Yes, they can, but they are very rarely planted there (there are some in the arboretum at Kilmun in Argyll, but I don't know of any others in western Scotland). Other species like Sitka Spruce and Norway Spruce are far more commonly planted.

Can you post a pic of your 'Pine Tree'? (spruces are not pines, of course!)

Resin

Conifer needles are not generally considered toxic, but their litter does acidify the soil. Lack of other vegetation beneath the plantation may also be due to dense shade.

I have native red spruce trees growing on my timberland in Western MD. I have a few that are very old, probbly well over 200 years and about 28 to maybe 30 inches in diameter and 85 feet tall. Beautiful! But, these trees are very sensitive and do not grow well anywhere I have seen them planted outside their natural range. Even those dug up from the nearby woods and planted in yards--I have several such around an old farmhouse on my timberland--do not grow especially well, and most develop some kind of fungal infection that causes a lot of pitch to bleed from the trunk and which often kills the lower limbs. They are also very slow growing except when they grow out in the woods naturally, where their growth rate is at best moderate.

But on the tops of the higher mountains in the central Appalachians, elevations 3700 feet, or better over 4,000, they often form very, very dense pure stands, called "balds." They dominate these sites and hemlocks can barely compete with them. These sites often build up a thick layer of peat-like organic material over the soil.

So, if you want to try these in Scotland, it may be an interesting experiment--I would not discourage you if an experiment is what you want. But if you want to see a nice spruce tree grow, Norway spruce should be your #1 choice. Red spruce is one of the most "site sensitive" trees I know, Norway spruce is one of the least sensitive.

--Spruce

Hi Spruce - the Red Spruces in western Scotland were doing quite well, though slow-growing; good, dense, healthy crowns, and a reasonable cone crop. But the best spruce there - by far - is Sitka Spruce, much better adapted to the cool summers and high rainfall than Norway Spruce is. I've seen 2 metre long lead shoots on Sitkas there, about 3 times the growth rate of Norway Spruce (and about 8 times the growth rate of Red Spruce there!).

Resin

I love this tree. If it could be grown anywhere outside of its native range its got the best chance to survive in Western Scotland.

Resin:

So Norway spruce is slow growing in Scotland--but how do the trees look? Here in the Winchester, VA area it takes about 60 years for an open grown NS to reach about 75 feet (a little under 25 meters). This is not really fast growth, but the trees are beautiful.

I have always loved Sitka spruce and have spent some time in their native range on the Pacific coast. But I never thought they were nearly as attractive as NS, except for their massive trunks up to about 20 feet (6 1/2 meters) in diameter, soaring height up to 300 feet (95+ meters), and great age (1,000 plus years). But their foliage is not the fullest, the weep not the most graceful, and their often rather open crowns can seem a little awkward, (although to my eye they can be picturesque).

--Spruce

Eh, i have never seen a NS in my life that made me want to go get one for my own land or plant it for public places.

There are exceptions to the rule that red spruce is exacting in sites. I have one in northeast Ohio (z5)that has been in the ground about 8 years (started as a 1 gallon seedling from ForestFarm) it is about 4 meters tall and very healthy and has a good crop of cones now. A friend there has transplanted several from property in West Virginia - they have been growing over 25 years and look great. I have even seen a small planting in northern Minnesota (z3) that are growing slow, but healthy.

"So Norway spruce is slow growing in Scotland--but how do the trees look?"

Not too good in western Scotland; they look better in the east, where it's a bit warmer and drier. In the west they look much like high altitude specimens in the Alps, with rather bushy crowns, not graceful drooping branchlets. A bit like

Resin