I had this planted last demote mer and it looked good into early spring - but the last couple of weeks it has started rapidly dying and i'm not sure what happened. I've contacted a local arborist but I have not heard back yet to set up a time for him to come take a look - I was hoping someone might have some ideas as to what is wrong?
I'm not sure if you are saying that this tree is a fairly new acquisition but, if it is, that could help explain its current problems. It seems quite large so might be having difficulty getting established.
Your tree is not a Sitka spruce; there is a dwarf nest form of Colorado spruce called 'Christina' and also material being so called on the market that appears to duplicate the narrowly upright Picea abies 'Cupressina'. Perhaps this latter "Christina" is a case of the two names being confused. Because of them both starting and ending with the same letters (this kind of thing does happen). Anyway, the pole like trunk taper of your specimen indicates it has long been planted too deep. This could account for the lifting of the bark. And the foliage damage will likely be some kind of blight or bug. To which cold climate adapted conifers such as spruces are prone in the Salish Sea area - try cutting samples and taking them to an independent garden center for input. In addition, looking at the affected sections with a magnifier could be instructive. Spruce | Hortsense | Washington State University (wsu.edu)
