Unhealthy looking Picea Pungens Blue Diamond
Hi all.
My mother bought her grandson (my son!) a Picea Pungens Blue Diamond plant last summer (he'd always fancied a blue spruce!).
Advice at the garden centre was to give it a good watering throughout the summer ('a bucket every day/other day'). Later in the year, towards the end of Autumn, it started to look a little 'jaded' and my mother remarked on the fact that it wasn't getting enough sun. Despite planting it in on the edge of the lawn, south/south west facing, directly behind it (on the patio edge) we have a large potted acer (the pot is around 2 feet high - the acer is quite young).
I initially didn't feel this would be enough to make any difference on the plant (the pot plant was behind it /northwest if that makes any odds) and the plant would still obtain enough sunlight.
Unfortunately I couldn't find anywhere else to move the potted acer, so this weekend I've moved the picea spruce onto the bank of our garden (which is still a bit of work in progress). Here (being south east facing and) it should receive more sunlight and have nothing in it's way, at least until the sun disappears behind the sun as it sets).
If it's not that, then perhaps it might be due to being planted directly in the lawn? Or it's ill?
I've attached a couple of pics - no new growth, but I guess it's still early for that.
It might also be a really hard tree to grow successfully? I was thinking that if it's confirmed (via the pics) that's it's pretty much on it's way out, I'd either replace with like for like (and not tell my mother!) or call it quits and try a different plant/small tree instead?
Many thanks!
ps - the pics are of the tree in it's new location.
pps:
It looked like this (although this isn't our tree) when purchased:
Posts
That's going downhill isn't it?
Very difficult when people give you plants and they turn up their toes.
I don't think it will recover.
In the sticks near Peterborough
Thanks folks.
I didn't notice severe needle drop, but I've since moved it (and filled the hole back in the lawn now). Will look out in it's new location, although a gentle tug would pull the needles of quite easily. Might be worth pointing out that this plant is directly in front of the patio slabs - and literally a couple of metres down I've planted around 8 buxus plants. Half of these have wilted (the other lot are thriving). Bearing in mind I have a run of around 30-40 buxus plants in other locations and are all thriving I'm wondering if it's the proximity to the patio (under the patin slabs is another set of patio slabs...then another, built up over time. Only noticed this when I pulled up the first slab a couple of summers ago (when we moved in) as the entire back 'garden' was slabbed. Ended up with around 200 slabs I have to remove!
The sun issue didn't really cause me much concern as I was convinced the pot wouldn't block that much light out...but I don't know.
Possible I did over water it - advice from the centre was to water it every day...it's a small plant mind and I did feel I might be feeding it too much - the lawn can get a bit water logged in the winter, but there's no clay issues etc.
Worth picking up a cheapish soil tester from my garden centre?
I'm not a gardener per se, but when I started refurbing the house (and carrying out the various trades myself) I applied the same research into planting.
Most of my plants have thrived very well (we planted over 150 plants/shrubs and trees) but this plant, another similar small fir in the front garden and a pieris (also in the front garden) have 'perished'.
I'm all ears for suggestions folks! Best practice to get rid of this and pick a new one up, or if it's a soil issue, put that plan to rest?
Cheers!
Any treatments applied to the lawn that might have upset the tree?
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
No lawn treatment - the only treatment I've used (since getting a little green fingered at least) is SB plant invigorator (I have a run of rosemary plants that end up attacked by leaf/frog hoppers...they look similar to the picea above - the invigorator has kept them thriving but they're constantly attacked - that's for another thread though!) and copper spray on cherry trees.
Slab cement sounds plausible! Might explain the illness of the buxus also planted next to the patio slabs?
The Picea is currently in another location, but it would'nt take much to dig out and place in a pot. Other than that, and if I do purchase another one, do these spruces generally prefer ericaceous soil? If so, does that kind of limit where I can plant it?
In that same area (a sloping bank up to the fence from the lawn, I have a variety of plants doing well: laurels at the top (bordering with the fence); hebes; buxus; bay; strawberry plant; oregano; rosemary; fennel; pampers grass plant; fuchsias; hyacinths - not sure if that helps with the soil indentification?
That slope helps with drainage, so I suppose any new spruce there would not be over watered (this time!).
Many thanks.
Come to the same conclusion Verdun. The foundations for the patio are more than likely to be the root cause. Removing the top six inches of soil is the only real answer. Cement although of a solid appearance leeches lime especially when it's been used as patio base, many plants can cope with it but the acid lovers will hate it.
^^ Do you think (aside from potting in ericaceous for a while) repositioning in the new location might recover it...or is it past that?!
Cheers.
When you say test, do you mean place the pot out in the new location for a while to see how it gets on or 'test' the soil with a, um, soil tester?
Btw - the pieris perished in a different location (front garden) so not near any cement. I did dig in some ericaceous soil, but perhaps it was too late by that stage? If the soil is the wrong type (in regards to the pieris) would it be a case of digging in a bit of the correct soil every year, or replan/redesign what you were to plant?
Many thanks!