Soil Requirements for Blue Spruce
- Soil Types and Textures A wide range of soil types can support blue spruce, including clay, loam or sandy soil. ...
- Moisture and Drainage Blue spruce is highly drought tolerant, and can withstand periods of low water better than most other spruces. ...
- Soil pH ...
- Other Considerations ...
What is the soil pH of Colorado blue spruce?
Regarding soil pH, Colorado Blue Spruce are highly adaptable. They prefer a soil pH between 6.0 to 7.5 on the pH scale, however will tolerate extremely acid or alkaline soils.
How to plant a blue spruce tree?
So you need to be aware of this in order to avoid trouble. The Blue spruce likes a well-drained and loose soil with some nutrients. To get such a substrate, mix the native soil with 2-3 buckets of soil conditioner in the planting hole before planting.
What is the best fertilizer for blue spruce trees?
Colorado Blue Spruce trees don't require frequent fertilization, but can benefit from the extra nutrients from fertilizer that can increase the length and improve the color of the needles. I suggest feeding spruce trees with a slow-release shrub & tree type fertilizer or a natural, organic plant food.
How do you test soil drainage for blue spruce?
If you are uncertain about soil drainage in the area you intend to plant your Colorado Blue Spruce, it's well worth taking the time to test the drainage before planting. To test soil drainage, dig a hole 12" wide by 12" deep in the planting area. Fill the hole with water and let it drain.
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How do you prepare a blue spruce soil?
Backfill the hole with native soil, and don't amend with compost, manure or potting soil. Be sure to break up any clods into fine fragments. Give the blue spruce a good, deep watering, then cover the soil surface with a healthy layer of weed-suppressing mulch.
Do blue spruce need acidic soil?
Soil pH: Colorado blue spruces prefer mildly acidic soils (pH 5.5 to 7.0). They grow more slowly if the pH is too high or if they are planted in heavy clay soils. In their native habitat their needles would fall to the ground to decompose and therefore make the soil more acidic.
Where is the best place to plant a blue spruce?
Colorado blue spruce grows best in a sunny location with moist, well-drained, fertile soil. It tolerates dry wind and can adapt to dry soil. The tree is hardy in USDA plant hardiness zones 3 through 7. Plant Colorado blue spruce in a hole that is as deep as the root ball and two or three times as wide.
What is a good fertilizer for blue spruce?
Sprinkle 10-10-10 slow-release granulated fertilizer over the soil in the root zone. Then, water with about 2 inches of water to prevent fertilizer burn. Better yet, use a natural and pet-friendly option like compost, fish emulsion, cottonseed meal, or alfalfa meal, to avoid burn altogether.
Is Miracle Grow good for blue spruce trees?
Fertilizing: We recommend you fertilize all your shrubs, evergreens, trees, groundcover, and perennials once every 3 weeks. This should be done during the months of April, May, June, July, and August. We suggest you use Miracle-Gro, a water-soluble fertilizer, or Milorganite, a granular fertilizer.
How do you keep a blue spruce healthy?
How to Plant and Care for a Blue SpruceBlue spruce prefer acidic, moist, well-draining soils. ... Plant your blue spruce so that the beginning of the root flare is evident. ... Blue spruce should always be planted in full sun.Maintain good air circulation around the plant.More items...•
How often should you water a blue spruce?
Watering Needs: Needs regular watering – weekly, or more often in extreme heat. Average landscape size: Reaches 10-12 ft. tall in a few years; 40′ ft.
What is the best time of year to plant a blue spruce?
Unlike many plants, its best to plant blue spruce during the dormancy period of November to March. Planting during cold temperatures allows the blue spruce to develop roots for the spring season. Choose a site with full sun, loose draining soil, and plenty of elbow room.
What time of year do you plant blue spruce?
Spring and fall are the best times to plant the Baby Blue Spruce. This blue spruce grows in full sun to part shade. It adapts well to any well-drained soil. Water your newly planted evergreen tree thoroughly a couple times per week for the first two to three months.
Is Miracle Grow good for spruce trees?
Answer: Yes, according to the manufacturer, Miracle-Gro Miracid Plant Food can be used on blue spruce. This product does need to be mixed with water.
Is Miracle Grow good for evergreens?
Miracle-Gro® also has tree spikes specially formulated for evergreens and fruit and citrus trees. With all of these plant foods, you'll find the directions on the package label—so be sure to follow them!
How do you make a blue spruce bluer?
About Green Needles on a Blue Spruce The blue color of blue spruce needles is caused by epicuticular waxes on the needles that reflect specific wavelengths of light. The more wax on a needle, the bluer it is. Neither the amount of wax nor the blue color is uniform across the species.
Do spruce trees need acidic soil?
Spruce trees are very adaptable when it comes to soil pH levels. Spruce can handle highly acidic pH levels, but ideally, you want the pH to be anywhere between 6.0 and 8.0.
Are spruce trees acid loving plants?
Trees that will tolerate acidic soils include; Birch, Larch, Pine and Spruce.
Is lime good for blue spruce?
Recommendations: pruning your blue spruce to allow more light penetration to your lawn (consult w/ a certified arborist), lime the soil to increase pH (always verify soil pH before adding fertilizers), or plant shade-tolerant cool season grasses adjacent to this particular tree.
Do spruce trees prefer acidic soil?
The ideal pH for blue spruce is between 6.0 and 7.5, but this tree can tolerate soil ranging from highly acidic to highly alkaline, making it a viable landscape choice in almost any situation.
How to lower the pH of a Colorado blue spruce?
To lower your soil pH to a range better suited for the Colorado blue spruce, you can either amend the soil prior to planting or mulch the soil around an already established tree. Peat moss, conifer needles or conifer bark chips will all make your soil more acidic. If you happen to have soil that's too acidic for your tree, raise the pH with a liming agent or wood ashes.
What type of soil does a Colorado blue spruce grow in?
Colorado blue spruces grow best in acidic soil. With its slow growth and attractive color, Colorado blue spruce (Picea pungens) works well as an ornamental tree in many yards. Varieties of this conifer include dwarf trees that only reach 5 feet tall, trees with weeping branches and those with silvery needles.
What kind of soil does a blue spruce tree need?
They also need soil rich in organic matter, so sandy soils won't suffice. The best soil for your blue spruce is a loose and fertile loam.
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Tammie Painter. Based in Portland, Ore. , Tammie Painter has been writing garden, fitness, science and travel articles since 2008. Her articles have appeared in magazines such as "Herb Companion" and "Northwest Travel" and she is the author of six books.
Planting
A place with a few hours of direct sunlight and drained soil is ideal for planting Blue Spruce. Also, make sure that no water flows near the tree (e.g. rainwater from a gutter). Also, there should be a few feet of space around the tree for good air movement.
Light requirements
Blue Spruce needs at least 5-6 hours of direct sunlight a day. In this case, you will get a tree with a dense crown and blue needles. This spruce can be planted so that it receives either morning or afternoon sun.
Soil
Blue Spruce tolerates a wide range of soils, the best is a well-drained but not too sandy soil. If you have clay soil, add organic matter to the planting hole to loosen the substrate a bit.
Watering
Water Blue Spruce as soon as the soil dries out 1 inch. Such watering is necessary before the tree is fully rooted. The rooting process can take one to two years. If the year after planting, the spruce has made good growth, you can consider it rooted.
Pruning
Blue Spruce is semi-dwarf spruce so it does not need pruning. But if you want to make it even more compact, you can trim it. The best time for pruning is in the second half of spring or early summer. You will need to cut before the young shoots mature, so cut them halfway. This will give you a thicker crown next year.
Diseases
One of the reasons why Blue Spruce dies is root rot. The symptoms of this disease are the needles turning brown and then falling off. To fix this, remove all excess water near the spruce (frequent watering, high groundwater, etc.). There is nothing else you can do, if the tree is strong it will beat the disease on its own.
Pests
One of the most common Blue Spruce pests is the Yellow-headed Spruce Sawfly. These insects have long, narrow bodies and long wings. They can travel considerable distances and infest a variety of spruce species.
How to keep spruce from watering?
When planting your spruce tree far away from a water source, and in well-drained soil, you can use remaining soil mixture to build a 3-inch high water retaining berm (water catch basin / doughnut) around the outside perimeter of the planting hole, as shown in the planting illustration above. This basin will help to collect water from rainfall and irrigation often reducing watering frequency. The berm can be removed after a growing season or when the plant has established itself.
How to keep weeds from growing on a tree?
To conserve moisture and suppress weed growth, apply a 1 to 2" layer of shredded or chipped wood mulch or pine straw around the planting area. As the mulch decomposes it will add vital nutrients to the soil that your tree will appreciate. Avoid the use of freshly chipped or shredded wood for mulch until it has cured in a pile for at least 6 months, a year is better. Avoid placing or piling mulch directly against the base of your tree as this could cause the bark to rot.
How to make a potted plant in a container?
Pour a small amount of your soil mixture in the bottom of the container. Set your plant in the container and make necessary adjustments by adding or removing some soil so that the top edge of the root ball will sit 1/2 to 1" below the rim of the container. Step 4.
How to test soil drainage?
To test soil drainage, dig a hole 12" wide by 12" deep in the planting area. Fill the hole with water and let it drain. Then, after it drains, fill it with water again, but this time clock how long it takes to drain. In well-drained soil the water level will go down at a rate of about 1 inch an hour. A faster rate, such as in loose, sandy soil, may ...
How to plant a sage plant in a hole?
Step 1. Start by digging your planting hole at least two to three times as wide and as deep or not much deeper than the root ball of your plant. The wider the hole the better. Place native soil removed from planting hole around the perimeter of the hole, in a wheel barrow, or on a tarp. Step 2.
What is the pH of Colorado Blue Spruce?
Soil pH. Regarding soil pH, Colorado Blue Spruce are highly adaptable. They prefer a soil pH between 6.0 to 7.5 on the pH scale, however will tolerate extremely acid or alkaline soils. Most average garden soils fall between a pH range of 6.0 to 7.0.
How to get rid of a stuck root ball?
If the root ball is stuck in the container use snips or a utility knife to cit the container away. After having removed the plant from the container, loosen some feeder roots around the surface of the root ball. Step 3. Pour a small amount of your soil mixture in the bottom of the container.
How tall does P. pungens grow?
P. pungens 'Montgomery': A dwarf variety that grows 5 to 6 feet high and has dense, blue needles
How tall do Colorado blue spruces grow?
Colorado blue spruces have a slow to medium growth rate. You can expect a height increase of less than 12 inches to 24 inches annually. In the wild, it can grow up to 75 feet. In parks and gardens, it typically grows 30 to 60 feet high and 15 to 20 feet wide.
What is a blue spruce tree?
Back to Top. Colorado blue spruces, resplendent with silver-blue-green needles, are coniferous evergreen trees that are members of the pine family. The official state tree of Colorado, these spruces are native to Rocky Mountain states in the U.S.
What type of soil do sage trees like?
However, the trees can adapt to a variety of soils, whether acidic, loamy, sandy, or clay. When it comes to soil pH, these trees prefer a range between 6.0 and 7.5, but they're able to tolerate extremely acidic or alkaline soils.
When was the Colorado Blue Spruce tree discovered?
They were first discovered in 1862 growing on the Rocky Mountains, but are now one of the most widely planted landscape trees. The Colorado Blue Spruce's silvery-blue needles are prickly to the touch and have a strong, fresh, piney smell. Its pyramidal shape, foliage color, and wonderful smell make this plant a classic choice for a Christmas tree.
Where are blue spruces native to?
The official state tree of Colorado, these spruces are native to Rocky Mountain states in the U.S. They were first discovered in 1862 growing on the Rocky Mountains, but are now one of the most widely planted landscape trees.
Can you plant a Colorado blue spruce tree in rows?
Colorado blue spruce trees can be planted in rows to form windbreaks or "living-wall" privacy screens, but they are equally effective when simply used ornamentally as specimen trees. They're valuable in deer country, as their prickly texture and strong smell render them conveniently deer-resistant.