White Spruce Tree

Why the White Spruce?

This tree has often been heralded as a beautiful tree, whether lining the banks of a North Country river or gracing someone’s front yard. In landscape, it is often used as a lovely specimen tree or grouping and makes a sturdy option for windbreaks and buffer strips.

Need a Hardy Evergreen? The White Spruce is for you!

This tree is drought tolerant, cold tolerant and able to grow in nearly every soil condition from dry, polluted soils to wet, acidic soils. And it's been called the most beautiful tree in existence. It's no wonder why: This tree grows in a grand, pyramidal shape and is thick with light-green needles.

Latin: Picea glauca

Zones: 2-6

Other common names: Canadian spruce, Black Hills spruce, skunk spruce, cat spruce

Mature Height/spread: 75 ft. high/ 10-20 ft. spread medium growth rate

Soil / Climate: Large trees transplant easily, best in well-drained, sandy soils, prefers acidic soils and cooler climates, likes full sun.

Notes: Often used for windbreaks, lumber and in some parts of the country as a Christmas tree. White spruce has a narrow conical form.  Branches are held horizontally, dense when young, becoming more loose and open with age.  Uses are for Christmas trees, hedge, windbreak and screen.  White spruce is the northernmost tree species in North America.

Wildlife: Winter shelter for wildlife. Squirrels will eat the buds. Spruce grouse eat the needles. The seed is eaten by a variety of woodpeckers, pheasant, and many other varieties of birds. Porcupines and black bear enjoy the bark.

Planting: 

Plant your White Spruce in a spot in your yard that gets at least 6 hours of sun each day. And choose a place in your yard that has well-drained soil. To plant, spread 2 inches of organic fertilizer on the ground in an area that is two times as large as the root ball. Till the fertilizer into the ground. Be sure to go slightly deeper than the longest root and continue twice as wide as the canopy. Place the tree in the loose soil and press the soil down until the tree's roots are completely covered.

Watering:

Water the ground immediately after you plant your tree, but don't oversaturate your White Spruce. Your tree will need around 20 inches of water each year, so you may not need to ever water your tree unless there is a severe drought. Generally, we recommend watering once or twice weekly in dry conditions.

Fertilizing:

You can add one inch of organic fertilizer under the entire tree canopy each spring to encourage faster growth. If you do, you'll need to water the ground after you apply the fertilizer to ensure it reaches the roots.

Pruning:

If you notice infested or diseased branches, you can prune them down to the trunk in the fall.

Spring orders:

Orders are scheduled for a climate zone appropriate time (late February for Southern US states, March-June for Northernmost US locations). DELAYS OCCUR if the product is spring harvested and our ground is frozen, or if the order is submitted or modified during the spring shipping season (generally a 2-5 week delay on late orders). Most seasons evergreens cannot be harvested before late March/early April. If specific timing is requested, we will do our best to schedule and ship accordingly, but we will contact the customer for further instruction if the request cannot be met.

Fall orders:

Shipment is weather dependent and will occur as soon as stock is safely dormant. Most seasons evergreens can be harvested and shipped by mid to late September. Early October for a few species such as cedar or hemlock.  Most leafy deciduous species are shipped following harvest in November-December. If your fall order contains both evergreen and deciduous items and customer has not requested otherwise, they will be shipped together when the latest item is safe to harvest.  If specific timing is requested, we will do our best to schedule and ship accordingly, but we will contact the customer for further instruction if the request cannot be met. Pick up orders must be paid in advance.

Late cancellations may be subject to restocking fee.

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