??

Second question is about pruning them. I'd like them to grow up with a central trunk and not a split trunk like I see in a number of mature trees on the property. At two or three years is it appropriate to prune off the lower branches and secondary leaders like you would a hardwood tree to promote growth or are those lower branches necessary ??

 

[ATH]

Was the green below the snow while the brown was sticking up? Looks like it could be winter burn from the wind blowing on that tree.

Plan to prune every +/-3 years. Focus on picking the best central leader. Unless you are trying to grow timber, don't worry about low limbs (and if you are trying to grow logs for sale one day, it is probably hard to justify the cost/time of pruning to improve log quality...).

 

[Jed1124]

Multi stem leaders on white pine are generally from a broken top or white pine weevil that attacks the central leader of the tree. Treat them with imidacloprid after they get a few feet tall until there 15' once a year and they should be fine.

 

[Oldmaple]

Brown tops is winter burn. It is caused by environmental conditions, not a pathogen. Prune to maintain one central leader but keep the lower branches. If you remove the lower branches too soon you will not get proper trunk taper and it will have a weaker lower trunk section.