Wisctimber
ArboristSite Lurker
Hi, I usually post on the other spectrum of this website, chainsawing, but today I have a question about some blue spruce trees I recently planted.
Background:
Back on March 30, 2012 I planted 250 small blue spruce trees on our property. These were 2-3 ft transplants that came from the Michigan zone (Im in Wisconsin). The trees were planted using the trench spade method, spaced 12 feet apart, with 12 foot rows (double and triple rows). The area gets a lot of sunlight as its an old alfalfa field and these trees are along the road property boundary, on a slightly sloping hill. The soil is clay with sand and black dirt mix. For the first 3-4 weeks I watered them weekly. The past two weeks I havent done any watering because we have had quite a bit of regular rainfall, almost every other day. Ive been mowing around the trees best I can, but because theyre so small, theres probably a good 6-12 inches of weeds circling the tree at the base. The other farmer neighbors have planted similiar types of trees (pines and spruce) across the street. They simply planted and left them go (no watering or mowing for weeds.) We have a heavy deer population in the area.
Last night I walked around and looked at the trees. Approx 20% of the trees are turning brown at the bottom and dropping their needles at the bottom going up. Im worried that theyre starting to die.
Q:
-Is this normal for a transplant tree?
-Is it stress, too much water, or not enough water?
-Is there anything I should or shouldn't be doing?
-Am I worrying over nothing?
I would appreciate any help you can provide as Id rather be proactive now vs find out later on I should have been doing something different and could have saved them.
Thanks!
Background:
Back on March 30, 2012 I planted 250 small blue spruce trees on our property. These were 2-3 ft transplants that came from the Michigan zone (Im in Wisconsin). The trees were planted using the trench spade method, spaced 12 feet apart, with 12 foot rows (double and triple rows). The area gets a lot of sunlight as its an old alfalfa field and these trees are along the road property boundary, on a slightly sloping hill. The soil is clay with sand and black dirt mix. For the first 3-4 weeks I watered them weekly. The past two weeks I havent done any watering because we have had quite a bit of regular rainfall, almost every other day. Ive been mowing around the trees best I can, but because theyre so small, theres probably a good 6-12 inches of weeds circling the tree at the base. The other farmer neighbors have planted similiar types of trees (pines and spruce) across the street. They simply planted and left them go (no watering or mowing for weeds.) We have a heavy deer population in the area.
Last night I walked around and looked at the trees. Approx 20% of the trees are turning brown at the bottom and dropping their needles at the bottom going up. Im worried that theyre starting to die.
Q:
-Is this normal for a transplant tree?
-Is it stress, too much water, or not enough water?
-Is there anything I should or shouldn't be doing?
-Am I worrying over nothing?
I would appreciate any help you can provide as Id rather be proactive now vs find out later on I should have been doing something different and could have saved them.
Thanks!