White Pines & Norway Spruce - How to Arrange?

9 years ago

I am planning to plant 9 trees in my back yard, in 3 different groupings of 3 trees each. For aesthetic purposes, I would like each grouping to have one type of tree in the middle with two of the other tree type on each side and I would like to have all 3 groupings be the same. What I am trying to decide if whether the White Pine or Norway Spruce should be the center tree. In theory I would like the larger variety to be in the middle (they will all be about the same size upon planting), but based on growth rate and final size, they seem fairly comparable. In your opinions, would one of these varieties would look best in the middle/sides? This is for a wind break and privacy so if one of the varieties is better for those purposes too (i.e. more dense), then I would probably opt for it to be on the sides because there will more of them overall. But again, I am not reading any drastic differences on that either between the varieties. Help, need your opinions!

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Comments (3)

wisconsitom
9 years ago
Great tree choices-two of my favorites, so they must be good, right? So you've done your homework and yes, both are vigorous, fast growers. In my experience, white pine will shoot up a little faster a little quicker, if that makes sense. I've planted roughly 10,000 trees at my tree farm, of which nearly two thirds are these two types, and in the earliest stages of growth, the white pines win the race. A few years later, the spruce begin to put on amazing growth, some of mine in the last two years averaging nearly four feet of height increment per year.

The spruce will hold its lower branches better than the pine, so is a better windbreak/screen plant, but both are good. Beyond that, it's really your call on how to arrange. I also like the three per grouping scheme.

+oM
MRBr04
Original Author
9 years ago
Yes, I tried to do my homework as much as possible, but I got to the point where I just really needed the advice of an expert. Your feedback was SUPER helpful, thanks! Based on what you've said, it sounds like a white pine in the middle is the way to go as they will grow a little faster but are also a little less dense on the bottom, meaning that having more of the spruce will create better break and privacy screen. Long term if the spruces catch up in height, that's okay because then all of the trees will all look a little more natural anyway and I won't care that they aren't a perfect little peak in the middle. Thanks again!
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ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
9 years ago
huzzah on diversity ...

how about diversity in the groups ...??? .. why should all 3 groups be the same ... how about visual diversity ..???

on some level.. you are way over thinking this... NOW is prime planting time... make a decision.. and get them planted this weekend ...

you say they are all the same size.. how big is that??? ..need any info on planting.. or you all set on that???

ken

White Pines & Norway Spruce - How to Arrange?

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wisconsitom

MRBr04
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White Pines & Norway Spruce - How to Arrange?

Comments (3)

wisconsitom

MRBr04Original Author

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MRBr04
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