BLUE SPRUCE IS DYING?

Question

I planted a blue spruce in the spring this year

I thought a racoon climbed it to reach a bird feeder and killed some branches but it looks like the tree is dying. I planted 2 and the other is thriving. What could it be? I water it regularly and live in the midwest

Answer 1

it could be anything.  maybe the way it was dug out, or the soil in that spot.  try trimming off the lower branches and then giving it lots of drinks of miracid [by miracle grow.]  pines love acidic soil.  good luck when you check in the spring.

Answer 2

It's hard to tell, I planted two peach trees this spring;one lived, one died.....treated exactly the same.  Maybe the tree was not as healthy, maybe the soil is not the same, maybe you didn't water it as much....Could be any number of things.  But if I had to guess, the one that died probably had an issue before you even bought it.  Just keep watering it and maybe it will come back...winter will be the test.

Answer 3

I would prune out the dead branches and see if I could discover any clues as to what caused them to die. Underwatering is usually the #1 killer of newly planted trees, but if that's not the case you need to do a little sleuthing to find out what else could have gone wrong. There are any number of things that could have weakened your tree...heat stress, drought, damage to trunk from lawnmower blade, etc etc...