Why are my spruce trees' very long leaders bent over?

Question

I have 3 Black Hills Spruce and one Australian Spruce with long Leaders. Two of the Black Hills Spruce are bent over. 1. What causes this? 2. What can I do to help the tree?

Answer 1

Sometimes fast growing conifers put out lots of growth into the leaders and the soft new growth bends over. Usually it straightens on its own. If it hardens while bent, you can head it back a little. be sure to go back near a strong growth bud, and the tree will use that to grow a new leader. They are strongly apically dominant. Also, if there is more than one leader, remove all but the one which is in the best form (not necessarily the biggest one).