Should I remove or save my concolor fir (white fir)?
Concolor Fir (White Fir) isn't a habitual problem species, so a sound one is usually worth an opinion before it comes out. This is the conifer extension services now recommend in place of Colorado blue spruce, so it is what people are planting — and Morton is explicit that you must not plant white fir in heavy clay soil. Central Indiana is heavy clay, so the species that solves the blue spruce disease problem walks straight into a drainage problem, and most calls come on a fir sitting in a clay lawn or a bermed bed that holds water.
How to tell which one you've got
Dieback starts at the top and the leader and works downward, which is the signature of a root problem and the opposite of the bottom-up interior browning you see from foliar disease on spruce. Interior needle shed and some color fade are normal; a limp or dead leader with needles that pull off green means check the root flare and the drainage, not the foliage.
The structural question
The dense evergreen crown holds ice, but fir branches are flexible and the single strong leader sheds load reasonably well, so individual branch failure is not the usual outcome. The Indiana failure mode is whole-tree — a heavy evergreen crown over a shallow root plate in saturated clay goes over at the roots in a wind event — and any fir carrying a double leader from an old leader injury will split at that union under ice load.
Related
- How much does it cost to remove a concolor fir (white fir)?→
- When should a concolor fir (white fir) be pruned?→
- Are concolor fir (white fir) roots a problem for foundations or pipes?→
- Is my concolor fir (white fir) dying or just stressed?→
- How does a concolor fir (white fir) hold up in a storm?→
- How much does it cost to remove an american basswood?→
- Should I remove or save my american basswood?→
- When should an american basswood be pruned?→