I Just Moved To Pennsylvania, I Have Three 60 Foot Christmas Trees On My Front Lawn. 2 Are Blue Spruces, & 1 I Am Not Sure. They Are So Close To Each Other, They Are Dying In Spots. How Do I Trim Them?
Hi Bridget, Congratulations on your new home. Generally spruces aren't pruned. Sometimes people will remove the bottom branches, but I think it makes them look unsightly. General pruning of these types of trees is done when young to help slow down the growth by pruning half the candle each year. The candle is the growing tip only. Do you know why they are dying? Is it because they have grown into each other? What do you mean by "dying in spots"? Are the spots just where they might have grown together or all over the tree? Are just the insides of the trees going brown? It's difficult to give you advice from the info you have supplied. Newt
the three trees are planted like a triangle, so they are only about 10-15 feet apart. where they look like they are dying is where they meet, only at the bottom . i guess they cannot get the sun, or something. and the bottom branches are touching the ground. is that ok?
Hi Bridget, It should be ok that the lower limbs are touching the ground. Pruning conifers (plants that produce cones) can be a bit tricky. There also may be the option of training some of the lower limbs to grow at a different angle so they don't touch each other. I'm positive that you are correct about this causing the browning. It would be nice if you could determine what species the third tree is. If you would like to do that, so you know how it can be pruned, take a look here. You don't have to be too exacting if you aren't sure exactly which it is. For example, if you can determine that it's a pine tree, that would be helpfull as different conifers are pruned at different times of the year or a bit differently. http://www.cfl.scf.rncan.gc.ca/collections-cfl/hosttrees/conifers/index.html Here's some interesting facts from this site. Your spruces are botanically known as Picea. http://www.conifersociety.org/cs/mo...&POSTNUKESID=6992a8935f54613ab0e0687804397b4f "11. Sometimes staking or tying limbs into new positions is better than pruning. Examples include training a new leader, or bending a branch into a new position to improve appearance and aesthetic balance. This can take from 1 to 3 years, but the results are well worth it." "16. Conifer Tip: Conifers typically grow with an outer layer of green needles (the outermost part of the plant). There may be several years worth of green needles at the outermost ends of branches. As a general rule, the interior of conifers (where there are NO green needles) should be thought of as a dead zone. What this means (unlike most deciduous plants) is that if you prune a limb back so there are no green needles left on the branch, you have killed the limb. There are exceptions to this rule." "If you are fighting to keep a plant small enough to avoid crowding the driveway or the front door [or in your case, crowding another plant], you may want to move it instead of pruning it, or replace it with a plant that doesn’t grow as big or as fast." "Remember, consider staking as an alternative to cutting. Don’t be afraid to bend or move and hold limbs in new positions, to see if staking the limb would improve the appearance of the plant. Most plants can take a considerable amount of bending, though some are quite brittle." "... with most conifers, forcing the plant to bud back past the point of the oldest needles (closest to the trunk on a branch) is very difficult. On some conifers (like Hinoki false cypress and arborvitae) it’s virtually impossible to get them to bud back on old wood." "With almost all conifers, pruning a limb back beyond the oldest needles will kill the branch. You must leave at least some green foliage on conifer branches. There are a few exceptions." "With needled conifers, always cut back to a branch collar, bud, or the base of a needle. Try not to cut the needles in half (the needle tips will turn brown). " "With many conifers, growth rate (size) can be controlled by candling, especially with pine, spruce, and fir. Candling involves snapping the newly expanding candle (bud) in half (or more) to reduce its final length. This is similar to snapping an asparagus spear in half. Candling reduces growth, increases budding and plant density, and can be combined with regular pruning. It is also sometimes desirable to totally remove the dominant center bud in a cluster to further reduce growth, and then candling the remaining buds." Spruce trees are tough and even large specimens can be moved successfully. You might want to consider moving one or both or eliminating the one different tree. It could cost several hundred dollars if you choose to move and keep the trees. You might be able to actually get them to remove it and pay you as well. It wouldn't be much money if you let them take the tree, but at least you wouldn't have to pay for it (or them) to be cut down and the tree(s) would have a new home. You would need a company with a mechanical tree spade to do this. http://www.lemarweb.com/main.html I truly think you need a consult with a certified arborist for advice as how to proceed. If these trees aren't dwarf varieties, they could get to 50' tall or more and up to 20' wide or more! http://hort.ifas.ufl.edu/trees/PICPUNA.pdf Look here for pruning info in case you decide to try this yourself. http://www.hort.purdue.edu/ext/HO-4.pdf Wish I could be more helpful. Newt
