Question
Are my Alberta Spruce spirals dying?  I've attached some pictures of them below.  Well My husband and I purchased two alberta spruce trees for in front of the house back in May 07.  We were told by employees at Home Depot, that they just need to be watered regularly.  However, both, my husband and myself did admit that we hadn't been watering regularly.  SO I guess my question is.....Are my trees dead? Just trying to recover from shock of non-watering? (we have been watering regularly, of course now that they are turning brown, or have they been affected from some type of disease?  I tried attaching pictures below but it didn't work. Oh I live in Pennsylvania (Delaware County).


Answer
If you stay with the watering program, the plant will respond by putting on new growth. The brown may drop off. If not, you will need to prune it out. The brown will never turn green again. If there is a lot of it, the tree will look very sparse, and will never be as attractive as it was again.
When you water, always be aware that you are getting a very large mass of soil wet. This soil contains thick roots that are all thirsty. So give it lots, and lots of water, then go back give it some more. Now that it is thoroughly wet, let it dry enough to let the oxygen back into the soil on the top inch, or so. It needs this oxygen to grow. If you water, and don't allow it to "breath", it will drown. When it has dried enough, water it heavily again. Do not water on a schedule. Check the soil instead. If the weather is hot, and dry, it will need water more often, then it will on cloudy, cool days. So watering every Wednesday, may help you, but it doesn't work well for the plant.
Most problems occur when the plant is neglected. So try to examine your plants everyday if you can. If you don't, you may be too late to correct the problem.