How bad is this? (Norway spruce disease?)

J

jferrante24

Location
Milwaukee, WI, USA
Hello - I believe this is a large Norway Spruce tree in my front yard. Has been shedding needles to the ground from the top and also a few on the bottom.

I have a master arborist coming to look next week but any ideas from here would be greatly helpful?

I am hoping this can be fixed.59217tree 1.webp59218592195922059221y sp59222592235922459225
 
Not sure what caused that but that tree is most likely a goner. Whether is was lightening or an insect or disease I’d say get it out of there.
If it was in fact an insect or disease then the sooner you remove it the better to prevent infection on nearby spruce.
 
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ATH said:
Unlikely spruce spider mites...they are more of a inside-out, bottom-up pest.

Is there sap flow on the upper trunk?
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There was a bead of hard sap about eye level yesterday I took off. Roughly 5’ off the ground. I will look for more.

The massive needle loss happened over 5-6 days and many of the falling needles are green
 
Any chance there was an herbicide application on that side of the tree recently? Or root damage from site work? A red spruce on our road flagged out one-sided like that after a dump truck tipped over at its base with a load of road salt. New drainage and flooding one side of root zone can do that too. Very fast needle cast and necrosis in that pattern makes me think it was a recent root disturbance or soil-chemical change vs biotic factors.
 
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Here was the sap area I was talking about.
Serf Life said:
Any chance there was an herbicide application on that side of the tree recently? Or root damage from site work? A red spruce on our road flagged out one-sided like that after a dump truck tipped over at its base with a load of road salt. New drainage and flooding one side of root zone can do that too. Very fast needle cast and necrosis in that pattern makes me think it was a recent root disturbance or soil-chemical change vs biotic factors.
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2 things come to mind. We had a harsh winter and salt/de-icer was used on the adjacent driveway. Also - we had a True green tree/shrub fertilization application of nitrogen and potassium i believe.

I would also say — there are numerous plants / trees / shrubs in the same area subjected to the same things that i do not see issues with
 
If this was the first thing True Green treated and there was residual of something else in their hose or tank could have caused problems???

PS: find a quality local company and get away from the high pressure sales and "must treat everything and fertilize 9 times a year" mentality of True Green. Often, but not always, that means a different company for trees than turf. I know of one locally here that does a good job on both - and it is not me ;) - I don't play with turf...there are some local experts who I refer people to.

2nd half of my rant...as a rule, mature trees shouldn't need fertilized. In most circumstances they got there without our help and unless something changed with the soil or the soil space is limited, they will often do better without our intervention. If something changed on the site, that is a different story and there may be needs. In that case you should get a soil test and fertilize according to needs of the tree, not by what they have in the tank to apply for every customer on their route that day...
 
Serf Life said:
...Very fast needle cast and necrosis in that pattern makes me think it was a recent root disturbance or soil-chemical change vs biotic factors.
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Agreed...complete needle drop in 5-6 days is not a bug or fungus - especially this early in the growing season. Maybe a wilt disease or very aggressive bark beetle (not sure one exists on Norway spruce...) during a dry heat wave could cause that, but not now.

Odd though, that it is only one out of the group.

Lightning is certainly a possibility... Look real close, maybe there is a twisted break up there???
 
ATH said:
Agreed...complete needle drop in 5-6 days is not a bug or fungus - especially this early in the growing season. Maybe a wilt disease or very aggressive bark beetle (not sure one exists on Norway spruce...) during a dry heat wave could cause that, but not now.

Odd though, that it is only one out of the group.

Lightning is certainly a possibility... Look real close, maybe there is a twisted break up there???
Click to expand...
I agree, Even for some mechanical issue 5-6 days is insane for that level. Think if it as a christmas tree, cut a tree down and bring it inside still takes quite a while for the needles to dry up and drop. I bet its been longer than a week, likely a few months, but now the needles are starting to fall off
 
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Had an arborist out to see the tree today. He confirmed it was definitely struck by lightning and we will have to wait and see how much more of the tree will die or not.

The good news is - it has not dropped a noticeable amount of needles in the last few days so it does not seem like more branches are dying but only time will tell.

Appreciate all the information here the last few days. Thanks all.
 
Thanks for following up with what you found out.

I'm curious how he came to that conclusion? I don't disagree with it, at all. Was it a process of elimination or did he see other evidence?
 
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