White spruce grows well in a wide variety of site and moisture conditions. It grows best on well-drained, moist fertile soils . It doesn’t grow well near stagnant water. White spruce can tolerate a considerable range in soil pH, from 4.5 to as high as 7.5.
Is white spruce a good tree?
White Spruce for WindbreaksPicea glauca
This tree has often been heralded as a beautiful tree, whether lining the banks of a North Country river or gracing someone’s front yard. ... In landscape, it is a lovely specimen tree or grouping, a sturdy option for windbreaks and buffer strips, and serves as a great visual screen.
Is white spruce fast growing?
The White Spruce is a medium to fast growing (2ft plus) evergreen that has a light green or even bluish colored needles that are about 1 inch long. It has a strong evergreen smell when crushed and is one way to tell it from other spruce. It never drops its needles and can stay on for as long as 20 years.
Do white spruce need full sun?
Growing White Spruce Trees
They prefer full sun and do best with at least 6 hours of direct sunlight per day, but they are also very tolerant of shade. They like soil that is slightly acidic and moist but well draining. These trees grow best in loam but will do well in sand and even well-drained clay.
Where does white spruce grow?
Picea glauca, the white spruce, is a species of spruce native to the northern temperate and boreal forests in North America . Picea glauca was originally native from central Alaska all through the east, across southern/central Canada to the Avalon Peninsula in Newfoundland.
How tall can a white spruce get?
White SprucePicea glauca
The white spruce grows to a height of 40–60′ and a spread of 10–20′ at maturity.
How long does white spruce live?
The white spruce usually grows to be 24 metres tall, but under ideal conditions can grow to more than 30 metres tall. It usually lives between 250 and 350 years , but trees up to 1,000 years have been seen. Its needles are about 2 centimetres long and bluish green or green in colour, with a whitish powdery, waxy layer.
How close can you plant white spruce?
Plant the white spruce seedlings about 2.4 metres apart for an overall stocking rate of 1,736 seedlings a hectare. White spruce seedlings are sensitive to transplanting shock.
How often should I water white spruce?
Give the tree 1 to 3 inches of water every week , unless moisture comes in the form of rainfall. Watering deeply once or twice weekly is better than more frequent, shallow irrigation, as deep watering will develop long, healthy roots.
How much does a white spruce tree grow per year?
This California native has pendulous branches and grows about 24 inches each year.
What is the difference between Blue Spruce and white spruce?
But Blue Spruce really stands out because it is tough, long lived, and adapted to a wide range of growing conditions. Blue Spruce trees are ideally suited for use in shelterbelts, privacy screens, or as accent trees. ... White Spruce is a hardy, long-lived evergreen tree. It can grow in many soil types and moisture levels.
How long does it take to grow a spruce tree?
This blue spruce grows from 12 to 24 inches a year. So it will require 30 to 60 years for a Colorado blue spruce to grow from seed to 60 feet tall.
What is the difference between a white spruce and a Norway spruce?
Use the subtle differences between these two spruce species to tell them apart. Observe that the needles of white spruce are bluish-green and up to three-quarters of an inch long . Norway spruce has shiny dark green needles that can reach an inch in length.
How do you plant white spruce?
Plant a white spruce at least 5 to 10 feet away from shrubs and perennials in the garden so that when the spruce grows tall it is now overly crowded or shaded by nearby garden plants. Site the spruce at least 10 to 15 feet away from large, established shade trees or buildings.
What is the fastest growing spruce tree?
The fastest-growing spruce tree, according to the Arbor Day Foundation, is the triangular-shaped Norway spruce (Picea abies) , which is part of many suburban home and rural farm landscapes throughout Europe, the United States and Canada.
How much does a spruce tree grow per year?
While the majority of these coniferous tree species have a fairly unremarkable average growth rate ( between 6 inches and 11 inches per year ), the Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis), Norway spruce (Picea abies) and Colorado blue spruce (Picea pungens glauca) are renowned for their extraordinarily fast rates of growth.
