What's eating my conica jean's dilly spruce?

Jean's Dilly Spruce, a dwarf weeping form of Picea glauca 'Conica', shares the classic vulnerability of Alberta-type spruces to spruce spider mites, which thrive in the dense soft foliage. Cooley spruce gall adelgid and white pine weevil also pose threats. Monitor in spring and late summer when mite populations peak.

Bronzed needles, fine webbing, and premature needle drop; worst on inner foliage during hot, dry periods. Apply horticultural oil in early spring; use insecticidal soap during summer if populations rise; water plants during drought.

Cone-like galls at branch tips; woolly white masses at shoot bases in spring. Remove and destroy galls before they open; apply dormant oil spray before bud break.

Leader wilts in a shepherd's crook; larvae tunnel under bark of the main stem. Cut out infested leader well below galleries; apply preventive pyrethroid spray to the leader in early spring.