Is Picea glauca Conica a Christmas tree?
The Picea glauca 'Conica' Christmas tree is also known as the White Spruce, thanks to a delicate white tint on the mid-green foliage. This dwarf variety is endlessly popular during the festive season as both an indoor and outdoor potted Christmas tree.
How do you care for Picea glauca Conica?
Picea Glauca Conica Dwarf Alberta SpruceWater. Provide these trees with water when the top 3 inches of soil becomes dry. ... Sunlight. This tree performs best in full sun but will tolerate some shade.Fertilizer. Young plants respond well to mixing in a granular fertilizer around the base of the tree once a year.
Can Picea glauca Conica be grown in pots?
Dwarf Alberta spruce (Picea glauca 'Conica', Zones 3-8) is the most common potted holiday tree and is almost always sold as a pre-decorated, miniature for indoors or outdoors. After the holidays, it can be planted in pots for or in the garden.
How big does a dwarf Alberta spruce conica get?
Grows 8 ft. tall, 5 ft. wide. Conifer; prized for foliage.
How often should you water a Picea glauca?
every 9 daysHow often to water your Picea glauca. Picea glauca needs 0.8 cups of water every 9 days when it doesn't get direct sunlight and is potted in a 5.0" pot. Use our water calculator to personalize watering recommendations to your environment or download Greg for more advanced recommendations for all of your plants.
How much water does a Picea glauca need?
Water evergreen trees regularly during the first year after planting. 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 do you keep a spruce tree small?
Typical Blue spruce trees grow 12 inches or less per year. To keep your blue spruce tree small, you'll want to prune the tree each year during the late winter/early spring. You can also choose a small blue spruce variety, like the baby blue eyes spruce, which grows 2-3 inches per year.
How do you care for a conica tree?
Dwarf Alberta Spruce 'Conica' (Picea glauca)Plant Feed. Apply a balanced fertilizer formulated for acid loving plants.Watering. Water regularly until established.Soil. Well-drained, slightly acidic soil.Basic Care Summary. When planting, keep the base of the trunk exposed. Plant in a reliably sunny spot.
What do you feed Picea glauca?
Feed every 10 weeks from spring to autumn with Yates Dynamic Lifter Soil Improver & Plant Fertiliser.
What is Picea glauca Conica?
Picea glauca 'Conica' is known as a common, small- to medium-sized, slow-growing pyramidal evergreen shrub that often serves as a focal point in landscapes.
Can you keep a dwarf Alberta spruce small?
Pruning can be done in late winter or early spring when new growth appears. Cut no more than 2 to 3 inches off the tips of the branches. You can keep a dwarf Alberta spruce small by trimming it into a topiary form when grown in a container.
How long does it take for dwarf Alberta spruce to grow?
30 yearsBecause of its small size and Christmas-tree shape, the dwarf Alberta spruce is a favorite evergreen across many parts of the country. This cute little tree keeps its conical shape as it grows slowly (very slowly), taking 30 years to max out at 10 to 12 feet tall.
How do you care for a conica tree?
Dwarf Alberta Spruce 'Conica' (Picea glauca)Plant Feed. Apply a balanced fertilizer formulated for acid loving plants.Watering. Water regularly until established.Soil. Well-drained, slightly acidic soil.Basic Care Summary. When planting, keep the base of the trunk exposed. Plant in a reliably sunny spot.
How do you prune Picea?
Pinch new shoots in spring when they are still soft. If you want to prune back long branches, shorten them to smaller twigs near the trunk. Remember that the spruce will not backbud from old wood, so always leave needles and buds on a branch you want to keep.
Why is my dwarf spruce turning brown?
A dwarf Alberta spruce that's turning brown at the top is telling you there's a problem with the trunk or the roots. Check to see if weed whackers have sliced the trunk, or animals have chewed the bark. If most of the bark is gone from the base of the trunk, the tree will have to be replaced.
Where does Picea glauca Conica grow?
Best grown in moist, well-drained soils in full sun. Tolerates some light shade. Best performance is in cold winter climates with cool summers. Site in areas with good air circulation to help rid the dense foliage of moisture.
Where is Picea Glauca native to?
Picea glauca was originally native from central Alaska all through the east, across southern/central Canada to the Avalon Peninsula in Newfoundland.
How tall do white spruce trees get?
The white spruce is a large coniferous evergreen tree which grows normally to 15 to 30 m (50 to 100 ft) tall, but can grow up to 40 m (130 ft) tall with a trunk diameter of up to 1 m (3.3 ft). The bark is thin and scaly, flaking off in small circular plates 5 to 10 cm (2 to 4 in) across. The crown is narrow – conic in young trees, becoming cylindric in older trees. The shoots are pale buff-brown, glabrous (hairless) in the east of the range, but often pubescent in the west, and with prominent pulvini. The leaves are needle-like, 12 to 20 mm ( 1⁄2 to 13⁄16 in) long, rhombic (diamond-shaped) in cross-section, glaucous blue-green above (hence glauca) with several thin lines of stomata, and blue-white below with two broad bands of stomata.
What are the different types of spruce?
Several geographical varieties have been described, but are not accepted as distinct by all authors. These comprise, from east to west: 1 Picea glauca var. glauca (typical or eastern white spruce). From Newfoundland west to eastern Alberta, on lowland plains. 2 Picea glauca var. densata (Black Hills white spruce). The Black Hills in South Dakota. 3 Picea glauca var. albertiana (Alberta white spruce). The Rocky Mountains in Alberta, British Columbia and northwest Montana. 4 Picea glauca var. porsildii (Alaska white spruce). Alaska and Yukon.
What zone does a white spruce tree grow in?
White spruce will grow in USDA Growing Zones 3-7, but is not adapted to heat and humidity and will perform poorly in a hot climate. The tree attains its greatest longevity and growth potential in Zones 3-4.
How thick is white spruce bark?
White spruce bark is mostly less than 8 mm and not more than 9.5 mm thick.
What is the temperature of white spruce in July?
The southern edge of the zone in which white spruce forms 60% or more of the total stand corresponds more or less to the July isotherm of 18 °C (64 °F) around the Great Lakes; in the Prairie Provinces its limit is north of this isotherm. During the summer solstice, day length values range from 17 hours at its southern limits to 24 hours above the Arctic Circle.
What is the root system of a white spruce?
The root system of white spruce is highly variable and adaptable (Wagg 1964, 1967), responding to a variety of edaphic factors , especially soil moisture , soil fertility , and mechanical impedance. On soils that limit rooting depth, the root system is plate-like, but it is a common misconception to assume that white spruce is genetically constrained to develop plate-like root systems irrespective of soil conditions (Sutton 1969). In the nursery, or naturally in the forest, white spruce usually develops several long “running” roots just below the ground surface (Mullin 1957).
How tall does a dwarf Alberta spruce tree grow?
This spruce variety is related to some giant varieties that can grow 100 feet or taller but because dwarf Alberta spruce rarely exceeds about 13 feet, it is a popular choice for foundation plantings and as a specimen plant all over America.
How big are Alberta spruce needles?
The aromatic green needles are about 3/4 inch long , and the tree has a tight, densely-packed growth habit that gives dwarf Alberta spruce trees a "fuzzy" look. Unlike its larger cousins, the white spruces, dwarf Alberta spruce rarely produces pine cones. Canada and northern U.S.
What is the best spruce for cold climates?
Dwarf Alberta spruce performs best in areas with cold winters and cool summers. This plant does best in low-humidity environments. This mini tree requires good air circulation .
What is the best climate for a dwarf Alberta spruce tree?
This specimen is best suited for a climate with cold winters and cool summers. A Dwarf Alberta spruce tree grows best in full sun and well-drained acidic soil.
What is a dwarf spruce tree?
Dwarf Alberta spruce trees are used as specimens in landscape design. As one of the most recognizable shrub/tree types in North American landscaping, you'll often see them used in pairs to flank the entryway to a house for a formal look that strives for balance. Because dwarf Alberta spruce trees will remain relatively small for a number of years, people sometimes treat them (at least initially) as container plants. They are sometimes trimmed into topiary forms when grown in containers.
How to grow dwarf Alberta spruce?
The two ways to grow dwarf Alberta spruce are from seeds or branch cutting. The quickest way to propagate this plant is by using a 6-inch-long softwood branch cutting taken in late summer or early fall. Softwood branches are long and firm branches but should not be hardened and woody. Here's more about the cutting method:
How to harvest spruce seeds?
Spruce seeds grow in cones. Pick them young before they ripen. Extract the seeds from the cones by allowing the cones to dry out, open, and spill out the seeds. This can take up to two weeks.
How big is Picea?
Its oils have some commercial value. Average Size at Maturity. Grows 8 ft. tall, 5 ft. wide.
What is a cone shaped conifer?
A perfect cone-shaped dwarf conifer displaying dense green needles which are soft to the touch. Excellent as a miniature Christmas tree in natural form, or as an artistically pruned topiary. Makes a formal statement in the garden. A superb container specimen. Evergreen.
Overview
Cultivars
Numerous cultivars of various sizes, colours and shapes have been selected for use in parks and gardens. The following have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.
• Picea glauca ‘Echiniformis’
• Picea glauca var. albertiana ‘Alberta Globe’
Description
The white spruce is a large evergreen conifer which normally grows to 15 to 30 metres (50 to 100 ft) tall, but can grow up to 40 m (130 ft) tall with a trunk diameter of up to 1 m (3 ft 3 in). The bark is thin and scaly, flaking off in small circular plates 5 to 10 centimetres (2 to 4 in) across. The crown is narrow – conical in young trees, becoming cylindrical in older trees. The shoots are pal…
Distribution
White spruce has a transcontinental range in North America. In Canada, its contiguous distribution encompasses virtually the whole of the Boreal, Subalpine, Montane, Columbia, Great Lakes–St. Lawrence, and Acadian Forest Regions, extending into every province and territory. On the west coast of Hudson Bay, it extends to Seal River, about 59°N, "from which the northward limit runs appare…
Ecology
White spruce is a climax canopy tree in the boreal forests of Canada and Alaska. It generally occurs on well-drained soils in alluvial and riparian zones, although it also occurs in soils of glacial and lacustrine origin. The understory is dominated by feather mosses (Hylocomium splendens, Pleurozium schreberi, Ptilium crista-castrensis) and fork mosses, and occasionally peat moss. In the far north, the t…
Uses
Wildlife such as deer, rabbits, and grouse browse the foliage during the winter.
The wood of white spruce is of a lower quality than that of Engelmann spruce, but is stronger. It was used to make shelters and as firewood by Native Americans and European settlers in Alaska, where lodgepole pine does not grow. The wood is of major economic importance in Canada, being harvested …
Varieties
Several geographical varieties have been described, but are not accepted as distinct by all authors. These comprise, from east to west:
• Picea glauca var. glauca (typical or eastern white spruce): from Newfoundland west to eastern Alberta, on lowland plains.
• Picea glauca var. densata (Black Hills white spruce): The Black Hills in South Dakota.
Genome
P. glauca has three different genomes; a nuclear genome, a mitochondrial genome, and a plastid (i.e. chloroplast) genome. The large (20 Gbp) nuclear genome of P. glauca (genotype WS77111) was published in 2015, and the organellar (plastid and mitochondrial) genomes (genotype PG29) were published in SD Jackman et al. 2015. The plastid genome of P. glauca (genotype WS77111) has also been published.