Instructions for General Care
The spruce tree must be well watered, but not drowned. Use mild fertilizers on the tree in the first season and use stronger ones when the tree is established. Keep weeds and other plants that compete for nutrients and water away from the spruce tree. Use fertilizers twice a month in spring and once a month in summer. Don´t add fertilizers right before winter.
Spruce trees can have several illnesses and pests (budworms, aphids, spider mites, etc.). You have to be watching it regularly to detect anything wrong with it. Use fungicides and when you find it necessary, cut the branches with the problem to restore the tree’s health.
When to trim
A spruce tree must have enough time to recover from trimming before winter. It is better to trim it late in winter or early in spring. Since this is right before its growing season (during spring) it will have enough time to grow more branches and needles. Avoid excessive pruning because it can affect the tree.
What to trim
You are best consulting your local tree cutting services to have a look at your tree and decide what the best course of action is. Normally the lower branches are removed in what is known as a canopy lift. This allows more light through to your home or lawn.
Eating Spruce Trees
Some people like eating the spruce trees. They use mostly some of the new, soft needles (called tips) that grow in spring to prepare food and drinks with it (like tea). People say that the young needles have a strong, concentrated sweet and acid taste.
Other people also use the cones and the pollen that they extract from the cones to prepare food. The major risk in doing this is to confuse the Picea, which is edible, with other trees that look like and are bad to eat. For example, the Yew (Taxus baccata) is toxic and looks very much like the spruce.
Characteristics of a Spruce Tree
The spruce trees are large, strong, evergreen, conic trees. They are usually used as Christmas trees during the holidays. Their botanical name is Picea. They belong to the kingdom of the Plantae, the division Pinophyta, the class Pinopsida, the order Pinales, and the conifer family Pinaceae. The word “spruce” derives from the latin “pix”, which means “pitch”.
Spruce trees grow in the taiga forests of the temperate regions of the northern hemisphere of the world (between the tropic and the arctic regions). Depending on the species and the health of the tree, they may live up to about 200 years. However, it is believed that a few specific spruce trees have lived longer than 800 years. The height of the spruce can vary from about 20 to 60 m.
There are about 40 different species of spruce trees. The most common ones are the: black spruce (Picea mariana), white spruce (Picea glauca), Colorado or blue spruce (Picea pungens), and the Norway spruce (Picea abies). The way to identify each of the species is by observing the characteristics of the cones, bark and needles.
Since spruce trees have needles instead of leaves, they are commonly confused with pines and fir trees. Bruce trees can be identified by observing their needles. These are short, with a pointed tip, and grow individually around the branches in all directions. The needles on the branches form cylindrical groups (they are never flat). Only the spruce tree needles are united to the branches through a tiny structure (like a stalk). If you pull one of the needles off, you will see it.
Optimal Conditions and Requirements for Spruce Trees
The optimal conditions that a spruce tree needs to grow are the ones that they would commonly have in their natural habitat (taiga forests). They do not grow well in the arctic and tropical regions, where the climate is very different. They grow better when they receive direct sunlight. They must be separated from constructions, large objects, and plants to avoid their shade and to have enough space to grow large. The soil must be sandy, moist, a little acidic, and with good drainage. Spruce trees need to be planted a few months before the frost season. The weather should not be too dry when you plant it.
Dig a hole that is not too deep, but twice as large as the size of the roots. Cut the plastic pot away carefully, but do not pull it. Get the roots wet and put the tree in place. Put the dirt back in the hole and moisten it to eliminate airbags that could dry the roots.
Conclusion
Spruce trees are a very interesting type of tree that can be grown in many places, as long as the climate relates to that of its habitat. Planting spruce requires attention to see how the tree is responding to the place where it was planted and to the care it is receiving. Once the tree is established it requires less care than in the beginning. It is a tree that people really enjoy having near their houses.
