Question
We planted six 5 foot tall blue spruce trees this spring at the north edge of a wooded area next to our lawn which is sprinkled three times weekly that also covers the new tree area.  The limbs on three of the spruce are very limp and droop. Are they lacking something?  Could they be getting too much water?  They are not shedding needles.  Thank you.  We are located in northern IN where evergreens normallly thrive.

Answer
I would think they are getting too little water. Tree need about 1 inch of water per week--newly planted trees need 1 inch a couple of times per week. (about every four days) Place a pan under the trees and check the amount of water they are getting from the sprinklers. i would guess it is far less then 1 inch. Lawns need a lot less water than  trees and the grass around a tree will get most of the water before it gets to the tree roots that are deeper in the soil. I would think you will need to subsidize water for the tree to get the 1 inch--leave the pan under the tree and turn the sprinkler on and when the pan has 1 inch of water in it stop. Do this every fourth day. If you have nor done so mulch around the trees with not more than 3 inches deep of organic mulch (pine straw is good) not pile up on the trunk. This will help hold the moisture around the roots.