"my pine!"

[mrqpros]

Hope you got the Back to the Future reference...I have two pines in the front of my house, and they are looking worse for the wear. We didn't plant them, but have been in the house for about 9 years. They just seem to look worse each year. We're not especially attached to them, but sure don't want to replace them if we can bring them back to health. We're in Southern Wisconsin, and we use Scotts lawn service. See the pics and thank you in advance for any guidance you can offer. MrQView attachment 299385View attachment 299386View attachment 299387View attachment 299388View attachment 299389

 

[mrqpros]

"my pine!2"

More picsView attachment 299396View attachment 299397View attachment 299398View attachment 299399View attachment 299400

 

[mrqpros]

"my pine!3"

And a few more pics...View attachment 299401View attachment 299402View attachment 299403View attachment 299404View attachment 299405

 

[ropensaddle]

Appears to to be needle cast do the older previous years needles turn brown each spring then shed later?

 

[mrqpros]

Thanks for the quick reply, R&S - I can't say for sure which ones are from which season, but the trees just seem to become progressively threadbare... one on the opposite end of our lot also appears to be thinning. I can sure do some research on needle cast, though. Thank you!

 

[B Harrison]

Just my taste, but I would clean up the trees a bit with some pruning. maybe trim to the trunk up a foot or two from the ground and cut some of the dead growth out of the tree. Are the trees being fertilized at any point or sprayed with anything?

I lived in Jaynesville for a bit, but not familiar enough with the flora to give much advice about that kind of spruce/ fir which ever it is I can't tell from the picture. They are hard to get to do right here in the NC mountains at less than 2400 feet in elevation, but we do have a Blue Spruce on the Farm at 1700 that does well. Those trees thrive in harsh climates (wind/ cold) but draw a lot of moisture from the air so fog and high humidity are there friends.

 

[Raintree]

R&S has the best first guess. However it can be many issues. Could be Cytospora canker to mites to lack of potassium. Your nice green lush lawn is not compatible to needled evergreen health, soil test is in order. Then we should also check out proper planting depth, why are the Fir trees stressed from the start.

 

[mrqpros]

Thanks, B & Raintree! I'll get on the pruning; just didn't want to do more damage before I knew the culprit. To this point, no spraying or fertilizing. I can't speak to the planting depth; they were probably mass-planted when the house was built (we had to transplant three bushes adjacent that were part of an evergreen cluster, something landscapers regularly do with new construction to make things look fuller). It sounds like we need to have someone visit the property and do some testing. Thanks again for the help.

 

[B Harrison]

If you are serious about getting the most out of those trees then having an arborist look at them or even a botanist from the local community college would be a great first step.

 

[Oldmaple]

Spruce in this area have been generally getting less healthy over the past 5 years. Many problems that they deal with have been discussed above and the decline is a combination of all of them. It is unknown as to why they are all such a bad problem at one time. Disease/insect/environmental problems usually vary from year to year with the plant only having to deal with them one or two at a time. I would recommend improving the health with mulching under the tree (not grass up to the trunk), then fertilizing and soil ph adjustments as needed. My favorite dry fertilizer for woody plants is milorganite, available at most home centers. Just sprinkle it under the tree and let rain or irrigation water it in. Fertilization should be done twice a year for stressed plants, rule of thumb being mid April and mid October (before Memorial Dar and after Labor Day) if that's easier to remember. Trying to limit irrigation systems from spraying the foliage will lessen the needlecast issues since fungi love the moist environment.

 

[Raintree]

Spruce in this area have been generally getting less healthy over the past 5 years.

Oldmaple you're thinking Spruce, I'm thinking Firs. Hard to tell from the pics, needle cast is a big Fir problem in my area. I have read about "Sudden needle drop" on Spruce. Home, Yard & Garden Newsletter at the University of Illinois & the OP lives in Wisconsin one of the affected states