If it got too wet all you can do is make sure it has adequate drainage now. If instead it's coincidentally dropping needles due to bugs like spruce aphids then you would take control measures recommended specifically for those.

Exorcism should do the trick.

Was all this stuff replanted twice just now?

Is there a farmer nearby that sells goats, no questions asked what you are going to use it for?

Seriously, replanting twice in the summer, after a season of constantly wet feet. My. Don't give any recommendations for this landscaper.

Dan

Yes planted twice. The first time was at his recommendation and the second time was to save it from a certain death. In two short months it had gone from a lush, vibrant little tree with tons of new spring growth to a spindly, dull tree with falling needles.

I won't be giving any recommendations for this landscaper even though he came highly recommended by Angie's List. Won AL awards and everything! After I'd already forked over nearly $8K he tells me "I'm not a drainage expert...you may need to hire one of those." Gee...that would have been nice to know PRIOR to him accepting the contract.

I'm sure after all the time and expense we've made him put into fixing this, he wants us to lose his number, too. After replacing all the dead plants (which he had guaranteed for 1 year) and raising the beds by more than 3 inches, he says to me "If these die, that's it. We won't be replacing anymore." as though this was somehow my fault and he was "doing me a solid" instead of fixing his foul up. Now I have 4 trees that he moved (including the spruce) into his new design that were previously thriving in their original locations and are now at risk due to having soggy feet.

I can't name the landscaper right now as this is an ongoing project, but suffice to say that highly rated on Angie's list can sometimes be VERY relative.

I'm very sorry to hear about this bad experience.

With the lack of jobs and the economy, suddenly there's a lot of "landscapers" out there looking for work online. I've tried dealing with some of them and they may be well intentioned and ready to work but they really don't know the first thing about landscaping or even good cultural practices. The ones that do... they aint advertising online.

Here's what you need to know so that this doesn't happen again.
-->Know what to plant that's appropriate for the site. Doublecheck online or here for opinions before plants are selected.
-->Know how to plant properly the first time and supervise.
In the south, digging ends pretty much by the end of March. If it aint dug by then, hold off until the trees drop leaves and harden off in winter or in the case of evergreens, wait until the deciduous trees do this. Evergreens in general are harder to transplant.
-->Do not plant during the summer, especially if you can't water daily until established.
-->Even if someone has good feedback/reviews online, ask for references and go see actual projects that they have completed and go by and look at them and try to talk to the owner to verify.

If you can't find any that appear to know how to plant a tree, or they are all super expensive, that's ok... just find someone who is receptive to your input and does not claim to be an expert that already knows how to do it.

It sounds like the underlying issue here is that you took a cold climate tree and tried to grow it in the south. Then your gardener tried to monkey with it in the heat. Then dug it up again and replanted it. That's enough to kill even a well adapted plant let alone a norway spruce.

i went through this with the kids.. and memory plants .. and i gotta tell you .... they are all gone.. most likely loved to death ....

all you need to do .. is buy a replacement.. on a birthday.. or moms day.. or whenever.. and transfer the love ... in memory of the other ... the thought being that you have an on-going plant.. rather than the specific plant ... and when the kid gets older.. they can even help you pick and plant another .....

i just dont think there is a lotta hope for this one .. and so.. i offer an alternative ...

good luck

ken

Sorry, transplanting somewhat established pines usually doesn't work that great. He probably tried his best though. Maybe he has had luck on his side before. Pines usually have one main tap root and it also may have been too badly damaged. If you look and a shape of a tree their roots usually somewhat mimic the same growth pattern under ground.
Oh, I was wrong about tap root, says on link it has flat root structure.

Here is a link that might be useful: tree roots

Thank you all so much for your words of wisdom. I think you're right that it is probably a goner. I really like your suggestion, Ken, that we go out and purchase another tree on a different special occasion. I didn't even mention yet that there is a crepe myrtle "memory plant" that we planted with my cat's ashes - that was also moved by this gardener. Yeah when I blow it - I don't mess around. I go full out and blow it!

I really took heart in your advice, Ken. I'm going to try to just accept this as a very expensive lesson and move on.

Oh and by the way - the worst thing is that I did do my research. For months I researched all the native plants for NC, beneficial insects, plants to attract and support wild birds, bees, hummingbirds and butterflies. I thought I had researched everything I could think of, but like a damn fool I trusted that the landscaper knew what he was doing. I should have known there was something wrong when they piled up mulch around the stems of my roses (yay black spot!) and planted some ferns and hostas in a section that got 6+ hours of full sun. Fool me once, shame on you. Dig my plants up and replant them in 90 degree temps in June - shame on me.

happens to the best of us.

don't let it get you down. And if it does, reread kens post.