Cultivars to Choose
Go to nearly any nursery and also you’re more likely to discover a number of blue spruce cultivars accessible in addition to the species plant.
Colorado Blue Spruce
On that be aware, if you wish to develop the species, you could find vegetation accessible at Quick Rising Timber.
Listed here are just a few standout cultivars to contemplate:
Child Blue
‘Child Blue’ has all the pieces you’re keen on a few 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 extensive.
‘Child Blue’
This cultivar maintains the traditional pyramidal form and options extraordinarily vivid needles which are even bluer than these of the species.
Yow will discover ‘Child Blue’ vegetation accessible from Quick Rising Timber.
Blue Marvel
In case your most important curiosity is the distinctive shade of a Colorado blue spruce, then ‘Blue Marvel’ ought 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 shiny gray-blue needles which are particularly vibrant and assured to face out within the panorama.
Yow will discover ‘Blue Marvel’ accessible 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 extensive.
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 regularly tapers by means of the highest third of the tree, giving it a considerably pyramidal silhouette.
It usually grows as much as 15 ft tall and about 5 ft extensive, making it a wise selection for slim areas within the backyard. Simply remember to give it sufficient room to succeed in its mature dimension.
The needles are likely to retain their blue shade extra reliably than many different cultivars, and positively extra constantly 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 accessible 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 fascinating conifers – is credited with introducing ‘Fats Albert’ within the Nineteen 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 title, ‘Fats Albert’ isn’t significantly extensive. It reaches as much as 45 ft tall and 20 ft extensive at most. The title is a nod to the favored cartoon character, not its form.
This cultivar options that excellent pyramidal form and hanging silver foliage.
‘Fats Albert’
It’s significantly gradual rising and lengthy lived, so it may be a spotlight in your backyard for many years (even centuries) to return.
In order for you a tried-and-true choice with the proper form, convey house ‘Fats Albert’ from Quick Rising Timber.
Globe
For a very dwarf choice, there’s nothing higher than the wonderful Globe (Picea pungens var. glauca ‘Globosa’).
This compact cultivar reaches simply 5 ft tall and 6 ft extensive at maturity, with a naturally rounded form that requires no pruning to take care of.
It’s a kind of set-it-and-forget-it vegetation you may 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 had been onto successful as this cultivar has change into the go-to selection 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 could find vegetation accessible in five-gallon pots.
Slenderina
Up to now, 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 all the time the one that attracts stares and feedback.
‘Slenderina’ grows to about 15 ft tall and about half as extensive, 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 skilled right into a half arch as the doorway to a wisteria tunnel and it was magnificent!
Yow will discover ‘Slenderina’ accessible at Nature Hills Nursery.
Upkeep
You don’t have to prune a Colorado blue spruce often.
The one time you’ll have to convey out the pruners is that if a department dies, is broken by pests, or doesn’t match the general form you’re aiming for.
One of the best time to prune is in late winter whereas the tree remains to be dormant – simply keep away from doing so when temperatures are under 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 do this by itself with the sticky resin widespread to spruces, pines, and firs.
Study extra about pruning conifers right here.
Fertilizing is often pointless until your younger tree seems stunted or unhealthy.