please look at the pix.. and decide if you truly have the space this thing will need ... if not.. the rest doesnt matter ... lol

for sure.. it aint no baby ...

that said ... too much shade will not hurt ... it will just grow slower ... which maybe in your space.. that isnt all bad ...

if you can get your eyeballs on them ... get the bluest one you can.. they dont get bluer later ..

there are slower growing dwarf and mini plants that might better fit.. over the decades ...

ken

https://www.google.com/search?q=Baby+Blue+Eyes+Colorado+Spruce&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjK1tyOh4zMAhXIrYMKHaVQAs8Q_AUIBygB&biw=942&bih=711&dpr=0.9

Yeah, spruce are considered to have moderate shade tolerance. In the natural systems where they originate, an extremely common pattern is for baby spruce trees to be coming up under the (very) light shade of a declining stand of aspen and/or birch. So they do have some innate shade tolerance.

But as Ken points out, it will affect growth rates, and plant fullness. I will add too that because of the presence of some rather virulent spruce pathogens, the more light and air you can give it, the better.

Ive got two, both planted Im guessing summer 2013. They were about 3' tall when planted. The second one I planted after all my "full sun" spots were gone. I wasnt sure how it would do as I am nearly certain it never receives direct sun. Its got a big deciduous tree directly above it (granted its not super dense foliage, but rather an old "junk tree" that loses branches when its windy)and some tall conifers to the west in my yard(yard is only 90 feet wide, so like 25-30' to the west is a +/- 90-100' white pine, etc). Dappled sun all day(smaller trees to the East of it too). As sun sets, little sun. Having said that all parts of the tree in the shade do see some sun. The other is in full sun. Surprisingly the shade BBE appears to be just growing at a slower rate. I have not examined either closely (Ill try to remember to take pics next time I visit my property/future house), but so far, so good. It will be interesting to see if it "thins out a bit" as the years go by. Im guessing it will a little, but so far I havent seen signs. But I havent examined them closely, I will try to remember this weekend and post my findings.

Thanks for your comments. I'm not sure Baby Blue Eyes will work well here, but I've included two pictures if it helps. The first one was taken around 2:30 pm on March 12 and the second one around 11:30 am today. The panels of the long part of the fence are about 7 feet long while the two shorter panels are about 5 feet each.

My plan was to plant something like a Spruce that will grow to about 10-15 feet tall and that I'll be able to put lights on around Christmas time to give the backyard a very Christmas feel.

The ultimate goal is a "Christmas Tree". A local nursery recommended a Columnar Scotch Pine because it will tolerate some shade and I thought a Hinoki False Cypress might work as an alternative.

I would appreciate any other ideas you guys have.

I would approach the question of which tree to plant as "which conifer can handle a reasonable amount of shade (but that a good number of hours of direct sun wont hurt), that also looks like an Xmas tree". Upon first look that does not appear like an ideal situation (it obviously isn't, that fence height is a good % of the final height you want your tree to be), but as mentioned earlier it appears to get full sun in the later afternoon which have the strongest rays. Having said that, I think it is more than workable to get something that you will be happy with. My experience has shown that norway spruce are a reasonable amount easier to grow that colorado blue spruce(handle shade better, etc). Now you are faced with the dilemna that 50% of the questions on here revolve around (I needed a (row of) tree(s) yesterday that is 20' tall, 9' wide already and wont grow anymore). If you are willing to wait 20+ years then go buy a small reasonably priced smaller (slower growing) conifer, be patient and wait (eventually it may/will grow bigger than you want, perhaps much bigger than you want) Or (if there is even a nursery around you that sells older (and larger) slower growing conifers, you could shell out big big big big bucks and get something bigger so you dont have to wait as long. What Im learning about this hobby is that it is a lot about being patient(or having deeeeep pockets, but even then still being very patient). Im not the best person to recommend specific trees, not much experience. Ive got a lot of basic conifers- norway, colorado, black hills, serbian, canadian hemlocks, etc but not so many fancier/slower growing ones (and Ive only been into conifers/trees for 3 years) Canadian Hemlocks like shade but growing them can be finicky in Ohio(and they may not have the Xmas tree look you are looking for). Actually that is way too much sun for a Canadian hemlock(at least in Ohio, up North not as much, but I would say still too much sun, even where you live). Im thinking some type of slower growing Norway spruce, but like I said, not an expert. Im sure others will offer specific suggestions. The Norway spruce is the most bullettproof conifer I have met. Ive got a bunch planted in shady areas. They dont fill out as much when in shade but they still look great to me and plenty "Christmas-tree like".

If it was me, I would not plant any type of Colorado spruce in the corner of a fence like that unless you like needle drop and bare branches on that corner of the tree. Been there, done that (Montgomery spruce planted waaaaay too close to a dense and tall ??? Conifer, the side of the spruce closest to the conifer is mostly branches with no needles and there will never be any needles on that side now. To lessen these effects plant further from corner. Or maybe that wont bother you as it is on the opposite side you look at.

You said you were looking for a blue spruce that gets to about 12-15 ft. Tall.

I just saw a blue spruce cultivar named "bakeri" at HD that tops out at 15'. I don't know about light needs but it sounds like something you are looking for.

Thanks for all your comments.

I visited a couple of nurseries today and their comments were all over the place from "yes, that will work, no problem" to "don't waste your time and money"

So I have no idea where I'm going with this. I've also added Pyramid and Black Cedars to the list to be considered. Bakeri is a nice one, if it will thrive in this spot.

Pete, I would still like to see those pictures whenever you get a chance. If anyone has any other advice, I'm open to almost anything!

Thanks again for everyone's comments.

The tree in the shade is slightly/noticeably more sparse that the full sun tree. I took 4 picks a) looking north , b) looking west c) looking south, and d) looking east. The first pic shows overall situation of the "shade tree" . It is just below the topiary in the middle of the pic. Of course the trees havent filled in with leaves yet. The one closest to me is an American basswod, I make lures from the branches it drops. I didnt realize it but when you look at its "looking west " pic it does get direct sun this time of year (even more so now that a larger branch from a junk tree just fell, knocking out a lower branch on my dying austrian pine (i think). Lucky it didnt touch my picea orientalis aureospicata which is intended to replace the Austrian.

Heres the Montgomery spruce I planted too close. The back is mostly bare branches as little/no sun hits it. To the right 4 ever goldy, left emerald green(they are both fine). That emerald green was a freebie that was gonna be tossed, nursed it back to health. I need to figure out what that is behind all 3.

Here is the full sun baby blue eyes colorado spruce, pics in same order, me taking the picture facing a)north b) west c) south d) east.

The largest vernal pool.