Cultivars to Choose
Go to nearly any nursery and also you’re more likely to discover a number of blue spruce cultivars obtainable in addition to the species plant.
Colorado Blue Spruce
On that word, if you wish to develop the species, you will discover vegetation obtainable at Quick Rising Timber.
Listed here are just a few standout cultivars to think about:
Child Blue
‘Child Blue’ has all the things you like a couple of Colorado blue spruce in a petite, semi-dwarf package deal. It tops out at simply 15 to 25 ft tall and as much as 15 ft vast.
‘Child Blue’
This cultivar maintains the traditional pyramidal form and options extraordinarily vivid needles which are even bluer than these of the species.
You could find ‘Child Blue’ vegetation obtainable from Quick Rising Timber.
Blue Marvel
In case your major curiosity is the distinctive coloration of a Colorado blue spruce, then ‘Blue Marvel’ needs to be on the high of your checklist.
It shares all the standard traits of the species, although it tends to remain a bit smaller.
‘Blue Marvel’
This cultivar has vibrant gray-blue needles which are particularly vibrant and assured to face out within the panorama.
You could find ‘Blue Marvel’ obtainable at Quick Rising Timber.
Baker’s
Baker’s blue spruce (P. pungens var. glauca ‘Bakeri’) has extra of a columnar form than your typical spruce and it’s additionally much more petite.
Good for a smaller panorama, this one will mature to a superbly manageable 30 ft tall and simply 15 ft vast.
Baker’s
Grower R. Ellery Baker of Hiti Nurseries in Pomfret, Connecticut found this seedling in Massachusetts within the late Twenties and developed it for business launch in 1933.
Need one? Nature Hills Nursery has this magnificence in #5 containers.
Fastigiata
‘Fastigiata’ is a semi-dwarf cultivar with an upright, columnar progress behavior that step by step tapers by means of the highest third of the tree, giving it a considerably pyramidal silhouette.
It sometimes grows as much as 15 ft tall and about 5 ft vast, making it a sensible alternative for slim areas within the backyard. Simply be sure you give it sufficient room to succeed in its mature dimension.
The needles are likely to retain their blue coloration extra reliably than many different cultivars, and definitely extra persistently than the species. It’s additionally hardier than most, withstanding situations as chilly as USDA Zone 2.
Whereas the precise origin is unclear, ‘Fastigiata’ has been obtainable in Canada since 1989 and the U.S. since 1993.
Fats Albert
The well-respected Iseli Nursery in Boring, Oregon – famend for breeding distinctive and attention-grabbing conifers – is credited with introducing ‘Fats Albert’ within the Seventies.
Founder Jean Iseli mentioned that he discovered the pure hybrid in a subject of seedlings, and he was clearly onto one thing!
Regardless of the identify, ‘Fats Albert’ isn’t significantly vast. It reaches as much as 45 ft tall and 20 ft vast at most. The identify is a nod to the favored cartoon character, not its form.
This cultivar options that excellent pyramidal form and placing silver foliage.
‘Fats Albert’
It’s significantly sluggish rising and lengthy lived, so it may be a spotlight in your backyard for many years (even centuries) to come back.
If you’d like a tried-and-true possibility with the proper form, carry dwelling ‘Fats Albert’ from Quick Rising Timber.
Globe
For a really dwarf possibility, there’s nothing higher than the wonderful Globe (Picea pungens var. glauca ‘Globosa’).
This compact cultivar reaches simply 5 ft tall and 6 ft vast at maturity, with a naturally rounded form that requires no pruning to take care of.
It’s a type of set-it-and-forget-it vegetation you possibly can get pleasure from for years with out lifting a finger.
Dwarf Globe
Bred by Luis’ Nursery in Boskoop, Holland, in 1937, it was later refined and launched by Le Feber & Firm in 1955.
Clearly, they have been onto successful as this cultivar has turn into the go-to alternative for gardeners wanting a dwarf blue spruce, particularly one with a bushy, compact behavior.
If that sounds such as you, go to Quick Rising Timber the place you will discover vegetation obtainable in five-gallon pots.
Slenderina
Thus far, we’ve talked about upright spruce and one cute little shrub. However I’m a complete sucker for a weeping tree, so I’d be remiss to skip the stunning ‘Slenderina.’
I’ve grown this attractive weeper in a number of of my gardens and it’s at all times the one that attracts stares and feedback.
‘Slenderina’ grows to about 15 ft tall and about half as vast, with pendulous, weeping branches that may additionally twist and switch as they emerge from the central trunk.
‘Slenderina’
You may even practice the principle trunk itself to curve and twist, too. I as soon as noticed one educated right into a half arch as the doorway to a wisteria tunnel and it was magnificent!
You could find ‘Slenderina’ obtainable at Nature Hills Nursery.
Upkeep
You don’t have to prune a Colorado blue spruce recurrently.
The one time you’ll have to carry out the pruners is that if a department dies, is broken by pests, or doesn’t match the general form you’re aiming for.
The very best time to prune is in late winter whereas the tree remains to be dormant – simply keep away from doing so when temperatures are beneath freezing.
Use loppers, a noticed, or hand pruners to take away undesirable branches. Minimize as shut as potential to the adjoining department or trunk.
There’s no have to seal the wound, the tree will try this by itself with the sticky resin frequent to spruces, pines, and firs.
Study extra about pruning conifers right here.
Fertilizing is usually pointless until your younger tree seems stunted or unhealthy.
