My 40' spruce tree, which I believe is a Colorado, has a definite pattern of a yellow spiral from top to bottom. It has been like this all year and I was waiting for it to go away. It hasn't gotten any better or worse. Should I worry? What can I do?
Okay, is it a pine tree as in the header or a Colorado spruce? Can't be both :-)) Yellowing of needles sounds like a form of needle cast, but there are several different ones that affect either spruces or pines. Typically a fungal infection and usually not serious on a mature tree. Stress can be a big factor - extremes in weather conditions or excess/too little water. Look at cultural conditions first, but if symptoms persist you may need to treat.
Root damage on a spruce tree typically shows up in a spiral as the xylem and phloem in this tree spirals the trunk. Spruce have very shallow root systems that are easily damaged by foot traffic, too much water, construction problems or a lack of room to expand. When one section of the root system is damaged, you see the results in the part of the tree that it supplied. sed5555
Thanks so much for the info. I did have my septic tank cleaned out, which is very near the tree. I'm sure some of the roots had to have been disrupted. Sounds as if it should clear up on its own. Michigan Tom
That is the craziest thing I have ever heard, and I have heard a lot of stuff. Can you be more specific???
Toad
In spruce, damage affecting roots (construction, salts, compaction, etc.) shows in the branches being fed by those roots and may follow a spiral pattern up the tree. This is because the water conducting system of these trees tends to twist inside the trunk, and anything absorbed (or not absorbed in the case of water/nutrients) by a root on one side of the tree is translocated in a spiral pattern. As far as I know, this applies only to spruce. sed5555
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