Colorado Blue Spruce
Colorado Blue Spruce (Picea pungens) – Colorado spruce, native to regions of the Rocky Mountains in the western and southwestern United States, is planted throughout the United States and Canada as an ornamental evergreen, including all of Ohio. Although it is commonly seen in forms that display blue or blue-silver needles, green-needled forms also exist. Many selections have been made for both color and growth habit, the latter of which may be dwarf, weeping, broad, columnar, or formally pyramidal into maturity. Tree forms are not usually limbed up, but allowed to branch to the ground throughout their life. Most trees may easily reach 50 feet tall by 25 feet wide at the base, although in the wild much taller specimens are commonly reached. Perhaps no other evergreen tree is as cherished for home landscapes as the Blue Spruce. As a member of the Pine Family, it is related to other Spruces, as well as the Firs, Larches, Pines, and Hemlocks.

Colorado Spruce prefers moist, acidic soils that may be organic, sandy, or loamy; the soils must not be poorly drained or wet. It is also adaptable to a variety of less than favorable conditions, including poor, clay, rocky, dry soils of acidic, neutral, or alkaline pH. It survives under seasonal drought once it is established, and takes well to city pollution. It grows in full sun to partial sun in zones 3 to 7.

Colorado Spruce is generally a healthy tree, and like most spruces, it suffers needle damage due to feeding by various spider mites. It also is subject to spruce gall aphid, causing its branch tips to die back, and several other diseases and pests may cause minor problems. It is especially drought tolerant, including young transplants that have been root-pruned into ball and burlap form.
 

Summary

Shape: Pyramidal
Foilage: Evergreen needles
Height: 30 to 60 feet
Spread: 10 to 20 feet
Zone: 3 to 7
Light: Full sun to partial sun
Moisture: Widely adaptable
Soil Type: Sandy, adaptable
Uses: Sight/Privacy screens, wind breaks, accent planting, Christmas tree
Comments: Slow growing and requires little, if any, pruning. Deer dislike blue spruce

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