The spruce tree includes 35 species under the genus Picea and is a part of the Pinaceae family. These trees are easily identifiable as they display needles attached to the branch. You can grow them as a privacy screen or on hedges of your garden. Here are different types of spruce trees to help you make the right selection!
Check out Our Article on Growing Blue Spruce Tree Here!
1. Bird’s Nest Spruce
Botanical Name: Picea abies ‘Nidiformis’
USDA Zone: 3-8
Height: 2-4 feet
The Bird’s Nest is a variety of Norway spruce that displays a dwarf round conifer shrub with a unique flat top. It features small and dainty, dark green, and needle-like leaves. When the plant ages, the outer part grows higher than the middle, forming a ‘bird’s nest’ structure from which its both common and botanical names derived.
Tip: If you want an evergreen conifer on your patio, then grow this shrub in a container.
2. Black Spruce
Botanical Name: Picea mariana
USDA Zone: 2-5
Height: 25-40 feet
Black spruce is a North American species that prefers wet areas and mainly lives in an environment known as taiga or boreal forest. The tree forms a spire-like crown, dark blue-green needles, and inverted ends, with lower foliage touching the ground. This variety is an ideal choice for cold Northern weather.
3. Brewer Spruce
Botanical Name: Picea breweriana
USDA Zone: 5-8
Height: 65-125 feet
Due to the hanging branches, it is also known as weeping spruce. It is an evergreen conifer species that forms drooping branches and needle-like, broad, upright to oval-shaped, blue-green leaves. The brewer spruce has won the Royal Horticulture Society’s Award of Garden Merit.
4. Caucasian Spruce
Botanical Name: Picea orientalis
USDA Zone: 4-7
Height: 60-125 feet
Caucasian or white spruce is an evergreen coniferous species that is easily noted for its tall, straight needles and hanging cones. It can survive in a range of soil types. This beautiful tree features shiny, dark-green, short-needled, and bright red cones in late April or early May.
5. Colorado Blue Spruce
Botanical Name: Picea pungens
Height: 30-60 feet
Native to the rocky mountains in the United States, the Colorado Blue Spruce is a member of the Pine family. It displays pointed silver-blue needles, which have fresh piney smell. The pyramidal shape and color of foliage make this tree an ideal choice for a Christmas tree!
Tip: If you want different types of spruce tree dwarf variety, then grow ‘Fat Albert,’ ‘Glauca Globosa,’ and ‘Glauca Jean’s Dilly.’
6. Dwarf Alberta Spruce
Botanical Name: Picea glauca ‘Conica’
USDA Zone: 2-6
Height: 10-13 feet
The dwarf Alberta spruce is a popular shrub that forms perfect pyramidal Christmas tree shape. This cultivar of white spruce is slow-growing and looks ideal in pots placed on the front door or driveway. It can be used for setting a spiral shrub topiary as well.
7. Engelmann’s Spruce
Botanical Name: Picea engelmannii
USDA Zone: 3-7
Height: 80-90 feet
The Engelmann’s spruce name was derived from the name of botanist and physician George Engelmann. It is considered as a subspecies of the white spruce. The wood of this tree is used in the lumber industry and for making musical instruments. This tree can survive up to a hundred years!
8. Norway Spruce
Botanical Name: Picea abies
USDA Zone: 2-7
Height: 40-60 feet
Also known as European spruce, this species is endemic to Eastern, Central, and Northern Europe. The Norway spruce is mainly grown for its wood; it is used in making stringed musical instruments as it echoes well. This spruce variety can be used as a Christmas tree. You can grow ‘Inversa’ cultivar, which is a dwarf weeping variety.
9. Red Spruce
Botanical Name: Picea rubens
USDA Zone: 3-6
Height: 60-80 feet
The red spruce is an evergreen coniferous variety that has red and hairy twigs. Its leaves have a needle-like shape and a yellow-green color. This spruce can be grown in a shaded area with sufficient moisture. It is also called as yellow spruce due to the light-yellow wood of the tree.
10. Serbian Spruce
Botanical Name: Picea omorika
This needled evergreen conifer species is native to Western Serbia, Eastern Bosnia, and Herzegovina. The tree has a pyramidal, narrow, spire-like structure, with pendant branches that mount at the tips. It can survive in shades and droughts. Serbian Spruce does well in moderately moist soil.
11. Sitka Spruce
Botanical Name: Picea sitchensis
USDA Zone: 6-8
Height: 150-250 feet
The Sitka spruce is the state tree of Alaska; it is the tallest variety of spruce featuring needle-like straight and sharp leaves. It can reach up to 300 feet in the wild. If you are cultivating Sitka spruce, it will remain ‘shorter’ in the landscape area, though, make sure there is sufficient room, as it grows up to 100 feet tall.
12. White Spruce
Botanical Name: Picea glauca
Height: 50-130 feet
The white spruce is ideal for growing as a shade tree or privacy screen. It grows in a large, pyramidal shape, with fragrant foliage. This popular conifer has origin to Canada and the Northwestern United States. It is also popular as a Christmas tree.
13. Siberian Spruce
Botanical Name: Picea obovata
Height: 50-120 feet
The Siberian spruce is an evergreen conifer that belongs to Siberia and Northwestern Mongolia. This spruce is a medium-sized tree with drooping branches and a conical crown. It has needle-like gray-green leaves and cylindric cones. The wood of Siberian spruce has uses in papermaking. Its leaves are the main ingredient in making spruce beer.
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