Question
On the trunk of my spruce tree, there's a gooey, gummy sap oozing out.  I can poke a stick into the wound like areas.  The tree is about 30yrs old.  It's been trimmed through the years.  The crown dyed back a few years ago and a new has started.  The tree gets plenty of water.  A down spout runs right to the tree from the house gutters.  The sap looks grey. I live in Guelph Ontario Can.
Any answer would help.  Thanks,
Tom  

Answer
Tom I believe your tree has a disease called Cytospora Canker. This is a fungal disease that is very common within spruce species. Unfortunately your treatment options are limited unless you are a millionaire or this is your absolute favorite tree? There are fungicides that are labelled to treat this disease but they are very expensive and often have limited results. So the best way to combat this disease is to remove any limbs that are infected & cleanup any debris that has fallen on the ground from the tree. The gummy sap is more a symptom not the culprit. This disease starts at the bottom an works its way up through the tree, so prune off all limbs on the bottom of the tree that show any sign of dieback. You will not be able to completely eradicate this disease but you can keep it at bay by removing infected branches and ALL fallen debris below the tree. Each infected needle has thousands of spores inside of it and all it takes is one rain drop to to hit said infected needle and pop, thousands of spores are released to attack your tree and any other spruce around so keeping the area below the tree free from infected debris is crucial! If all of this is to much for you I would recommend removal of the tree and replacing it with anything other than a spruce. I would google Cytospora canker on google images so you can tell which branches are infected. Good luck!