welcome joe ....

you will find better answers in search engines.. if you use the latin names ... as far as i am concerned.. if the source cant be bothered to use the proper latin name.. then everything said therein is suspect ...

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=Picea+abies&t=ffcm&ia=about

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=Picea+glauca&t=ffcm&ia=about

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=Picea+abies+vs+picea+glauca&t=ffcm&ia=about

in my part of MI.. just south of ann arbor ... in my sand.. they both grow like the weeds they are .... it cant be any hotter here than for you.. in summer ...

i can not address the clay.. but point out.. that all ball and burlap plants.. are grown in clay.. else they would just be selling bags of lose sand ...

the usual problem with clay ... is how you plant them and care for them.. until they can put their roots down into the clay ... without you drowning them in non draining holes ..

all that said.. i have no idea why you wouldnt diversify ... NEVER plant all of anything.. else some plague might come along.. and destroy all of them ... so to avoid total loss ... mix and match ...

ken

Word on the street is that Norway spruce have a much higher mortality rate after transplant than Black Hills. I'd say over 60% to 70% of evergreen trees planted in the Twin Cities for commercial landscaping are Black Hills spruce. Over-planted? Definitely, but landscapers and others are obviously having great success with them....for now, anyway. I've been growing Black Hills in heavy clay soil for years and have never had a significant problem with them. And it can get quite hot and extremely humid during the summer months here. I know a lot of evergreen growers do spray them with fungicide to keep needlecast from ever developing, but I have never had to.

If you want Norway spruce, hold out for them. Keep looking. Someone in your area has to have access to get them from the large tree suppliers. And they should be able to get them in the smaller sizes you want. I prefer Norway spruce. I wish I could go back in time and change out some of the white spruce and Colorado spruce I have planted. Norways, in my area anyway, seem to age better, hold their shape and density better than other spruce. They are more prone to winter burn at a young age compared to Black Hills however, but that may all depend on how wide open of a space they are planted. I'd plant more of them if I knew landscapers would buy them all.

They do well in hot dry weather but struggle with humidity. They decline quickly after 15 to 20 years.

Better options include White Spruce, Serbian spruce and Norway spruce. Oriental Spruce could work as well but slightly more picky compared to the others.

landscapers love blue spruce and black hills for the Midwest as they grow quickly and transplant easily. However it’s a consumable with it’s shorter life cycle.

I agree with mntreegrower that Norway spruce ages better than Black Hills Spruce. I also agree that they are more prone to winter burn at a young age, but other than that it is a better tree. It also grows faster. Either one is superior to Colorado spruce, which is the last one I would choose in SE Wisconsin. We have limited experience with Serbian spruce, but our 2-3 foot trees are showing some burn after last winter.

My experience is limited to my region, but seems Norway spruce may be the least "handsome" of the spruces when young (rather plain), but it ends up being the most dependable, adaptable and long-lived. Last one I bought was a 2 footer mail-order from https://www.directgardening.com/

Some great info here...thanks for all the comments. I should have noted that needle cast is very common in blue spruces in my local area, even within neighboring properties. My research suggests norway has moderate resistance to this, and I don't see it in the norways around here. I haven't read much concerning Black Hills and needle cast.

I'll hold out and possibly contact nurseries outside my local area in my search. I guess it was the prevalence of Black Hills and absence of Norways in retail around here that made me wonder if Norways had fallen out of favor in recent years. Sound like they haven't.

Joe, Norways have fallen out of favor, because they're not "native". But I've never, ever seen it spread in the wild & never seen it on an "invasive" list.

Finally located a couple nice 3-4' Norway Spruces. The gardener at the place I bought them recommended that if the soil doesn't drain very well, to raise them up 10-12" on a small mound...and of course keeping the root flare above the new mound. Claims they stay scraggly and yellowish in their young age in heavy wet soil. Based on other landscaping I've done, I'd say the spot they are going qualifies as somewhat heavy and wet in the spring. Does the mound sound like good advice to you all?

I’ve got spontaneous seedlings in my woods, but I’d be hard pressed to say it’s invasive. It’s a hardy, rapid growing tree that native birds seem to like. :). It’ll never be my favorite spruce, but I sure have a number of them around the garden.

Plant it on a mound & should be OK. I have a tiny Serbian spruce (very close to Norway) & it survived but hardly grew in very wet soil -- finally moved it just recently to a drier spot.

I have noticed that when planting on a mound, the mound settles after some time revealing more of the roots than I would like. So I would recommend planting the trees with the root flare lightly covered by soil, which can be brushed away if necessary once the mound has settled. BTW my next door neighbor has a Black Hills spruce that looks fabulous. We have hot, often humid summers here and the soil is a clay loam that can get pretty mucky when wet, not that drainage is a problem in his yard.

We had about 2" of rain this past Friday and Saturday, and the last 2 days have been sunny and about 65 degrees. The area I was planning on planting is still mucky when I stick a shovel down. This is only my second spring on this property, so I'm still learning about the ground I got. I'm going to watch this area for a few days, see how long it takes the ground to drain and dry up a little. I may be fighting a losing battle trying to plant any conifer in this area. If I do a mound, it's going to be a hand made mound, so not that big. Unless someone has a recommendation for a conifer that can handle wet ground for half the year.

I don't know how you feel about deciduous conifers, but a bald cypress would probably love that spot. 'Mickelson' AKA Shawnee Brave is a beautiful cultivar and the weepers are also very attractive if you're not a fan of the natural form.