What's eating my fat albert blue spruce?

Fat Albert Blue Spruce, an upright Picea pungens selection, is most seriously affected by spruce spider mites. Cooley spruce gall adelgids disfigure new shoot growth each spring, and white pine weevil can kill the central leader, ruining the desired pyramidal form. Deer may also browse young trees in winter in rural areas.

Fine webbing, stippled bronze needles, and interior needle drop; heavy mite years can leave the interior of the tree bare. Use a dormant oil application in early spring; follow up with insecticidal soap during hot dry periods when mites are active.

Distinctive cone-shaped galls at branch tips; infested shoots die after galls open. Prune galls before they open in early summer; dormant oil applied before bud break reduces adelgid populations.

Leader wilts and droops in late spring; bark under the leader shows larval galleries and resin flow. Remove and destroy the infested leader; train a side branch as a new leader; apply preventive spray to the leader in early spring.