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Help! Please. We transplanted about 2 dozen blue spruce and white pine saplings between 4 and 8 years ago. All were doing well until last summer/fall, when we noticed it. Blue lichen. It has killed 3 of the trees, and is present on every one of them. WHAT KILLS THIS STUFF?!!! And how do we go about it. We are planning on pruning the affected branches, and scrubbing the trunks. Just don't know with what. It is BLUE, fuzzy and creepy looking. Have not yet checked the treed area where we pulled the little ones from, but it was not apparent when we transplanted them. Any advice would be welcome. Thanks.

Lichen usually doesn’t kill trees, but it IS a sign of extra/excessive moisture and/or shade, and more can be found on dead or dying wood.

Blue Spruce is drought tolerant, while White spine prefers moist soil but can handle drier soil.

If you are growing them both in same kind of soil/area, and the pine is growing well, it’s possible the trees are getting too much water, and that’s why the spruce trees are declining, RESULTING in rampant growth of lichen.