I will refrain from making snarky remarks about your alias! ;-)

I hate to lose mature plants. So upsetting.

snark away , sara . when I joined here 5 yrs. ago , that's how I felt , but

this guy makes no sense,,, not even a brown twig year after year

david must be right,,, I will look closely when I hoik it outta there

ron

I've had some do that after 15-20 years that a root autopsy didn't account for. I've put them down to graft failure...for lack of a better explanation.

tj

"probably girdled roots. Quite often it can take a decade or more to strangle a plant."

I've planted more root-bound trees due to poor container culture than I'd like to admit. I do my best to loosen the roots, but in some cases it is almost impossible to free them. I've been at my current garden for eight years, so I might be in for some bitter disappointments over the next few years.

it's just that this blows the " Mutt & Jeff " effect

what will I replace it with ?

ron

Do you have P. heldreichii 'Smidtii'? I'm not sure of the spelling on this pine, but I suspect you know which one I'm referring to. BTW, I was recently at Hornbaker Gardens outside Princeton, IL, and much to my surprise they had a couple of nice specimens for sale. I had zero room to haul plants back to Wisconsin, but I'm going to check it out later this spring/summer.

Here's a 'Smidtii'...

It looks healthy and happy.

It being a spruce I'd first wonder about a sucking pest infestation. But definitely wash the roots and look at the base of the plant. A lot of grafted stock I see offered at outlets here has bad root knots right at the base of the stem. This is not limited to grafted conifers, or even grafted plants - commercially produced, cutting raised camellias for instance have been some of the worst I have encountered.

This plant was from Greer Gardens who got plant mat'l from Stanley ,,, BUT

something tj said lit a spark ,,, last year I put down wood chips ,, I was carefull as I worked the shovel tip around the plant , but remember the whole plant rocking back & forth as I worked instead just parts deflecting,,,wow , maybe I broke his neck

bummer , ron

yes , have smidtii