dude.. you need to chill ... lol

all interior needle loss is normal ... all conifers are nudey inside ... it is heightened for a variety of factors like drought .. bad winter.. weather.. etc ...

but the biggest insult is transplant ...

so in this case .. you can NOT include interior yellowing and browning.. into your other problem ... which i think i suspected has handling damage due to shipping and planting.. etc ...

you are fixated on it ... and i remember those days ... all you can do.. is keep it properly watered .. which i believe we covered last week ... and see how it handles winter.. and comes out of it ..

but frankly ... if its going to drive you insane ... for the next year or two ... just get rid of it.. and go get another.. it is proper planting time now.. ... justify it as therapy ... a new well timed.. well planted tree.. is simply going to make you so much happier ... lifes too short ...

and if you consider stuff.. you might want to go a bit smaller... and get a cultivar tree ... you don know these things are telephone pole trees ... not really intended for most yards ...unless you left off a cultivar name .... see link ...

water properly is your short answer ...

ken

https://www.google.com/search?q=Picea+Omorika+forest&biw=868&bih=745&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAWoVChMI0uWc7qHlxwIVihSSCh0QcgcI&dpr=0.9

@Ken, I would like to just get a new one. But the nursery guaranteed it for a year. So I have to wait for it to die before I get a new one.

But based on your experience, do you think it's just a slow death at this point? And do you think maybe I should water it everyday?

nick , did you actually check to see if it needs water ?

dig down next to ball,,,see if it's damp,wet,soaked

how much water comes out steady drip,,,1-1/2 hrs

I water new stuff once a week

ron

@plantkiller. After checking out symptoms of over watering online, I think I may be overwatering. I found this article that states that over watered plants will begin dying from the bottom up. Which is exactly what mine seems to be doing. http://www.ehow.com/how_7731779_tell-newly-planted-spruce-trees.html

Im a bit confused though. Many articles I have read seem to indicate that overwatering and underwatering produces the same symptoms.

There are many suggestions online for checking the moisture level of the soil. Some say check 10" down, others say dig a 2" hole around the drip line and check for moisture that way. What is the best way to do this?

I can honestly say the soil around the tree has never been drenched. It has always felt cool, slightly moist, and a bit heavy. I'm guessing this is probably okay and doesn't need watering?

I should mention that I did amend the soil with cotton burr compost and Epsomas bio-tone starter. The nursery actually sold this to me to extend the one year guarantee of the tree. If you didn't purchase this "starter kit" the tree was only guaranteed till the end of fall.

So now I'm wondering if fertilizer burn may be an issue. Or maybe I just need to lay off the water and chill out!

Symptoms can be very similar. Was the tree container-grown, potted (B&B then grown on for a year in looser media), or straight B&B? The reason I ask is that spruces would be somewhat difficult to over water if they are planted in a container grown media and the root system was decent from the start (assuming your soil also drains decently). If, on the other hand, the tree was B&B, it could be in fairly heavy clay from the get-go and over watering is more likely to be the case.

A steady drip from the hose does not always mean the entire root system is getting the water it needs. We always put a watering well around our trees to ensure the entire root system is receiving the water it requires (I can't tell from the photo if you have done so or not) and recommend watering evergreens similar in size to yours every other day if planted in the high heat with just a slow count to 10. This maintains the moisture in the root zone but doesn't waterlog the tree. For a B&B I would water a couple minutes 2-3 times a week, trying to ensure the root system and surrounding soil aren't completely soaked.

Of course it could always be that the tree was dug improperly at the nursery, dried out at some point, or that it simply is having the first year establishment blues. Next year you will know for sure. Glad you have the guarantee! Not familiar with the bio-tone starter fertilizer but we never fertilizer evergreens their first year in the ground.

nick , you really don't have a drip line / just been planted

just dig right next to ball with hand trowel ,all the way down ,,it won't hurt it

I suspect it's too wet

you don't tell us about your soil,,,ever done a drainage test ?

dig 1ft. hole,,fill with water,,let drain,,,fill again,,,should drain in 1/2 hr

ron

A too-dry plant can suffer root loss. A too-wet plant can suffer root loss, in this case via rotting. End result is identical-a tree with no sap conduction to upper, distal parts. Too wet and too dry can present exactly the same. Remember,, less is often more in tree care. Aside from plants in containers, there is almost nothing that should be water daily.

+oM

@select landscapes. I bought the tree in a container. But when I pulled it out, it was b&b as well. I'm thinking it was overwatered. I was told it should be watered every 48 hours. And I let it soak for about an hour.

@plantkiller. I've never done a drainage test. I'll give your suggestion a try.

I did contact the nursery about the tree and sent them a picture. They said the tree is unlikely to recover and that if it did recover, it would take a long time. They also said they would replace it so that's nice.

Now I should wait till the perfect time to plant it. Any suggestions?

You know you can trust these guys. Take some pix at the nursery and post them here for 'professional' assessment....at least as far as form and health. If looking at pots, beware circling large roots=rootbound. Take your plants out of the pot at the nursery. Bang them on the ground if necessary (suspect they are rootbound and dry if it takes a lot of force to dislodge them).

I still think about a beautiful Chief Joseph encircled with roots, girdling itself. I don't know why I didn't return it and ask for my money back before it died.

Now,,more or less,,,,make sure when you replant that root flair is above surrounding soil level,,,,,get off as much burlap as possible,,,water once a week till ground freezes

dig by old plant anyway to see how wet soil is,,,,I've read good things about cotton burr, but I don't know how it affects drainage,,good or bad

ron

@Marie. That's a good idea. I'll be sure to post some pics of the Serbs they have in stock hopefully tomorrow.

@plantkiller. Are you talking about cutting the burlap completely or just removing the burlap that ends up above ground? I called the last nursery that I bought my Paul's select picea abies from and they told me they recommend keeping it on.

It all depends on the burlap/method used for potting. If the plant was potted for a year, most nurseries would have used burlap that decomposes but you still should have removed the twine and burlap from the top of the plant when it was installed. In this situation you should have noticed a complete proliferation of roots from the clay ball out into the looser media surrounding the root ball. You would have also noticed that most of the old burlap had decomposed.

Other places will simply place a B&B plant using treated burlap into mulch in a container to keep it cool and moist. In these cases you basically have a B&B plant and need to remove the burlap entirely.

Your plant in the picture really doesn't look that bad and I would consider waiting until spring of next year (or until the full one year guarantee period) to see how the spruce is going to do. You might get a replacement and it might do the exact same thing as the one in your picture. Chances are all of the similar plants in a certain area will have received close to the exact same care. If yours was "overwatered" what is to say that the five next to it weren't?

Yah ,Yah , you can leave burlap to rot away , but why ,,,once planting hole is half full , it supports enough,,,cut away the rest

ron