The summer's wet weather means a popular landscaping tree in Indiana is more susceptible to a harmful fungal disease.
Rhizosphaera attacks the needles of Colorado blue spruce trees and causes them to fall off. Signs of the disease usually appear during the mid- to late summer.
While the fungus is fairly common, Indiana Department of Natural Resources Nursery Inspector Ken Cote says heavy rains and an adverse climate accelerate the needle loss.
"Rhizosphaera has been in the state for a long time, but in the last ten years is when we really begin to see a lot of decline in blue spruce trees and other spruce trees," Cote says. "The problem continues to perpetuate itself."
Cote says it is possible to treat the infection with fungicides but they can be difficult and costly.
He recommends planting other types of trees such as Norway spruce, which are better suited to Indiana's climate and soil.