10-28-2022, 04:44 PM
Any idea what might have happened to this Colorado Spruce tree? The top 6-8' just died off. I guess I don't really need to know what happened unless there is a danger of whatever it was spreading to the adjacent trees. So maybe my real question is what should I do about it now? I am inclined to send one of my younger, smaller family members up there and have them trim it off at the dead to live transition. My hope would be that, with nothing blocking its way, a new sprout might take ownership of the leader position and somewhat recover. What say the braintrust - trim it off or leave it alone?
It is only the very top that died. There are no signs of problem lower on the tree. In the second picture it looks like there are some dead spots part way up on the right, but those are just branches from an Ash tree behind it that has lost its leaves. (The ashes will be dying soon too, but that is a whole different ash borer problem unrelated to what happened to the spruce.)
[attachment=44936]
[attachment=44937]
It is only the very top that died. There are no signs of problem lower on the tree. In the second picture it looks like there are some dead spots part way up on the right, but those are just branches from an Ash tree behind it that has lost its leaves. (The ashes will be dying soon too, but that is a whole different ash borer problem unrelated to what happened to the spruce.)
[attachment=44936]
[attachment=44937]