Red spruce survival?

3 months ago

last modified: 3 months ago

Christmas tree options: I'd like something I can plant after the holidays on my property in western NC. It's zone 6B and about 2,290 feet elevation.

I can dig a small 3-4 foot red spruce (Picea rubens) that's likely to be bulldozed by future road/home construction.

What are the odds of survival if I do a good job digging? Would being in a warm home for a few weeks weaken it more?

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Comments (3)

gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
3 months ago
Any extended time indoors will shorten its lifespan significantly. Conifers are not houseplants :-) When I worked at the nursery, we always instructed those purchasing a live tree with hopes for replanting to move the tree indoors for a week or less. (emphasis on the less). Make sure the rootball is fully hydrated and site in the coolest location away from any heat sources or drafts.
Ontario_Canada5a_USDA4b
3 months ago
Mrs. Claus keeps red spruces (Picea rubens) as houseplants, to help them survive the nibbling reindeers of her husband :-)
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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
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Just checking in....I got my 5 red spruce seedlings from NH Nursery back in the spring and I planted them immediately. I liked that they left a lot of dirt on the roots and just threw them in the shipping bag, rather than wash everything off the roots and tie them up etc like other places. This seems to have helped them settle in because every single one survived, grew and handled all the stresses of season change without me watering them at all. Here in northern NJ, we had two heat wave/semi-droughts and they went through them with no problem. I attribute this to both the fact that they are native to my neighborhood and that they were all planted in part sun or almost full shade, depending. They each put on 2-3 inches of growth so they're still very tiny. I expect something similar next year. And honestly, I've read about 100 year old red spruce that are only a few feet high. They have high shade tolerance but will grow super slow in that deep shade, so it seems their growth is super dependent on sun intensity. So I look forward to seeing how each of my 5 grow differently depending on the different conditions I've placed them in. Very happy I skipped the norway spruce in favor of this beautiful native tree!
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ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
3 months ago
if you had transplanted it last fall or winter.. and grew it in the pot all summer long.. getting over all those stresses ...

then JUST MAYBE.. you could get away with having it in the house THIS xmas ...

when i tried this with fall purchased potted trees... i closed off the living room from all furnace heat.. and cracked open a window for proper humidity for a tree .. that room was very cold for the 2 weeks... in fact.. just like it was outside ....which is where the trees should be ...

i also had the holes dug outside.. with bags of fall leaves in the holes.. and all the soil in the heated garage.. so that when i took them out.. i could throw them in the hole.. water it as the ground hadnt frozen under the leaves.. back filled them properly.. and then used the leaves to put a giant pile of leaves around each tree ..

as you can see.... you have a lot of variables to consider and overcome.. to be successful here..

all that said.. they are free.. why not give it a try ... worse that could happen would be you kill it.. which is exactly what would happen if you bought a cut tree anyway ...

soooo.. go for it..

ken

ps: try to place them away form the forced air furnace if you have one.. hot blowing air on a transplant would not be approved ...

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Red spruce survival?

Comments (3)

gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)

Ontario_Canada5a_USDA4b

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ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

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