Spruces are tall, fast growing
evergreen trees with symmetrical spire shapes. You can distinguish them from
firs, which they resemble, in two ways; spruce needles can be rolled between
the fingers, whereas the needles of the fir and hemlock feel flat, and spruce
cones hang from the branches rtehr than sit on top of them. A spruce is a tree
of the genus Picea of about 35 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the
family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal (taiga) regions of
the Earth.
Colorado spruce “Picea pungens”
is a popular tree with a classic Christmas tree shapes and smell. On healthy
specimens, the branches extend all the way to the ground in dense, graceful
layers. Blue spruce “P. p. Glauca” is a very widely grown though the needles of
blue spruce have a bluish cast, bu the degree of blueness varies from one tree
to another. Spruces are large trees, height varies from 60–200 ft) tall when
mature, and can be distinguished by their whorled branches and conical form.
Kosteer blue spruce is also called
Argentea is a more dependable true blue than most varieties. While spruce “P.
glauca” likewise forms a tall dense spire with a bluish cast. The variety “Conica”
dwarf Alberta spruce is a striking tree, growing slowly to 10 feet in a soft
fuzzy, pale green cone and excellent accent plant. Norway spruce whose
botanical name is “Picea abies” literally mean spruce fir forms a broad dense
dark green pyramid with distinctive upward lifting branches and dropping side
branches.
It too is a massive tree that can
be out of scale next to a home, but there are several small ornamental
varieties of this spruce. However, the “Nidiformis”, (Bird’s Nest Spruce),
which grows to a mere 3 feet with a flat top. All the spruces mentioned are
hardy to zone 2. Well, if you want to grow spruce, then to counteract their
tendency to lose their lower branches, give spruces plenty of sun, and don’t crowd
them. Scientists have found a Norway spruce, which reproducing through
layering, has reached an age of 9,550 years and is claimed to be the world's
oldest known living tree.
Moreover they will tolerate heat
or cold and most soils, including dry ones, but the soil should be well
drained. Norway spruce likes a bit more fertility and moisture. Norway and
Colorado spruce can be planted bare root. Pests include spruce gall aphids,
spider mites and scale; dormant oil sprays can be effective against all of
them. It is difficult to prune large spruce trees without ruining their shape.
Spruce is useful as a building
wood, used for many purposes, ranging from general construction work and crates
to highly specialized uses in wooden aircraft, indoor drywall framing. Moreover
it’s material also used in soundboards for a lot of musical instruments,
including guitars, mandolins, cellos, violins, and the soundboard at the heart
of a piano and the harp. Wood used for this purpose is referred to as tonewood.
They can be trained to one leader
while young awkward branches can be cut to a side branch if necessary. But for
the most part pruning consists only of removing dead branches. DNA analyses have
shown that traditional classifications based on the morphology of needle and cones
are artificial. Spruce has been found in the fossil record from the early Cretaceous,
136 million years ago. Spruces are used as food plants by the larvae of some
Lepidoptera moth and butterfly species, also used by the larvae of gall
adelgids (Adelges species).
