Dwarf Blue Spruce: A Superb Year-Round Garden Plant (2024)

FAQs

Dwarf Blue Spruce: A Superb Year-Round Garden Plant? ›

Dwarf blue spruce is quite versatile in the landscape. It makes a great focal point in the garden, as a foundation planting, or even as a specimen in a mixed border. Additionally, if grown as a standard, a matching pair can create a year-round formal addition to a home's entryway. BlueSpruce.

Your tree should only be grown in full sunlight. The bright sunlight allows the colors to develop in the needles. You should also avoid areas with high humidity or reflected sunlight. Once it has matured, the Baby Blue spruce is a drought-tolerant tree.

For a more blended and serene look, plant blue spruce with companions that have silver, purple or obsidian hues. A few examples of good complementary plant partners are silver-leaved and violet-flowered Russian sage, catmint, and 'Black Scallop' ajuga.

You may want to provide added insulation to increase winter survival. Bury the pots (if not decorative) in an unused garden area for the winter. Place the Alberta spruce in a sheltered location out of winter wind and sun. Or move the planters to a sheltered location.

Brewer Spruce

It is an excellent choice for a specimen tree in your garden as the weeping form gives it a unique appeal. A winner of the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit, the Brewer spruce prefers cool, wet winters and dry, warm summers and is difficult to grow without these conditions.

Growth and Yield- Blue spruce is apparently a long-lived tree, surviving up to 600 years or more. Diameter growth is slow; trees 10 to 13 cm (4 to 5 in) in d.b.h. may be 125 to 135 years old; at 46 to 56 cm (18 to 22 in), they may be 275 to 350 years of age (84).

Selecting the Right Location for Planting

For optimal growth and color, plant your Colorado Blue Spruce in a location that receives full sun to partial shade. While the tree can tolerate some shade, too much shade may cause sparse growth and diminished needle color.

Don't mulch too closely: Mulch around the tree, but don't mulch against the tree. The ring should be a few inches away from the trunk and no mulch should make contact with the tree. If mulch does rest against the tree, you can cause mold and mildew a place to thrive, and they will attack the tree.

This tree is way over planted and it is quite simply a problem tree. I would plant this particular tree species at least 20-25' away from your house as it is my experience that most homeowners and landscapers tend to plant trees way too close to structures. Keep some distance!

You can clip a spruce a limited amount- typically 1-3 inches- if you don't clip it back to a bare branch. Bare wood will not re-sprout new needles, but remain bare. Best results are achieved by using sharp bypass pruners, not a hedge trimmer.

How do you winterize a blue spruce? ›

The dwarf Alberta spruce needs full sun to perform at its best but it will tolerate some shade. Give these plants an eastern or northern exposure. Avoid planting where harsh winter winds or hot afternoon sun can burn them.

Despite their love for the chill, Blue Spruces can handle the cold like champs. They can withstand temperatures plummeting to a bone-chilling -40 degrees C. This resilience allows them to survive in harsh winter landscapes where other species might falter.

Pest infestations and disease are two of the biggest problems spruce trees face. In recent years, certain types of pests have increased, which has resulted in the steady decline of spruce trees. The prevalence of canker diseases is plaguing spruce trees, too.

Blue Spruce, also known as Colorado Spruce, is our best selling tree! People are attracted to the distinctive blue-green color of this hardy evergreen. But Blue Spruce really stands out because it is tough, long lived, and adapted to a wide range of growing conditions.

One of the most common cultivars is the dwarf blue spruce (Picea pungens 'Globosa').

Blue spruce prefer an organic, moist soil in full sun but are adaptable to different conditions. It is more drought tolerant than other Picea species. While blue spruce can tolerate some shade, disease incidence and severity increases with the amount of shade trees receive.

Dwarf Alberta Spruce

Best in full sun, but will tolerate partial shade.

Benefits of Growing a Dwarf Colorado Blue Spruce

While a regular spruce can grow up to 60 feet tall and 20 to 25 feet wide, dwarf trees typically grow a fraction of that: for the Monrovia cultivar mentioned above, only 10 to 15 feet tall and 6 to 8 feet in width.

If this is what you're seeing, your blue spruce tree is likely suffering from needle cast disease. Once these needles turn brown, yellow, or red, they will likely begin to shed. Many homeowners that are experiencing needle cast will often describe their blue spruce as looking burned.