Dwarf Alberta Spruce Tree Problems
Spider Mites, Brown needles and more

Q: If I plant a Alberta spruce that has spider mites on it, and can't see them until the damage. Can those same spider mites get on my other evergreen trees? ie. Cedar, and/ or Leyland cypress trees?

A: Yes, the spider mites could travel from your dwarf Alberta spruce to nearby evergreens, including your Leyland cypresses.

If you decide to plant the Alberta spruces, I recommend you initiate a spider mite preventative control program for ALL the susceptible evergreens in the yard, or at least the ones near the spruces.

If the spider mite population gets out of hand, you'll have a difficult time regaining control.

A: From your description, you may have some type of aphid.

You should be able to control them with any registered insecticide that is labelled for sucking insects such as aphids.

Visit your local garden center or supply and describe your situation, they should be able to help you select the correct insecticide to apply.

Q: I have 8 Dwarf Alberta Spruce that are about 7 feet tall...they have bad bagworm damage. I have sprayed them and Killed the bagworms.

Now what do I do about the dead parts? Some of them are about 40% defoliated. Should I trim out the dead limbs at the trunk ?

Thank you very much
Gary Tucker

A: Remove any dead branches as this will allow space for new branches to grow into.

However, it will take a very long time for the bare areas to fill in because the average growth rate for dwarf Alberta spruces is only 2-4" per year, usually closer to 2" than 4".

Q: Since I have used a professional service to feed and oil my shrubs the Alberta Spruce experience winter kill on the south side of the plant.

They are 10 years old and didn't experience problems before. Do you think there is a relationship?

A: It's hard to say if there's a relationship or not without seeing the plants. Dwarf Alberta spruces can sometimes be sensitive to oil so we tend not to spray them, even with the best horticultural oils we now have available to us.

As for fertilization, unless the plants were over-fertilized, which is unlikely but not impossible, there should be no problem from this either. But from your description of the damage being only on the south side, I would not suspect either of these as the cause without further investigation.

I would recommend you consider applying an anti-transpirant in fall if you're experiencing winter damage.

Anti-transpirants reduce the amount of moisture the needles lose during the winter, which helps reduce winter kill or burn. It also reduces injury from salt spray landing on the plant.

If the south side of your Alberta spruce faces an area that gets salted, it's possible the salty mist has burned the plant.

Q:I have eight foot tall Dwarf Alberta Spruce about 10 in a row. I have them in an elevated six inch deep bed with railroad ties which protect them from lawn movers.

They are starting to extend into the neighbors air space. I have been thinking about moving them by two feet to the south on to my property.

When I got them they were in a two foot ball and planted 5 years ago. They were five foot tall 5 years ago.

Two questions: Is there a way to trim them away from the neighbors property line? and What type of growing root system do they have?

Larry
Munroe Falls, Ohio

A: You can prune them, but very sparingly. Since dwarf Alberta spruces grow so slowly (2-4" per year), they don't fill in very quickly, if at all, after a heavy pruning.

You might check with your neighbors to see if the intrusion bothers them. Maybe they don't mind, and you won't have to do much beyond a little pruning once in a while to slow down their growth on that side.

If you really do need to move them, move them at least the 2 feet you mention. This will allow for future growth even more.

To move them, you could either use a small mechanical tree spade, or hand dig them and encase the root ball with burlap.

If they are likely to be to heavy to lift, you might first dig each new hole to the south, dig a trench the same width between the new hole and where each spruce is now, ball and burlap the spruces, then just "slide" them through the trench to their new home. This would eliminate having to lift them, and would also break fewer roots.

As to their root system, it depends on the type of soil they're in.

A loose soil is conducive to deeper rooting than a compacted soil, so you'll have to determine how deep the roots may be based on this. Typically, roots grow outward more than downward, sort of like a pancake, so the root systems of your spruces are probably no more than 12-18" deep.

Before moving them, water thoroughly 7 days, 4 days and 2 days before the move. This will help get them moist inside and out.

Also, slightly wet soil holds together better than soil that is bone dry, so this can help protect the roots from breakage by holding the root ball together.

Q: I have had two Alberta Spruce trees in containers for a couple of years. This year they were badly infested with spider mites and turned so brown they have to be replaced.

Are these trees especially susceptible to spider mites and if so is there any other drawf evergreen I could use instead?

Thank you. Evelyn

A: One of my nicknames for dwarf Alberta spruces is "spidermite magnets".

If you want spidermites, plant a dwarf Alberta spruce in your yard and the spidermites might even be there before you get back into the house!

Unfortunately, there aren't a lot of possible alternatives. There aren't any other spruces that stay small, so your choices for evergreens would be limited to either arborvitae or juniper. I've seen both of these plants in pots elsewhere, so it's do-able.

Arborvitae can get spidermites, too, so you may not escape this annoying little critter completely. Junipers can get spruce spidermite (a cool season mite), but it's usually nowhere near as badly as on the dwarf Albertas.

The nice thing about arborvitae or junipers is that if you have to prune them heavily, they'll re-grow.

The same can't be said for the Dwarf Alberta, though, so in this respect, the arborvitae and junipers may be better choices.