Dwarf Alberta Spruce Styling

Josh88

Shohin
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Walking through the clearance section of a local nursery, I found a dwarf Alberta Spruce that had lost most of the foliage on one side. It seemed like a prime candidate for some styling. I hadn’t worked on an Alberta before, and read about some of the common problems, like branches leaving the trunk at upward angles, and returning to their old position after removing wire, but felt like there were workable bones here. I’d love to hear thoughts on branch selection and placement, and especially curios about what people’s thoughts are on using multiple apicies. Thanks for looking and any advice or input is always welcome.
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coachspinks

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You did well. It is a little unusual to find one with a trunk like that one. I like the multiple apexes but the one that crosses in that one angle bothers me.
 

Josh88

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You did well. It is a little unusual to find one with a trunk like that one. I like the multiple apexes but the one that crosses in that one angle bothers me.
The apex that it crosses in front of is jinned, so I wouldn’t loose any foliage by removing the jin completely. I will spend some time with it and certainly give it some thought. Thanks for your response.
 
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Ive done a couple this year to the same extent you have and I was told by several people that they will die because of it. Yours looks awesome, I hope it survives
 

Josh88

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Ive done a couple this year to the same extent you have and I was told by several people that they will die because of it. Yours looks awesome, I hope it survives
Time will tell... We have had a very mild winter this year in the Northwest, and I do have a greenhouse if the temps do drop again. All we can do is give them our best effort and care. I did read that the best hope for backbudding with these is following a heavy pruning, and there was no light getting into the interior without a heavy reduction. Keep our fingers crossed and hope for new growth in the spring!
 

sorce

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I would look to keeping the jin branch and removing the live crossing trunk..
If you can replace that foliage from the other live trunk.

In long time.

Or short!

Nice.

Score.

Sorce
 

Josh88

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How’s it doing?
It grew very strong through this spring, with two good pushes of new growth it filled back in very nicely. In early July my wife and I went on vacation and my sister took care of watering for me during a very hot week. Most of the trees fared well under her care, but this one took a quick turn for the worse. It was still in nursery potting soil and it was very wet when I got home. My guess is too much water was retained while the tree may have been in a summer dormancy, but as this is the first Alberta Spruce I've had I can't say that I know for sure. It was disappointing to return home to a few unhappy trees, but at least the two that didn't make it weren't trees that I had invested too much money or time in.
 

AlainK

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DAS is very difficult.

Spider mites is a major problem: there's not easy to detect by eysight because they've very small, but they can do a lot of damage.
 

Josh88

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DAS is very difficult.

Spider mites is a major problem: there's not easy to detect by eysight because they've very small, but they can do a lot of damage.
Some of my junipers were becoming discolored and spider mites was my first thought, but repeatedly checking with the white paper test showed no signs of them. I believe juniper tip blight was the culprit, and I've been treating with mancozeb for the past few weeks. I also think a few of my trees have been suffering from apple rust, and I've been treating them as well. I don't know if Alberta Spruce are susceptible to either of these, but that could certainly be the cause of decline as well.
 
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