blue spruce

[fsymons]

I have a blue spruce that is showing some small dead
branches at several levels. This tree is approxiamately 20
years old. How old do these trees live and is this a
normal problem at this age?

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

It could be shade thinning or a problem called Cytosporae canker. If you see pitch dripping from wounds on branches then this is the most likely problem.

Cytoporae is common in these plants because they are often missplaced in a landscape (Colorado spruce-I have an aquantace who says they are in the wrong state ) The dont like "wet feet",extended drought, hot soil, compaction and a number of other things comon to urban landscapes.

There aren't many good pics but here is a search on the subject

http://search.dogpile.com/texis/search?q=proper+pruning&geo=no&fs=web