3 0. ar_lawngod. The fertilizer will replace the depleted iron and help the needles regain their blue color. June 13, 2017 editors By John Chapin. Secateurs or loppers. Protect from drying winds. Greening in blue spruce can also occur naturally over time as the tree ages. Spruce need very little in the way of pruning. So why might you get calls from customers complaining that their expensive blue tree is turning green? If the new candles from last season have fallen off it sounds like you may be in trouble. Some trees can grow decisively blue needles, but others of the same type have green or blue-green needles. The straight species is usually green, but the cultivar 'Glauca' ranges from bluish-green to an eye-popping silvery blue. Propagation and Planting Blue Spruce. Blue spruce, Picea pungens, is a conifer grown in gardens for its distinctive, stiff, blue-green, needlelike leaves. Keeping a blue spruce blue is not a matter of flipping a magic switch. Blue spruce grow in a wide range of soils and climates, but dislike mild climates and polluted atmospheres. Greening in blue spruce can also occur naturally over time as the tree ages. Picea pungens, commonly known as the blue spruce, green spruce, white spruce, Colorado spruce, or Colorado blue spruce, is a species of spruce tree. You could buy a known blue-needled variety of Colorado blue spruce to plant near this guy or buy a green needled spruce like a Norway or oriental spruce. Tom - your question about the spruce was forwarded to me. They purchase a Colorado spruce, thinking it will be blue year-round, only to find it has turned green by spring. Shaded Spruce is a deep, saturated green with hints of blue. Last night's wind blew down many more, and now I'm concerned for my tree's health. Blue spruce remains a popular Christmas tree because of its bright blue color. You also have the option of planting a small blue spruce, which only grows to 5 to 15 feet tall and is best suited for small terraces and gardens. When it comes to blue-green needles, some people identify the color as blue and some call it green. All evergreens experience seasonal needle drop. The green spruce tree, or Picea pungens, is a type of evergreen tree with a pyramid shape and blue-green or dark green needles.It is also known as a blue spruce or a Colorado blue spruce. Spruce will hang on to needles for 3 to 4 years. This includes not just toxic pesticides but horticultural oils or insecticidal soaps. This is not rodent damage, as the tips are falling freely. Colorado spruce tree plants are evergreen trees and grouped with the conifers. A month or so ago I saw some green branch tips had fallen on the ground, but the loss wasn't extensive. The disease lives on the current year’s shoots and, the following year, the needles will shed leaving the branch bare. To give you an idea of what the conditions are, the following have naturally taken over the landscape. Read more articles about Colorado Blue Spruce. Examining the Tree Look at the needles of the spruce. Sign up for our newsletter. ), whose natural color may range from light green to a deep blue-green, may be due to a number of factors. Blue Spruce trees grow best in USDA Hardiness Zone 3 through 8. Photo: Sten Porse, Wikimedia Commons The truth is that the intensity of the blue of a Colorado blue spruce (selections of Picea pungens ‘Glauca’) depends on the concentration of … Blue spruce needles are actually green, but covered with white bloom. It is most likely a fungal disease called Rhizosphaera needlecast. If enough of these creatures flock to the tree they can girdle it and actually suck the life out. I have planted many Blue spruce and even Hoopsi blue spruce and they all turned green. Adaptable to wide range of soil but require good drainage and benefits from irrigation in dry weather. An excellent windbreak tree, the blue spruce is susceptible to fungal diseases that cause its … The color is genetically determined and before grafting ornamental trees became the norm, the brightest blue seedlings were known as "shiners" and were selected out and sold at a premium. Apply a chelated iron-rich fertilizer if a blue spruce develops a yellow or yellow-green color. This includes not just toxic pesticides but horticultural oils or insecticidal soaps. With its magnificent sight and endless tiers of branches graduated with perfect symmetry, the Blue Spruce is comprised of a slender but strong top, silvery blue-grey foliage, and perfect Christmas tree shape that is great for landscaping a focal point. Spruce Needle Rust Control – How To Treat Spruce Needle Rust, Colorado Blue Spruce Planting Guide: Tips On Caring For Colorado Spruce, Conifer Needles Turning Color: Why Does My Tree Have Discolored Needles, Where To Get Heirloom Seeds - Heirloom Seed Sources, Seed Viability Test - Are My Seeds Still Good, Covid Safe Seed Swap Ideas - How To Have A Safe Seed Swap, Mesquite Winter Care: How To Overwinter A Mesquite Tree, Blackberries Not Ripening – What To Do When Blackberries Won’t Ripen, Different Cranberry Varieties: A Guide To Common Types Of Cranberry Plants, Hermaphroditic Plant Info: Why Are Some Plants Hermaphrodites, The Most Interesting Seed I’ve Been Given - Kaffir Lily, Tiny Seeds In Tiny Hands - A Memory Of Planting Seeds. Air pollutants can cause the wax to deteriorate quickly. Why is my blue spruce dying? Color changes in spruce trees (Picea spp. In fact, another common name for the tree is silver spruce. Sign up to get all the latest gardening tips! Immature sawflies resemble a small green caterpillar with a yellow or reddish head. Rhizosphaera kalkhoffii Infected needles turn brown or purplish brown late in winter or early spring Needles at the branch tips remain green, while older needles closer to the trunk of the tree become discolored Tiny black dots can be seen with a hand lens on infected needles It is an adaptable, hardy tree grown in U.S. Department of Agriculture zones 2 to 8. Greening in blue spruce like this can result from several different causes. First, be sure to give your tree a full sun location with good drainage in an appropriate hardiness zone. The more wax on a needle, the bluer it is. The straight species is usually green, but the cultivar 'Glauca' ranges from bluish-green to an eye-popping silvery blue. I had a Colorado blue spruce that got polished off in one season; so now I know what to look for. Blue spruce. The trees are dropping needles fast- this is due to one of several needle-cast diseases. Find more gardening information on Gardening Know How: Keep up to date with all that's happening in and around the garden. However, you can encourage the best possible color by providing ideal growing conditions and care. Two weeks ago I noticed a neighbor's Norway spruce showed the same tip loss. Once the blue color has worn off the needle, nothing will bring it back and the tree is going to look green until that flush of new growth each spring. It’s like teal but darker and reminds us of spruce trees where each needle looks green, but when you look at the tree as a whole, the needles combine to form a beautiful blue -green color. While the needles may make the tree hard to handle, some people choose blue spruce to keep pets away from the tree. Other Names — Blue Spruce, Green Spruce, White Spruce, Colorado Spruce or Colorado Blue Spruce and Picea Pungens. Next, give it sufficient water to keep the soil moist, plus an extra inch (2.5 cm.) Application of pesticides can cause greening in blue spruce needles. It is a needle disease. Before trying to narrow down the species of … Other culprits can be air pollution, or poor growing conditions that keep new foliage to a minimum. The tree produces the wax on its needles (that creates the blue color) in spring and early summer. They are all in full sun, very fertile soil, and are irrigated. Spruce grow best in full sun. Branches are stiff and hold ornaments well. The species is known for a distinctive blue to blue-green hue to the needle foliage. When your blue spruce is turning green, you can try to stop the process. Everything on my property grows VERY well since it is an old farm over 200 years old. Michigan’s climate is generally more humid, especially in the summer, which is ideal for fungal pathogens to thrive. The tree is native to the United States and reproduces with cone-shaped fruits. Blue spruce is usually propagated by cuttings, graftings, and seeds. Instead, giving the tree the best care possible will give you the edge on keeping a blue spruce blue. Poor nutrition can also be one of the reasons wax diminishes and blue spruce turn green. Spruce prefer moist, well-drained soil, and you may fertilize established trees in early fall or mid-spring. Photo: Sten Porse, Wikimedia Commons The truth is that the intensity of the blue of a Colorado blue spruce (selections of Picea pungens ‘Glauca’) depends on the concentration of … They are members of the pine family. Such symptoms are rarely a result of infectious disease. In addition to being a beautiful tree that maintains color year round, these trees make an excellent wind break and for the most part grow quite well here. What you call greening in blue spruce may actually be the tree’s natural blue-green hue. Don’t be surprised if you see green needles on a blue spruce tree. Dense shade results in bare branches. You are the proud owner of a beautiful Colorado blue spruce (Picea pungens glauca). The color is genetically determined and before grafting ornamental trees became the norm, the brightest blue seedlings were known as "shiners" and were selected out and sold at a premium. Spruce oozes richness, elegance, and sophistication. Yellowing of spruce may be caused by a variety of noninfectious stresses, particularly problems with the roots. Lower branches are affected first. There are a number of factors contributing to the decline we see in blue spruce trees, including environmental changes, poor site conditions and new pathogens. Blue spruce needles are actually green, but covered with white bloom. The blue spruce tree (Picea pungens) is also referred to as Colorado blue spruce or silver spruce and is chiefly native to the western U.S. and the Rocky Mountains. When we see diseases in blue spruce, which is not often, it usually is one of two different types--Cytospora C As the trees age, they tend to become more green, and this is normal. Suddenly you notice that the blue spruce is turning green. Spruce budworm resembles a brownish colored caterpillar, is about 1 inch long, and causes damage from about June through August. Sprinkle 1 to 2 cups of slow-release 10-10-10 fertilize around the base of the tree each spring before … Blue spruce, known botanically as Picea pungens, is a species of needled evergreen trees and shrubs also commonly called Colorado spruce. Blue spruces are a favorite conifer of Iowans and several reasons. The needle foliage is stiff with a blue or silver-colored tint. To understand why blue spruce turns green, read on. Problems with planting are also a common culprit. There are selections of blue spruce that are chosen for their blue … Naturally you are perplexed. 1 decade ago. This is especially true of nitrogen oxides, sulphur dioxide, particulate carbon and other hydrocarbons. What’s So Wonderful About This New Hue? Colorado blue spruce is native to arid regions in the Rocky Mountains. Other Names: Colorado blue spruce, Colorado spruce, and green spruce, water spruce : Tree Type: Evergreen conifer : Identification: Height: Around 50-75 ft (15.24-22.8 m) sometimes as tall as 150 ft (45.7 m) Needles: Bluish green pointed needles sizing around 1 in (3 cm) Trunk Diameter: Around 5 ft (1.5 m) Cones: Pale brown in color with an approximate length of 4 in (10.16 cm) Its beautiful blue-green color is accompanied by sharply pointed foliage, which makes it the perfect conifer for open and large landscapes. Over the past few years, many homeowners have been alarmed by what seems to be a sudden decline of their blue spruce trees. per week during spring and summer. They may be perfectly natural. Colorado blue spruce trees (Picea pungens): The color that these evergreens retain throughout the year is a silvery blue. Application of pesticides can cause greening in blue spruce needles. That is why half the tree looks green and the other half looks blue - the new growth is bluish while previous years' needles fade to completely green. Finally, feed the tree 12-12-1 fertilizer in spring, and repeat this in mid to late summer. The blue color of blue spruce needles is caused by epicuticular waxes on the needles that reflect specific wavelengths of light. A shortage of iron will cause the needles of a blue spruce to lose their blue coloration. Such stresses include problems with the site, such as too wet or too dry a site, or excessively compacted soil. Pesticides can strip off this waxy blue coating from the needles as well. By Richard Flowers, ACCNP-Green Thumb Nursery-Ventura. No, the plant is not suffering for any nutrient deficiency and adding aluminum sulphate (the chemical that keeps your Hydrangeas blue) will not make it turn back to blue. It is native to North America, and is found in growing zones 1 through 7. Many of the blue spruce around my house are in sandy soil, they are still dying. Why is my blue spruce turning green? Fertilizer for acid-loving plants. But neither the amount of wax nor the blue color is uniform across the species. Unfortunately the title 'blue spruce' is misleading, since most of them are not blue. Now we have numerous cultivars with consistent, bright blue color. It affects blue and white spruce ONLY. Blue Star juniper (Juniperus squamata 'Blue Star'): Its silvery-blue needle clusters remind you of stars (thus the common name). The blue spruce is an evergreen tree variety that reaches a height up to 135 feet. Colorado blue spruce is one of the most popular evergreens we sell. Let’s assume that your blue spruce truly had blue needles when you bought it, but then those needles turned green. Sawfly damage is seen from about mid-May through July. Green spruce trees are often slow growing but can reach a great height and width once mature. Blue spruce needles are quite sharp, so be sure to wear gloves and long-sleeves when handling. The wax can wear off over a rough winter or erode by wind, hot sun, pouring rain and other types of exposure. Throughout the Midwest, Colorado blue spruces have been showing needle loss, dead branches, and browning foliage. Firstly, the blue color is only present on the new growth, weathering off in time. The species plant is native to the Rocky Mountain states in the United States. One of the cultivars to grow is 'Glauca,' which is a Latin word that indicates a grayish-blue color. If left untreated, it can severely defoliate and kill a tree in three to four years. Blue spruce cuttings are collected, preferably in the morning from vigorous branches. Copyright 2020 by Christensen's Plant Center. It is the official tree of the state of Colorado. The blue spruce is remarkable for its "resplendent silver-blue-green needles," according to thespruce.com. We’ll also give you tips for keeping a blue spruce tree blue. Poor nutrition can also be one of the reasons wax diminishes and blue spruce turn green. Growing Blue Spruce

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