help with Dwarf Alberta Spruce (I think that's what it is)
Hoping to get some input here. We have this huge tree/shrub thing in the backyard (bought the house last year, didn't plant it ourselves) that we don't particularly love. Well, the whole yard needs a makeover but I'm taking it one little step at a time. Anyway, this thing is big-- maybe 6' tall and all fat and sloppy looking (IMO). It's right by the corner of the pool and takes up too much space for our taste. Hubby wants to remove it but I was wondering if we maybe could prune it some, maybe give it an interesting shape? Not anything crazy like one of those spirals or anything; I'm sure it's much too established to start that at this point, and I don't really love those intricately contrived shapes anyway.
Anyone have any thoughts on that? If it's even possible, and if so-- how I could go about doing it? I'd most like to clear out a foot or 2 of the bottom branches, so I can get under to weed. There is some sort of ivy-ish thing that sprouts up under there and it's impossible to get it all with all those big branches in the way. Then if we could do something interesting in addition, that'd be awesome.
Oh and it's in full sun, at least until about 4:30 in the afternoon come mid-summer. Is that still considered full sun?
Comments (14)
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
10 years agoEmbothrium
10 years agoRelated Discussions
re Christmas tree in a pot - it's a Dwarf Alberta Spruce
Comments (6)Ok - warm house bad, freezing root ball solid bad, occasional watering good, having a cold dormancy good. So the garage is it. I can set it out easily whenever I pull the car out, on moderate days, and so it will get some light, but never get too warm. The garage stays in high 30's even when below zero outside, so it will get to be cold, but not freeze the root ball hard. I have it sitting in the overturned top of an old cat litter box, so that watering it occasionally will also be easy. Thank you all for the cautious encouragement!...See Moredwarf alberta spruce, purple leaf plums, smoketree...what else?
Comments (2)Interestingly, my purple smoke tree leaves or more of a dark red or burgundy and very similar in color to the purple leaf plums. I should note that the smoketree is maybe 3 feet tall right now. Will the color of the leaves remain constant with age?...See MoreOverwintering Potted Dwarf Alberta Spruce
Comments (2)The real question has to do with the low temperatures the plants have already been subjected to. Even though Alberta spruce is listed as Z4 hardy, roots can be killed when they are being grown in pots. The thermal mass present in the ground is absent in pots and the temperature of the planting medium can fall low enough to kill roots. The subzero temperatures of the past week may well have already been too much. I would certainly keep them out of direct sun and wind and be very careful not to over water. I'd opt for the garage as long as it's unheated. Extreme cold combined with high winds can so dehydrate Alberta spruces that they develop large brown patches. Outright death is more unusual. Erecting a burlap screen to protect from sun and wind is a good idea. Don't wrap burlap directly around the tree, though....See MoreTips on raising a Jean's Dilly alberta spruce dwarf?
Comments (11)are you absolutely sure on this ID ... there are a couple holiday type conifers.. which are sold as basically throw away ... .. plants after the holidays ...usually sold in 4 inch pots ... [google of the latin.. tells me this is one of them] if it was outdoors when you got it ... it is probably dormant ... and could probably be planted in mother earth ... subject to the horrible OH clay down in columbus ... i would NEVER try to winter over a conifer/tree.,... in a 4 inch pot ... i would.. at a min ... repot it.. with NO root disturbance.. to a one gal... with proper media ... i might even just sink pot and all in the larger pot ... its all about maintaining the roots dormant... on days temps spike.. as tiny pots.. warm fast ... trees ... of which conifers are ... like a sip of water ... and then near total drainage .... even in august.. in MI ... i might water mine once a month or so .... but then.. i dont have then in 4 inch pots ... let it near dry .... in between waterings ... and do fully understand ... a dormant tree does not need all that much water .... its also problematic.. that we dont know the media already in the pot ... media for production.. in a small pot.. can be wildly divergent from what you might need ... it might hold too much water on purpose.. and that purpose is NOT yours ... you are dreaming that your sunporch might only be a few degrees warmer ... i smoke in my attached garage ... and it can be 15 to 30 degrees warmer than outside.. on sunny days... in mid winter ..... and that wont be good ... you are spot on on the wind issue .... reducing that is good ... ken ps: dannaher... i meant to enable you ... i did not expect you to go asking them.. how to take care of a plant you bought elsewhere ... maybe the website will have info .... Here is a link that might be useful: galena.. westerville.. whatever ......See Morennmjdklil
10 years agoEmbothrium
10 years ago
tsugajunkie z5 SE WI ♱
10 years agonnmjdklil
10 years agoken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
10 years agowannabegardnr
10 years agoken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
9 years agonnmjdklil
9 years agoken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
9 years agonnmjdklil
9 years agoOk I'm back from wet-basement-hell. Long way to go but the worst is over and I'm ready to look at some other things for a bit!
Ken, thanks for all the great tips. I have seen that inside brown/dead-ness on other conifers --oddly enough I think we had one of these in my first years at the last house, much smaller though, that started to die little by little all around and I seem to remember pushing branches out of the way mid-process and seeing nothing inside but death. Ha. So good warning, thanks!
I'm posting another few pics here quick to show better where this thing is currently residing. I want you all to see how
1) nothing else could really be planted around it, unless of course it didn't have branches all the way to the ground, and
2) it's already taking up way too much spaceI've googled "dwarf alberta spruce bonsai" for general shaping ideas and I like almost everything there. Is it safe to assume that I could work on copying one of those shapes, even though mine will be on a much bigger scale? Didn't want to copy other peoples pictures without their permission to show, but the point I'm trying to make is that I'm pretty open to different options. Most of them seem to still have their pointy tops so I suppose leaving that would work out just fine for me. Unless that means it'll get even taller... which I guess it does, ha.
Ok here come some pics. Just so everyone knows: I am completely unhappy with the way most everything in and around my house looks today. We bought it for the bare bones-- it has a pool where the kids will want to hang out with their friends, and a garage where hubby will want to play : ) and a basement that we THOUGHT we'd love for storage and a family room but this recent flooding has tainted that part for us. Anyway, I'm not proud to post these pics-- and many of the others I will be posting around this site soon for other reasons-- but I will do it anyway so that I can get some proper insight from all of you and so that as I slowly make progress, you will be able to see how your insight has helped me along...
nnmjdklil
9 years agoOk so the spruce is planted with rocks and ugly old pavers all around it-- like Ken said, it's clear that someone planted it not realizing how big it would get-- right on the side of the steps leading down to the pool filter that I have to access daily. It's already close to being in the way of that path, plus there are green onion-ish weeds and some sort of vine like weed that grows beneath it-- not ivy I don't think but something that's been difficult for me to pull out with the spruce in the way. It was everywhere last year and I was able to get most of it but not what's under the spruce obviously.
For the record, I use straight vinegar in a pump sprayer to kill the weeds in the pavers but I need a forecast without rain for a few days and we haven't had that for a while!
I'm not a fan of the white plastic fence or the green shutters either. Some day.
tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)