Hello, My should-be-green and should-be-blue friends are not their should-be colors! Please help me spot any potentially life and/or happiness threatening factors that you might see.
Most of it is normal winter bronzing - many conifers reduce the prominence of their chloroplasts in winter, as a protection mechanism against desiccating cold dry weather. They'll colour up again in spring. The one bit that might be worse is the low foliage in pic #3, where the leaves have fallen, suggesting the shoots there might be dead. The position of the damage (low down, beside a path), and the colour of the adjacent snow (distinctly yellow-toned!), hints at K9P damage . . .
Michael, I noticed today that the purpling of my blue spruce is only on the sunny side of the tree. Is it possibly getting too much sunlight or not enough water? Thanks again.
The Sun is most likely the culprit. Conifers are sensitive to the sun, when the ground is frozen or very cold. They can't take water from the ground to compensate evaporation from the sun exposed crown. To protect, use shading cloths or other sun blocking measures, until the ground warms up.
Preventing Winter Damage to Conifers https://vsaduidoma.com/en/2015/04/02/ozhogi-xvojnyx-kak-pomoch-i-predotvratit/
Thank you, Sulev. What a great resource you shared in the Laidback Gardener. I'm sure now that the combination of sun, cold, and wind is what created the discoloration and loss of needles. Hope they fill back in this spring.
