Picea pungens

Picea pungens
Colorado spruce

SIZE/TYPE	medium-sized tree
USUAL HEIGHT	10-15m
USUAL WIDTH	3-5m
LEAVES	evergreen conifer
COLOUR OF LEAVES	+multicoloured:blue-green and silvery-blue
FLOWERS	insignificant or non-blooming
LOCATION	full sun
USDA zone (lowest)	3 (down to -40°C)
WINTER PROTECTION
FOR ZONE 5+6
FOR ZONE 7
BELONGS TO CATEGORIES	Conifers

Although Colorado spruce originates in the Rocky Mountains of Canada and the USA, it has been in wide cultivation in Europe and its colder regions. It is used more and more as a replacement of Norway spruce which does not take air pollution and suffers from falling if its undergrowth has been cut down.

Colorado spruce is popular for its strong and dense growth in broadly conical habit. It forms almost horizontal layers of branches (tiered effect). Its short, prickly needles have various colour shades – from pale green, blue-green, or silvery blue. It always looks elegant and symmetrical on insolated locations. Young plants grow fast (30-40 cm per year) and slow down with age. It can be pruned or shaped in any way, best in late winter or any time from spring to midsummer.

Spruce is widely soil adaptable provided the soil is well-drained. It likes moist sites and even though it takes temporary drought once established it is not suited for constantly dry sites. No fertilizing is necessary. Fully hardy to about -40°C (USDA zone 3).

Last update 02-09-2013

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GLOSSARY

STANDARD QUALITY - Plants of this group are 1st class quality with number of branches and overall density adequate to their size and age, considering they were container grown.
DE LUXE QUALITY - This label guarantees a luxurious quality of manually selected plants that, compared to their height and age, are exceptionally dense and beautiful.
EXTRA - These plants are usually mature and bigger specimens with exceptional overall appearance.
STANDARD (as described in the plant form) means a tree with a trunk of 190-210 cm and a crown at the top, unless specified differently. The commercial size for trees is their girth measured in the height of 1m from ground.
HOBBY - These plants are of the same quality as our standard-quality plants but younger and therefore cheaper.
SHRUB - a woody plant with branches growing bushy from the ground level.
HALF-STANDARD or MINI-STANDARD - a small tree with shorter trunk, its size is usually specified.
FEATHERED - These are trees with branches growing already from the base of the trunk and up along the stem.
GRASSES and PERENNIALS - Sizes given usually read the diameter of the pot or the clump, as specified.