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spruce cone sap

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From: Dave N City: Rochester, NY
I want to trim back a dozen or so branches of my neighbor's blue spruce. Its cones are drenching 50' of my driveway with sap. A tree service pruned a dozen large branches to the trunk seven years ago, resulting in wild offshoot limbs that are 2-3x normal length. My question is--will I damage the tree by cutting back two or more feet of limb length on these dozen branches? The tree is appx. 40' high.
	Extension Message From: Richard Hentschel Extension Educator, Horticulture DuPage/Kane/Kendall Unit hentsche@illinois.edu
As spring weather moderates to drier times, the sap should lessen quite a bit if it is dripping from natural openings. If the source of the sap is from insects, a treatment may be warranted. You can cut back spruce branches to a side branch or a bud if necessary. Be careful how you prune, as you will be the one that has to look at that side of the spruce everyday.
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