| I purchased a weeping norway spruce from monrovia. It doesn't seem to be doing well. There are needles falling off some of the ends of branches. Some branches are turning a yellowish color. I followed all the planting instructions, it gets about 6-8 hours of sun and plenty of water. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, pete |
| If you followed the planting instructions and are watering deeply once each week, I would suspect your norway spruce is suffering from a little transplant shock. Summer is the not the best time to install landscape trees and shrubs. Hot weather can really stress plants, especially when they are working hard to get their roots established. The best thing you can do for your spruce is to water it regularly (one-inch of water per week) and just be patient with it. Once the roots are established it should make up for lost time. If you haven't already, dig a watering basin or water ring beneath your tree. A water ring, sometimes called a water well, is a mound of compacted soil that is built around the circumference of a planting hole once a plant has been installed. The water ring helps to direct water to the outer edges of a planting hole, encouraging new roots to grow outward, in search of moisture. The height of the mound of soil will vary from a couple of inches for 3 gallon shrubs, to almost a foot for balled and burlapped trees, especially those planted on a slope. Mulch over the ring will help to further conserve moisture and prevent deterioration of the ring itself. Once a plant is established, the water ring may be leveled, but you should continue to mulch beneath the plant. |
