Why is my spruce tree turning brown

Affected trees become sparse over time and can eventually die from this disease. You can scout for Rhizosphaera needle cast by using a hand lens to observe both green and brown needles. Tiny, black dots fungal growths are visible in lines along the length of some infected needles. Damage by Rhizosphaera needle cast can be minimized by inspecting plants before purchase, spacing the trees properly when planting, weeding and pruning to promote airflow in the canopy, and avoiding shearing when plants are wet.

When trees are found to be infected, fungicide sprays can be used to reduce spread. Several common fungicides can be used, including Bordeaux mixture, other copper compounds, or chlorothalonil. Timing of the sprays is especially important; spray once in the last two weeks of May and again four to six weeks later. Sprays must be applied yearly until symptoms no longer appear. Another common problem, mite damage, causes spruce needles to turn a dusky yellowish or gray.

Mites are tiny spider-like creatures that suck the sap from spruce needles, so that when viewed under magnification the needles appear speckled with yellow flecks.

A sturdy bypass pruner would be a suitable tool for this exercise. Prevention is one of the best practices you can put into place to keep your evergreen from turning brown. Even though healthy evergreens can turn brown naturally due to lack of water or a cold, dry winter, you can prevent this from happening with just a little bit of work.

Each fall, you will want to water the evergreen more than normal. The evergreen will store the extra water to use throughout the winter. This will keep the evergreen from turning brown in the winter months when the ground is frozen, and water is scarce.

New growth can come in as brown if the tree has used the water supply from the winter to hydrate the already present growth on the evergreen. This is known as spring dryness. If you see that new growth is coming in brown, you should immediately start to water the evergreen.

We recommend watering the evergreen with about 1 inch of water each week. Do this until the brown needles begin to turn green. Preventing your evergreen from turning brown is not the same as maintaining or recovering your evergreen. Actively taking steps each year to keep your evergreen green is prevention.

Prevention should be done each year to ensure that the evergreen does not turn brown, to begin with. Prevention means that you will sufficiently water the evergreen each fall before the winter begins. As soon the weather turns cold and the ground freezes, the evergreen will not be able to absorb water as it does during the warmer months. Prevention is ineffective at this point as the ground will be too cold for the evergreen to absorb any sufficient amount of water to keep the needles from turning brown.

Therefore, if you are trying to prevent the evergreen needles from turning brown, you will need to do this in fall. Your evergreen tree will only need to be maintained by correctively pruning the damaged, diseased, or dead branches in the tree. Branches that have become damaged, diseased, or have died will need to be pruned so that a new leader of the branch can be established. Evergreen leaders are important because they create strong branches that will flourish and produce fuller and greener needles.

If you notice you have more than one leader, you should cut the least dominant one. All rights reserved. The University of Minnesota is an equal opportunity educator and employer. Gary Wyatt, Extension forestry educator based in Mankato, Minn. Related topics: Natural Resources News. Share this page:. If you notice leaf burn on your evergreen tree, the very first step you will need to take is to diagnose the problem. The easiest way to do that is to secure the help of a tree service.

If you live in Portland or the surrounding area, contact us here at Mr. Our arborists or tree surgeons will arrive to diagnose the issue and help suggest steps you can take to correct the problem.

Ultimately, if your tree looks sickly or is turning brown, the cause is usually lack of access to water and nutrients. The causes of this lack of water and nutrition, however, can vary wildly. There are a number of different tree diseases that can affect the circulatory system of your tree, plugging up the vascular system that transports water from one area to the next.

Generally, these diseases will start in one small area and spread from there. Root rot is an example of an illness that evergreen trees are particularly susceptible to. In addition to brown, wilted needles, you will see what appear to be sores or cankers running along the root system of the tree, and if you remove any bark you will notice the wood beneath it becomes soft and brown.