Large/Huge unusual spruce?

15 years ago

Has anyone posting here ever tried or successfully grown any of the large 'unusual' spruce cultivars? Mainly I am referring to

Picea abies `Aarburg'

Picea abies `Cranstonii'

Picea abies `Inversa'

Picea abies `Rotenhausii'

Picea abies `Virgata'

I have a couple cultivars already(`Rotenhausii'/

`Cranstonii') and I am wondering if I can sneak them into smaller places, 6'x6' spots(with unlimited heighth room). I'm also wondering how they do with part shade.

Thanks for any info!

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Comments (9)

pineresin
15 years ago
Saw the title and thought you were going to post this!

;-)

Here is a link that might be useful:
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
15 years ago
the rat tail ... or virigata .. grows about 1 to 3 feet per year for me.... very aggressive.. very odd ....

i have 5 acres.. i have room .. you dont .... unless you are hiding a big backyard ... lol ..

you do know how to find annual growth rates at the ACS... yes???

ken
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Wow - you dug up a seriously old post! So I did end up planting a very long screen -- basically the entire length of the property line -- and I'm actually really happy with how it turned out. We used Thuja Green Giant arborvitae in the center where the tallest part of the house we are trying to block out is -- we planted them a decent distance apart, not all jammed up like I see people do for a property line screen. They have grown fast, widened out, and are basically almost up to the roof of the house we are trying to hide. I think they should cap out right about 35 feet or so, which won't block the view. We planted a few during our initial planting then filled in with a few more a couple years later -- those later plantings are a bit stunted - not sure if it's because we squeezed them into less space or they were just inferior to begin with (originals came from a nursery and were planted by a landscaper, later ones from Home Depot and we DIYed them). But they are all growing well and healthy, and seem impervious to deer, wind, cold, snow, etc. To the sides of the arborvitate, we used Nellie Stevens hollies. They too have grown fast. They don't much care for the wind -- they ended up looking pretty bad by the end of the last two winters (which were brutally cold and windy) but they filled in with new leaves in the spring. The deer don't seem to eat them either. And again, I think they cap out at 20 feet or so. To the sides of that (which is getting away from blocking the house and now just screening their yard from ours) we used forsythias planted very close together that we let grow wild into a thick hedge -- mainly because I love forsythia. It's not evergreeen but the hedge is so thick and branches are so close together that it does a decent job of screening even in winter. And in spring when it is in bloom, it is an absolutely stunning wall of yellow. Again the deer don't bother them and they seem to grow well without much care. And finally at the very end of the property lines, we used sea green junipers -- again, we were looking for something evergreen but it didn't need to be tall - we were only trying to hide the neighbor's "junk pile" which was unfortunately located so that it was the first thing you saw when you pulled into our driveway. Those are the plants that look the sickliest -- there's always big brown patches in them and the snow breaks the branches. But they are farthest from the house and from far away they look ok, so I don't mind them. I think if I had to do it over again, I'd have used all forsythia instead of also using juniper -- the forsythia are just so amazingly gorgeous when they are in bloom. I would take a picture for you but we are in the middle of a storm right now -- if I remember, I will get one tomorrow. Here's a link to a pic of what it looked like when we first planted itin 2009: Newly planted And here's a shot from the summer of 2012 (sorry for lousy pic -- best I could find): Three years old I would say that this year it really started to look good since the green giants are basically touching now.
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firefightergardener
Original Author
15 years ago
Hi again!

Yes I need to use the ACS database more. I'll take a look today. My backyard is fairly substancial - probably a triangle shape with something like 100'x 120'(to the triangle tip). Now there are already a lot of conifers, pines and maples planted back there, but I am hoping to squeeze in some unique growing cultivars. My southernly exposed side yard is also signifigant, maybe 25'x60'. It gets direct overhead sun in summer and filtered sun in spring and fall, I am just trying to get an idea if a fast growing spruce will tollerate less then perfect light conditions.

Thanks for the pic haha, that tree is massive!
Embothrium
15 years ago
Spruces often grow in part shade in nature. They are mostly forest species not as sensitive to shade as most pines. But any specimen with heavy shade coming from nearby on one side will have its growth affected, being thinner there. And if you are going to be planting a non-dwarf curious form like P. abies f. virgata such an attention-grabbing curiosity needs to have a place where it can eventually become the dominant feature over a large space, as does the more than 78' tall one in Seattle's Volunteer Park*.

The worm-like P. abies 'Inversa' can be seen 32'+ tall in Kubota Gardens Park. Photos of another one 52' high (1992) as well as a f. virgata in Volunteer Park (perhaps the same one already mentioned) can be seen on page 92 of Van Pelt, Champion Trees of Washington State (1996, University of Washington Press, Seattle).

*As far as I know it is still there. It was a few years ago.
firefightergardener
Original Author
15 years ago
""And if you are going to be planting a non-dwarf curious form like P. abies f. virgata such an attention-grabbing curiosity needs to have a place where it can eventually become the dominant feature over a large space, as does the more than 78' tall one in Seattle's Volunteer Park*.""

I was hoping to place it alongside the house, near a path where it could eventually be plenty high, but contained length and width-wise to about a 8'x8' spot. Would that turn into a disaster in 20 years?
Embothrium
15 years ago
The snakebranch spruces I have seen are quite open and I don't think it would take long for one to reach 8' either. Even a small one is a bizarre note in the landscape - once starting to branch a sort of explosion of tentacles - that needs a large visual space, regardless of the physical size of the specimen itself. The weeping spruce could be trained to grow up and over an access route, if it didn't happen to grow in that particular direction on its own.

The 'Coralliformis' hinoki is easily found at outlets and produces a nice densely conical specimen from a distance, yet is actually quite distorted up close. Maybe something like that is what you need for that spot.

Nurseries tend to use the name 'Torulosa' for it.
barbaraincalif
15 years ago
Did someone say Hinoki????

Here are pictures of my 12yo Chamaecyparis obtusa 'Torulosa' showing size and the crested foliage.

Barbara
Embothrium
15 years ago
Yes: 'Coralliformis', showing the habit and foliage I was talking about. It's even near the house!
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
15 years ago
link to ACS database for virgata.. i cant remember who i referred there.. but its your lucky day .... i did it for you .. lol .. this time

me thinks it will not fit in your path ... or be a tree i would want within say 30 feet of the house ....

i live 12 miles from the pic at hidden lakes gardens... maybe 30 feet square ground cover...

how about checking out snake or fort ann ... i think they are p glauca ... both are in the database with pix ... dont know if glauca is shade tolerant as bboy mentions for abies ....

and if memory serves... fort ann[e?] was offered by girards nursery, mail order ... though i dont know why you would mail order cross country when you are in production heaven in the PNW ... and frankly ... in one gal size .... i am not sure they are all that different .... nor do i know their future potential ....

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: link

Large/Huge unusual spruce?

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pineresin

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

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Large/Huge unusual spruce?

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pineresin

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

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Embothrium

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Embothrium

barbaraincalif

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ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

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firefightergardener
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