What are the characteristics of spruce trees?

What are the characteristics of spruce trees?

A large tree with a narrow crown, it can grow to 40 metres tall and 1 metre in diameter when mature. Needles are four-sided, sharp, and stiff, and are arranged spirally on the twigs; whitish-green and foul smelling when young, they become pleasant smelling with age.

How many types of blue spruce are there?

There are nearly 100 named selections of Colorado spruce (not all are ‘blue’ spruce), which can range from under 1 m (3 feet) to towering giants. Most are much too large for the average garden lot so care must be taken to select a smaller form if you do not want to risk the tree outgrowing its allotted space.

What is blue spruce good for?

Applied topically, blue spruce has been known to relieve tense and stressed muscles, while the woodsy aroma of this oil invigorates the senses, brings peace to the mind, and relaxes the body. Its aromatic influences may also help open and release emotional blocks, bringing a feeling of balance and peaceful security.

What makes a blue spruce blue?

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. Some trees can grow decisively blue needles, but others of the same type have green or blue-green needles.

Is a blue spruce a pine tree?

The Colorado Blue Spruce (Picea pungens) is a member of the pine tree family that is native to the Rocky Mountain regions of North America. The tree has a mature height of around 70 to 80 feet. While blue spruce grows relatively slowly, it is long-lived and may reach ages of 600-800 years.

Does a blue spruce have soft needles?

Spruce trees have thin, flaky, scaly bark while fir trees have smooth bark. Spruce trees’ most distinguishing feature, however, is sharp, stiff needles sprouting from little extensions on the branches. Firs’ needles are soft and pliable.

What kind of tree is a blue spruce?

Is Colorado spruce the same as blue spruce?

Blue spruce (Picea pungens), also famously called the Colorado spruce, is a highly adaptable plant that can grow just about anywhere and everywhere in plant hardiness zones 3 through 7.

Do blue spruce get pine cones?

The species is monoecious, and the male cones are reddish and mature to become brown, whereas female cones are purple. The male cones are all throughout the tree, whereas the female cones are at the top of the tree, which helps to facilitat cross polination. Cones are dry, hard, and pale brown.

Should you trim the bottom of a blue spruce?

Trimming bottom branches of blue spruce creates a neater appearance, and makes it easier to reach underneath the tree to rake or apply mulch. Create even spacing among branches by eliminating branches in thick sections of the tree to match the spacing in thinner sections.

What kills blue spruce trees?

By far the most common complaint of cultivated blue spruces is needle cast disease, mostly that caused by the fungus Rhizospaera kalkhoffii. It infects young needles and overwinters on living or recently killed foliage. During the growing season, the spores spread to other branches, or other trees, by splashing water.