Colorado Blue Spruce

Q: I have a 20-year-old Colorado blue spruce tree. Needles are sparse on the lower branches and a few branches above those are becoming thin as well. What is wrong and what should I do? Carla – Ankeny

A: This is needle blight. It’s a disease. Use a product called copper fungicide. Put it through a hose-end sprayer, spraying the spruce in April through July. Also, spike the tree with Miracle-Gro evergreen spikes.