*What* are you talking about Spruceman?! Picea abies 'Cupressina' is considered a dwarf form of spruce that grows only 20'-30' tall and 8'-10' wide. It is certainly a narrow cultivar, Spruceman. It is native to north and central Europe and grows quite fast once established. Its dense growth is perfect as a screen or "evergreen fence." You know *exactly* what she meant by that too, term snob. This tree can be hard to find. A nursery near me, Flower World, has several mature specimens on their campus which look nothing like what Spruceman described. A very beautiful, fast growing, columnar tree. I highly recommend it. Matter of fact, I think I'm going to go get one...

Ken, I have read you rant about maples many, many times. May I plant maples and not worry about their effect in 5, 10, 20 years? ;) (I don't actually want a maple.) I know you caution against them for multiple reasons..... so I'm just trying to see if I should have concerns about the spruce roots as well... ===>>> you miss the wisdom of it all .. i will yell.. I DONT CARE WHAT YOU DO IN YOUR GARDEN... you take what i say.. and use it.. or file it appropriately ... all i can tell you .. is my experience ... and that is key .. because i am not telling you what other wise sages have written or posted on the WWW ... i speak from my personal experience .. in my personal gardens ... if you want to make the same mistakes i made.. ALL THE POWER TO YA .... i learned by making mistakes ... you feel free to do the same ... you said: Picea glauca Pendula (which grows at least a foot a year. I know I have space for the tree above ground.............. what happens below ground is another story. :)) ===>>> this one grows straight up ... are you spacing it for 20 foot plus potential ... one foot by 20 years??? or is the placement too close to the house ??? but Picea abies Pendula.. BUT .. there always seem to be a big but around.. lol ... you train it to the height you want.. and then it grows one foot per year... STRAIGHT DOWN ... i dont have time right now for pics .... one is a true weeper.. as per Pa pendula... the other.. glauca ... is a vertical leader plant.. with all BRANCHES weeping down.. making it rather thin ... [BTW.. this is another rant of mine.. where one term describes two growth habits .. pshaw] if you google the latin on each.. and flip to the IMAGES side ... i bet you will now see the difference ... and you will run across a very large glauca that you hopefully will understand that you can not plant within 20 feet of the house or so.. which would rule out your space that i am envisioning in my mind ... how about a pic???? ken

let me put it another way .. the leader is right there staring you in the face ... but its not that old dead stuff.. its the new leader right next to it... i would tie the short one to the old one.. to make it a bit more vertical.. and call it a day ... but dont break it.. and in two years.. it wont even show ... and in fall untie.. and cut out the dead part.. or just do it now [cut out the dead].. obviously this plant is sorting itself out just fine ... IMHO.. its not a warranty issue.. by a long stretch ... ken

By the way, 12 cedar trees from BB HD a year earlier also turned brown and died. ==>>> so if i understand correctly... EVERYTHING you have bought.. from bigboxstore has died.. or is dieing... and you want us to tell you why?? am i with you so far???? well... wait for it... its because you are buying carp stock from a freakin hardware store.... buy quality stock.. and avoid these problems... you cant turn a bad plant.. into a good plant with fertilizer.. good soil... or anything else ... just stop buying bad plants... especially end of the year bargains .... this is a case of trying to make a bargain work... and with trees.. it doenst work all the time.... mail order some quality stock from some place like conifer kingdom... or any local SPECIALTY conifer nursery .... and 99% of your problems will be solved [. this will not help the one planted 6 inches from a wheel-less car.. next to an 8 foot wall ... well it looks like a cinder block there ...] and with your desire.. and limited space.. you need to look for mini conifers... so you can collect a few .... and use very little ground .... below is a pic of 15 or so mostly mini conifers around my patio .... i admit i screwed up on putting a few small dwarfs there .. but one thing for sure.. you wont find these at the hardware store.... ken