Norway spruce is also found under the name "European spruce". There are more than a hundred varieties. For cultivation at home, only a few representatives of the genus are used. Differs in a relatively slow growth. Depending on the subspecies, the height of the tree can reach from two to eight meters. Larger specimens are found in the wild. The branches are horizontal. The diameter of the irregular crown is about two and a half meters. The needles are usually short. It features a thick structure and glossy sheen. European spruce looks especially impressive in early spring... Small bumps form on young shoots. There are varieties with red modified shoots. The plant is used to beautify the site. Delightfully harmonizes the tree in rock gardens and group plantings with annuals. Spruce is also cultivated as a tapeworm.
To grow spruce, you need to choose an illuminated place.
The plant is light-loving enough. Can withstand light partial shade.
Watering
Spruce does not tolerate waterloggedness of the substrate. During the summer drought, it is advisable to evenly moisturize the soil. After watering, you need to loosen the trunk circle.
Transfer
Gardeners cannot agree on the effect of transplanting on spruce. The plant perfectly tolerates changing the area of the site in early spring at temperatures up to -5 degrees. Very coldy can damage root hairs. With the help of the shoots, the plant receives minerals and water.
It is necessary to carefully remove the tree from the ground. It is important to keep the earth ball intact. Before planting, you need to process the roots with "Kornevin". Hormonal feeding should be continued for an already planted plant for ten days. It is imperative to maintain an even moisture content of the substrate. It is recommended to use at least three buckets of room temperature water for one watering.
When choosing a seedling, you should also take into account the length of the spruce. Representatives of the family with a height of about one and a half meters take root well. It is advisable to use a garden wheelbarrow for transportation. Top will need to be covered with a clean cloth.
Pruning
Growing spruce as a hedge will require periodic decoration. Correct pruning will help create an impenetrable green wall.
In the spring or late fall, all broken, diseased and dry branches should be removed. The tree produces a delicious crown naturally.
The plant tolerates pruning well.
Often, spruce begins to form two apical parts at the same time. It is necessary to cut off one of the tops at the base.
Preparing for the winter period
After planting, small Christmas trees require protection from scorching sunlight, return or early autumn frosts. Several decorative forms of the genus also need shading and shelter.
After planting, be sure to cover the soil at the base with mulch. We recommend using softened peat. The needles should be covered with spruce branches, dense non-woven material or kraft paper.
Features of cultivation in the open field
To land on the site, you need to choose the right time... It is advisable to move the tree to open ground in May, after the soil has completely warmed up. If it is too cold in spring, you should postpone the planting to the end of August or the beginning of the fall season.
All varieties have their own requirements for the planting site. Representatives of the genus need proper preparation holes. You need to dig a groove at least sixty centimeters deep. Between the pits, you need to leave a distance of about two and a half meters for the full formation of the crown.
At the bottom of the groove you need to lay out a thick layer broken brick... It will take about fifteen centimeters. Then you need to fill the hole 2/3 with a nutrient soil mixture. As a substrate, it is necessary to use leafy soil, sod soil, peat and sand. It is also recommended to add "Nitroammofosku".
To protect the spruce, lay out a thick layer of mulch.
It is important to keep an eye on correct location sapling. The root bud should remain at ground level. The spruce should be inspected regularly. The kidney should not sink into the ground or be exposed. After planting, water the plant abundantly and cover it with a peat layer.
Growing technology
Substrate
The composition of the soil mixture depends on the way the tree spreads. To grow spruce from seeds, an acidic substrate should be prepared.
In garden dealerships, you can buy ready-made mixture for coniferous crops. At home, you will need to mix coniferous forest soil and universal soil.
How to feed
Norway spruce responds well to periodic feeding. The plant is in dire need of nutritious soil.
Growing in a pot
For cultivation of spruce indoors, it is necessary to create favorable conditions. Norway spruce prefers brightly lit rooms.
Small specimens require warm and lighted microclimatic conditions. It is necessary to protect fragile needles from direct sunlight. V winter time year, you can reduce the air temperature to + 10 degrees. A forest tree can also tolerate frost. You need to carefully monitor the condition of the soil. The substrate must not freeze.
In early spring, after the arrival of the first spring warmth, it is recommended to move the plant to the balcony. It is advisable to gradually accustom the tree to a new environment. Drastic impact scorching sun can damage the plant.
Proper watering guarantees successful cultivation in room conditions. It is recommended to moisturize the soil abundantly from the beginning of March to September. In the fall, you should gradually reduce the amount of watering. In winter, you can moisten the soil no more than once every twenty days. The regime can be observed under the condition of a cool air temperature - from +6 to +10 degrees. At zero temperature, watering can be done once a month.
Norway spruce can be transplanted into a container for indoor growing.
Unlike other representatives of the flora, the plant needs to be sprayed precisely during the cold season.
Non-compliance simple recommendations can cause tree diseases. Common spruce at home often sheds needles when irrigated incorrectly, low or too high temperature, as well as in the open scorching sun.
Shriveled needles in a house tree indicate a slightly acidic soil reaction. It is necessary to add soil from under coniferous crops to the upper layer of the substrate.
The characteristics and features of European spruce can be learned from the plot:
The main problems, pests and diseases ate on the site
The yellowness of the needles appears as a result of the settlement of fir hermes. Pest colonies resemble white cotton wool. The insect prefers the lower areas of the needles.
To get rid of the pest, it is necessary to spray the tree with Antio and Rogor solution. It will take twenty grams of the product for ten liters of water.
Burnt shoots indicate a settlement of the common spruce sawfly. At the first sign of a settlement, the caterpillars should be sprayed with Fufan. For one treatment, you need to prepare a solution of twenty milliliters of the product and ten liters of water.
Brown spots and yellowing, as well as pine needles drilling, appear in spruce infected with common shute. For treatment, it is recommended to use in early spring, as well as at the end of August, "Colloidal sulfur", "Bordeaux liquid" and "Tsineb". To use the first drug, you will need to prepare a solution of 200 grams of the drug and ten liters of water. For the next two preparations, you can dilute 100 grams of the product in ten liters of warm liquid.
Similar solutions will help get rid of rust. Defining the disease is quite simple. Orange dots appear on the needles. The shoots are covered with swellings. At the stage of severe damage, all diseased branches must be removed. It may also be necessary to remove the tree from the ground. The dangerous disease quickly infects other garden plants.
Flowering characteristics and allergic reactions
Male and female cones are formed on the spruce.
The spruce lacks the usual flower formation. At the end of spring, reproductive organs appear on the tree. The plots resemble inflorescences and perform similar functions.
The spruce blooms at the same time as the bird cherry. At the ends of the branches in the upper crown zone, you can see bright red bumps. This is the earliest stage of the usual autumn brown cone.
The female lump is located inside the kidney. Before flowering, the bud swells strongly and sheds its protective ginger cap. In the freed female lump there is a rod with a large number of thin scales. Several bumps can be seen in the broken young lump. The formed ovules subsequently turn into rudiments. After two weeks, the bumps will change the direction of growth. They will hang down.
Male bumps are small in size. There are red and greenish with a yellow tint. On the outside two oblong pouches are produced.
The crowns of individual representatives are abundantly decorated with bright red male bumps. Spruce pollen is carried over long distances. The characteristic powdery mass can be seen on various objects.
It is very difficult to examine the bumps near them. They are located high above the ground. Unlike pine, Norway spruce forms cones already in the first year. life cycle.
Spruce in room conditions can cause an allergic reaction. In fact, it is not the tree that causes the intolerance, but mold. Pieces of epithelium and dust mites often settle on the needles.
The tree contains resin and pollen, which can also cause irritation. There is a cough, runny nose, redness of the eyes. In rare cases, skin reactions and exacerbation of bronchial asthma occur.
Reproduction
It is not recommended to use purchased seeds. Seed material often loses germination under unfavorable storage conditions. It is advisable to collect seeds in late October or early November. The buds should be brought home and laid out on a dry surface next to the heaters.
After drying, seeds will appear. The collected primordia must be treated with a weak solution of potassium permanganate. Then it should be placed in a container with heated sand. Planting depth should not exceed 1.5 centimeters. The dish needs to be moved to the refrigerator door to create wild conditions.
With the help of stratification, germination can be effectively stimulated. Move the container to a warm place after three months. It is recommended to keep the seedlings on the windowsill.
How to care for sown seeds
It is necessary to constantly maintain an even moisture content of the substrate. A warm window should have enough solar lighting... After 2 weeks, the first shoots will appear. It is not advisable to fill the seedlings with water. Young spruce can rot.
What to do with sprouts
It is important to keep watering in moderation. It is also recommended to periodically fertilize the soil. Before planting in the ground, fertilizer can be applied 2 times. It is imperative to loosen the top layer of the substrate. As a preventive measure, it is advisable to treat the spruce with a weak insecticide solution.
Transfer to the ground
After planting in open soil, the spruce needs timely watering.
The grown sprouts in pots can be planted on the site. Fragile spruce needs to be created optimal conditions... Therefore, it is recommended to take the plant out to an open area at the end of May.
Add compost and stimulating minerals to the planting hole.
The seedling must be evenly placed in the hole and covered with soil. Smooth the soil and water the plant with light movements. From above you need to cover the spruce with a cut plastic bottle. With the help of the greenhouse effect, the plant will quickly take root.
It is necessary to periodically open the spruce to drain condensation and circulate air. After a week, the bottle can be removed and the top layer of the substrate can be mulched.
Spruce features
Some varieties can bear fruit during the entire life cycle (about 500 years) only thirty times.
Spruce varieties are distinguished by faded and rare flowering. The bud formation period takes about 7 days. Buds are often mistakenly referred to as fruits. In fact, these are modified shoots.
The lack of flowering in the current season does not always indicate the defeat of the crop and unfavorable growing conditions.
How to choose planting material
Norway spruce 2 meters high in burlap, as well as with an earthen lump in metal mesh can be purchased for two thousand rubles. average price for the dwarf variety of spruce "Nidiformis" is 450 rubles.
Spruce is a tree of the pine family, the genus of which has about 40 species. Evergreen tree the tree is very beautiful and is known all over the world for its use as a main New Year and Christmas attribute. In addition, in many gardens and in front of facades different buildings it is grown as an ornamental tree because of its beautiful cone-shaped crown.
General characteristics of culture
If we talk about a Christmas tree, then the description of a tree can begin with the fact that in favorable conditions it grows up to 60 meters in height (some specimens up to 100 meters) and lives for 500-600 years. Adult plants have a diameter of 1.5-2 m. The crown of young specimens has a conical shape., while in adult specimens it changes from parabolic to cylindrical.
The trunk of the spruce is cylindrical and straight, the branches grow horizontally to the surface of the earth. The flowering of the tree begins at the age of 25 and is not regular. Both male and female flowers exist on the same plant. Feminine flowers usually appear on tall tree branches, while masculine flowers appear under feminine ones. Spruce blooms, as a rule, from April to June.
Spruce fruits - cones, in the process of their ripening, they begin to collapse, and the seeds fall out of them, this feature distinguishes the spruce from other conifers. Ripe seeds are carried by the wind long distances from the tree in the autumn months (September, October). Mature seeds, once in moist soil, can stay in it for up to six weeks before sprouting first. This plant reproduces in nature only through seeds, and vegetative reproduction takes place with the participation of humans.
Spruce is a very strong tree, it tolerates significant fluctuations in external conditions, for example, it can grow both in poor soils and in fertile ones, both with low soil acidity and with its high indicators.
Spruce wood is white, with low density, resinous. It is easy to process, therefore it is used in the manufacture of delicate products in carpentry, musical instruments and paper. Spruce pollen tincture is used in folk medicine against cough and runny nose. In ancient times, doctors advised patients suffering from lung diseases and asthma to walk more often in the spruce forests.
The soil itself should not only be deep, but also cool. When growing spruce in artificial conditions it is necessary to constantly add to the soil a large number of organic fertilizers... Do not forget about regular abundant watering, since the soil for the spruce must constantly contain a high percentage of moisture.
The main pests of the spruce are ticks and red spiders. You can check their presence by taking a piece of white paper and holding it under the leaves. You can also lightly hit the hand with the paper with a branch. In this case, you can see small insects on paper. If their number is insignificant, then no action can be taken, otherwise it is recommended to use an appropriate acaricidal preparation. Chemicals should be used as a last resort, as in addition to harmful insects, beneficial insects are also present on trees.
All types of spruce are quite hardy and can adapt to different climates. Although caring for these plants does not imply the implementation of any special measures, nevertheless general rules should be followed to keep the plant beautiful and healthy. Therefore, it is recommended to communicate with specialists who are engaged in the cultivation of these trees or their sale, they can suggest what conditions are best to create for each specific species in accordance with the climate of the region.
Norway spruce is the most widespread coniferous tree in the western sector of the forest zone of Eurasia. Simply put, this is our usual Christmas tree, well known to everyone. But even in the familiar, the familiar, the everyday one can find the new and the unknown.
Norway spruce, or European
Ordinary spruce is also called European spruce. Although in Western and Central Europe, the tree grows only in the mountains. This spruce is most common in Northern Europe, Belarus, in the north of Ukraine. And, of course, in the north of European Russia, where it forms significant forests.
In the east, closer to the Urals, and in the very north of the forest zone, ordinary spruce is replaced by a closely related species - Siberian spruce. The species is close, but still different - with shorter and prickly needles, smaller cones, less height. And the ability to survive in harsher climates.
The view is different, but still close. Ate common and Siberian interbreed, forming viable hybrids. They even talk about a special transitional form - Finnish ate.
If you carefully examine the cones of common and Siberian spruce, you can notice the differences that are considered species characteristics. The edge of the scales in the Siberian spruce is rounded and smooth, and in the common one - with small denticles, notches.
Spruce belongs to the pine family. Indeed, despite the obvious differences, these trees have a lot in common. In addition to green needles, which persist for several years, common spruce combines dioeciousness with pine - both male and female cones ripen on the same tree. The structure and origin of cones, the structure of pollen and seeds, the processes occurring during pollination and fertilization are also similar.
There are many differences. Unlike pine, spruce trees are capable of growing tall and slender trees, regardless of whether they grow in a dense forest or in an open place. The fact is that common spruce grows mainly with its apical bud. It is she who gives the longest shoots - from 30 to 50 cm annually.
Moreover, the spruce grows with its top all its life. True, on condition - if the apical kidney is not damaged. Or the shoot bearing this bud has not been removed for some reason. In this case, the apical function is taken over by one of the lateral kidneys. But the tree will never grow tall and slender.
The top of the spruce is always crowned with a "crown" of buds: one apical and several lateral. In the spring they sprout. And a whorl is formed. Just like Scots pine. And the age of a young spruce is also easy to determine by counting the number of these whorls and adding 5-7 years. During the first years of life, whorls on the tree are not formed.
Lateral branches also grow annually, but much less than the top. Moreover, spruce trees grow every year on the side branch. side shoots- already in relation to this branch itself. These are also whorls, only not complete - the branches do not go off in all directions, but close to one plane. A spruce branch is formed, which we usually call a spruce paw.
Spruce shoots, unlike pine, are of only one type - elongated. Let me remind you that, in addition to the annually growing elongated shoots, there are also shortened ones, only a couple of millimeters long. A pair of pine needles grows on them. Together with the needles, these shoots fall off after 2 - 3 years, or a little more.
Spruce needles grow directly on an elongated shoot. The needles, much shorter than pine needles, dot the entire shoot, arranged in a spiral. A needle sits on a leaf cushion. When it falls, a leaf trail remains on the bark.
Spruce needles are flattened-tetrahedral, with a prickly top. The length of the needles is 1 - 2 cm. It stays on the tree longer. V natural conditions the lifespan of the needles is up to 10 - 12 years. True, in trees growing in conditions of increased air pollution, the needles change much earlier.
Norway spruce, like other representatives of this genus, tolerates shading well. Therefore, even in a dense spruce forest, the crown of the tree remains highly developed. Only the lowest branches dry up from a lack of light. The crown of a spruce growing in an open place is usually pyramidal. Branches grow on the trunk almost to the ground.
The developed crown provides the tree well nutrients... After all, the more leaves (needles) on a tree, the more sugars are produced during photosynthesis. But such a crown can cause serious problems for the tree.
In winter we have a lot of snow. Even birch trees without leaves often bend or even break under its weight. Ate ordinary heavy snowfalls do not cause much trouble. Thin, but strong and flexible branches also bend under the weight of snow. And dump it!
But strong winds with a large windage of the crown often turn the tree completely upside down. This is also facilitated by the characteristics of the spruce root system. Only until the age of fifteen does a taproot grow on the tree. And then lateral roots grow actively, lying in the upper layer of the soil. Such roots cannot keep a tall tree in a strong wind. And the forest giants are crumbling.
European spruce lives up to 250 - 300 years. It's just that you will hardly be able to find such trees in the forest. Is it somewhere in a nature reserve. Most of the spruce is cut down before the centenary.
Never chopped spruce forest leaves an unforgettable experience! I had to visit such a forest many years ago. This is in the north-west of the Vologda region, almost on the border with Karelia, in the upper reaches of the Andoma river. The associations are ... fabulous. It seems that Baba Yaga is about to look out from behind a nearby tree. Or Goblin.
Powerful columns of fir trees go up tens of meters. Their diameter at the butt is more than a meter. The branches are hung with the beards of the lichen. Quiet in such a forest and gloomy. The soil, dead wood, including whole trunks of huge spruces that have fallen from old age or the wind - everything is covered with a thick layer. Only blueberries grow from shrubs, and even then not everywhere.
Where it is lighter - near a forest stream, for example - some herbs appear. The white stars of the European septenary are sparkling. And in places where groundwater is close, green mosses are replaced by marshes.
On fresh stumps on a clearing under the timber road, which had already reached these places, one can count the annual rings, which the botanists of our expedition did not hesitate to do. There were 250 - 300 rings.
As a result of the expedition, in which I worked then, the Verkhneandomsky state reserve was created. The array of indigenous spruce forests was taken under protection. What is there now - I can't say ...
Norway spruce is much more demanding than pine for soil conditions. It will not grow on dry sands or on a raised bog. She also does not tolerate droughts. Therefore, already in the south of the forest zone it is less common.
Trees spend winter in a state of hibernation, when life processes slow down. Coniferous trees are no exception. The stomata on the needles are tightly closed - you need to save water. The roots cannot provide enough of it for the tree, the roots practically do not absorb water in the cold soil.
However, at temperatures above -5 degrees, photosynthesis still begins in the needles. But such temperatures are not typical for our winters.
But then spring comes and everything begins to change rapidly. Even at the turn of the seasons, during the time, poetically called by M.M. Prishvin "", in dry sunny days spruce cones break open, pouring out the seeds carried by the wind. In May, with the arrival of heat, the buds first swell, and then the buds open, giving rise to new vegetative shoots.
Consider the spruce paws during this time. At the ends of the branches, large buds swelled, covered with pale yellow caps of soil scales. In some places, these scales have already moved apart, or even fallen off. From under them, a brush of light green needles is born. This is a young escape.
Young needles differ from old ones not only in color. They are soft and not prickly at all. If the "brush" is ripped off and chewed, a sour taste is felt. And no resinous aftertaste and aroma.
Young shoots grow rapidly. In May - early June, they still differ from the old ones in the color of their needles. But with the arrival of real summer, the growth of shoots stops, the needles harden and acquire their usual properties.
Generative buds also bloom almost simultaneously with vegetative buds. Modified shoots of the common spruce appear from them - its female and male cones. The spruce "blooms". This happens almost simultaneously with the flowering of the bird cherry.
Of course, biologists correct - conifers do not bloom, they do not have a flower. But nevertheless, the similarity is great, especially when you consider that the cones at this time look very spectacular.
There is a separate article about "blooming" of spruce in more detail.
It is usually quite difficult to consider young spruce cones, since they are located in the upper part of the crown. Unless you're lucky ... Small yellowish or reddish male cones (or male spikelets) appeared on the tops of last year's shoots. In sacs under the scales it ripens great amount pollen.
Pollen grains of Norway spruce, like pine, have air sacs, due to which they specific gravity small. The pollen is carried away by the wind, covers the leaves of trees, grass. If it will rain, yellow pollen is clearly visible in puddles.
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Norway spruce is valued as an important forest-forming species. It is widely used in reforestation and for protective plantings along railways, as well as an ornamental tree to decorate landscapes. This type of spruce is heterogeneous in appearance, which is due to the different types of its branching. These types are inherited.
The soft and light wood of common spruce is used for sawing, and is also a good building material and a valuable raw material for producing cellulose.
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As a rule, prickly spruce does not form large tracts, growing together with Engelman spruce, pseudo-tree, twisted pine and yellow pine.
Its wood is light and soft, easy to work with, but little used due to the fact that the tree grows at very high altitudes.
Is one of the most decorative species, very suitable for decorating landscapes. A variety with a blue color of needles is especially often used. Many decorative forms have been identified, differing both in the shape of the crown and the type of branching, and in the color of the needles.
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In the USA and Canada, Canadian spruce has a serious timber industry value, and is also widely used as a raw material in the pulp and paper industry.
It is successfully used in landscape gardening, despite the fact that in terms of decorativeness it is somewhat inferior to prickly spruce, which is more widespread in Russia.
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In nature, Serbian spruce grows on the steep northern rocky slopes at altitudes from 950 to 1500 m above sea level.
Due to its decorative effect and resistance to urban conditions (gas, smoke, dust), it has found wide application in landscape gardening in Europe.
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Typical mountain plant, usually growing at an altitude of 1000 to 2500 m. Prefers shaded slopes, where it grows with pine, Caucasian fir, beech, hornbeam. Particularly spectacular are spruce forests with the so-called. Colchis type of undergrowth, consisting of evergreen shrubs or small trees: cherry laurel, holly, rhododendrons. The undergrowth of this spruce cannot stand direct sunlight at all and, apparently, is even more shade-loving than that of European spruce. Regularly forming seeds that are distinguished by high germination, the oriental spruce regenerates well, and it can settle on the steepest rocky slopes. Oriental spruce wood is soft and durable, therefore it is used as construction material, goes to carpentry and lathe products, serves as a raw material for the pulp and paper industry, and also, due to its high resonance properties, is used in the manufacture of musical instruments.
Ayan spruce (hokkaid)
Ayan spruce, or hokkaid grows on Far East on mountain slopes mixed with other rocks at an altitude of 400-1200 m above sea level. Most often forms mixed plantings. Protected in reserves.
Ayan spruce is a very ancient species in its origin. Close to her Picea suifunensis grew along Suifun in the middle Tertiary time. In North America and the Balkans, species of spruce grow from the same Omorica section as the Ayan spruce and are very close to it. Consequently, it can rightly be considered one of the oldest species of the Primorye flora, which is part of the Turgai forests.
Slim, beautiful tree 40-50 m in height. The crown is regular, conical, peaked. The trunk is straight, covered with dark gray, in youth almost smooth bark, in old age exfoliating roundish plates. Shoots are pale yellow-brown or yellow-green. Easily differs from other types of flat needles, up to 2 cm long, faceted on fertile branches, slightly curved, short-pointed. Above, the needles are dark green, below they are bright gray, from the ostal stripes, tightly pressed to the shoots, which differs from other species. Its decorative effect is increased by light brown, oval-cylindrical, slightly glossy cones up to 6.5 cm long.
Shade-tolerant, reacts sharply to changes in air humidity, does not tolerate waterlogging, is quite demanding on the soil, prefers fresh, moderately moist loams. It can grow on stony and gravelly soils; when standing alone, it is windblown. Tolerates transplanting, pruning and air pollution painfully. Winter hardiness. Adapted for short, cool summers. In youth it grows slowly, later - moderately. The age limit is 300-350 years.
Good for contrasting groups with bluish-gray needles. It is distinguished by two-colored flat needles, the crown seems to be gray from a distance. Looks great against the background of birches and other hardwoods. A valuable breed for forest park plantings. Effectively reduces noise levels. Suitable for creating dense hedges.
In St. Petersburg, F.B. Fischer (1852), earlier than in Western Europe. Introduced into cultivation by the Botanical Garden BIN, where it is grown at the present time. It is also in the collections of the Forestry Academy and the Otradnoye scientific and experimental station.
In GBS since 1954 9 samples (104 copies), seedlings were brought from natural habitats of Primorye, Kamchatka, Sakhalin. Tree, at 36 years old, height 7.7 m, trunk diameter 13/16 cm. Vegetation from 20.IV ± 7. Annual growth in young age 5-7 cm, in mature - up to 20 cm. Dusts from 19.V ± 3 to 30.V ± 4, more than 1 week, on average about 10 days. Seeding from 33 years old, seeds ripen by mid-September, irregularly, in the first years the seeds are not viable. Winter hardiness is high. Summer cuttings treated with 0.01% IMC solution for 24 hours, do not take root. In the landscaping of Moscow is absent.
Comes from North America, USA (mountains on the border of the states of California and Oregon). It is found in small islands in deep gorges on dry, drained soil, usually at high altitudes (from 900 to 2500 m), more often in a mixture with other rocks.
The tree is 20-25 (rarely up to 35) m height, with a trunk of 45-75 cm in diameter, with characteristic weeping branches of the second order. Young shoots are reddish-brown, pubescent, deeply grooved, later silvery-gray. Buds are elliptical or fusiform, about 6 mm long., Reddish yellow, resinous. Needles 15-30 (-35) mm long., 1.5-2 mm wide., Flattened, obtuse at the apex, green above, below with a prominent keel and 4-6 noticeable white rows of stomata on each side of the keel, usually radially located, straight or slightly curved. Cones are narrow-cylindrical, 6-10 cm long., 2-3 cm thick., With whole-edged ovoid, with a cut off upper edge, very thick scales, wide open when ripe.
Found in 1863, introduced to Europe in 1893, rarely found in culture. In St. Petersburg, E.L. Wolf (1917). In the Botanical Garden BIN since 1973, it is not stable enough and grows slowly. In ornamental horticulture, it is of exceptional interest due to its original weeping form of growth.
(Picea smithiana)- a tree up to 50 m high, with a narrow pyramidal crown; its lateral branches of the second order, hanging in garlands, are very characteristic; the lowest branches can sometimes touch the ground. The trunk is straight, sometimes curved at the base, but still stretches up; the bark is brownish to gray, wrinkled, dissected by uneven films. From rather large (up to 12 mm) and resinous buds, soft thin (one millimeter) needles, sometimes up to 5 cm long, grow spirally covering branches, sometimes up to 5 cm long, their spiny tips are strongly pointed, the color of matte needles is dark green. The length of yellow male spikelets reaches 3 cm, they are located along the edges of the branches in the axils of the needles; female bumps - at first erect, dull green or greenish-purple - very soon turn to drooping shiny and brown. Old buds without seeds can be recognized by their matte gray-brown color.
ORIGIN. The Himalayan region, from Afghanistan (Hindu Kush) eastward through Northwest India (Kashmir) to southern Tibet.
This spruce lives at an altitude of 2300 to 3600 m, in areas with a monsoon climate, where precipitation falls periodically - twice a year. At lower elevations forms mixed forests with an admixture of maples, elms and Indian horse chestnut, and above it grows with the Wallich pine, Himalayan fir and Himalayan cedar.
APPLICATION. Due to its weeping appearance, this tree is highly regarded as an ornamental tree and is often planted in historic parks.
SIMILAR TYPES. The Himalayan spruce has a "double" in North America, it is Brevera spruce (Picea breweriana) is a magnificent conifer, now rarely found in nature and growing in mountainous areas, including Southwestern Oregon and Northwestern California. The branches of the second order are even more "weeping" than those of the Himalayan spruce, and the cones have fan-like scales strongly rounded.
(Picea rubens)
Homeland: East End North America (Appalachian Mountains).
Description of the plant: tree 20-35 m high and with a trunk up to 135 cm in diameter. The crown of isolated trees is broad-conical, relatively loose, descending to the ground. The bark is fissured, scaly, reddish brown. Shoots are short and thin, reddish-brown, densely pubescent. The buds are slightly resinous. The needles are 10-15 mm long, partially curved, tetrahedral, green, lasts 5-7 (up to 8-11) years. Cones ovoid-oval, resinous, 3-4 (5) cm long, before ripening - purple or green, mature - reddish-brown, with rounded scales; fall off in the second year.
Winter hardiness: high.
Growing features: demanding on air humidity. Grows poorly on chalky soils.
Reproduction:
Usage: fit
Note: garden forms such as Nana- dwarf, wide-conical - and Virgata- serpentine.
(Picea likiangensis)
Homeland: highlands of Western China.
Description of the plant: tree up to 30 m high, with a conical crown and horizontally whorled branches. The bark is gray, deeply grooved. Young shoots are yellowish, grayish or brownish, more or less pubescent or glabrous. The buds are oval-conical, sharp, resinous. The needles are 8-15 mm long, tetrahedral, irregularly quadrangular in cross-section, green. Cones are oblong-cylindrical, 5-8 cm long, scales are thin, oval-rhombic.
Winter hardiness: high. In St. Petersburg, it develops normally and forms viable seeds.
Growing features: requires high humidity air, watering young plants in dry summer weather. Grows well in drained soils.
Reproduction: seeds.
Usage: for single and group landings.
Note: differs from closely related species in the color of the shoots and the shape of the cones.
(Picea gemmata)
Homeland: China, Sichuan province, highlands at an altitude of 3300-3600 m above sea level.
Description of the plant: tree 20-40 m high. Branches in horizontal whorls, drooping at the ends. Shoots are yellowish-brown or gray-yellow, pubescent, often with a whitish bloom. The bark is gray or brownish. The buds are protected by the upper needles of the needles, which play a protective role. The needles are 6-18 mm long, tetrahedral, straight or curved, pointed, prickly (but not to the same extent as in prickly spruce), with 4-6 stomatal stripes, in color similar to the bluish forms of prickly spruce. Cones are cylindrical, narrowed at the end, 8-12 cm long, 3-4 cm wide, smooth and glossy, with wide, rounded, leathery scales.
Winter hardiness: high.
Growing features: does not react well to summer drought, at this time of the year young plants need regular watering. Shade and gas resistant enough.
Reproduction: seeds.
Usage: for single and group landings.
Note: decorative due to bluish-gray needles, dense crown and large cones.
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(Picea obovata)
Homeland: one of the main forest-forming species of Siberian forests. Outside Russia - the Scandinavian Peninsula, Kazakhstan, Northern Mongolia, China.
Description of the plant: tree up to 30 (35) m high, with a conical crown. Shoots with coarse, short, reddish hairs. The needles are 7-20 mm long, tetrahedral, linear subulate, prickly. Cones are ovate-cylindrical, 4-11 cm long, brown, with convex, wide, entire rounded scales.
Winter hardiness: high.
Growing features: very shade-tolerant, salt-resistant.
Reproduction: seeds. Garden forms by semi-lignified green cuttings or grafting.
Usage: for creating snow strips, hedges and as a park tree.
Note: of varieties for landscaping and landscape design matters Blue Siberian spruce (Picea obovata var.coerulea) with a bluish color of needles.
Everything decorative forms it is necessary to propagate only by grafting on the stock (4-5-year-old or more mature seedlings) of the usual form of Siberian spruce.
One of the most valuable decorative trees characterized by high winter hardiness, shade tolerance, rapid growth and relative gas resistance. Salt tolerant. It can be recommended for wide use when creating different types plantings (single, group, planting of large tracts, hedges, etc.). Tolerates haircuts well.
(Picea sitchensis)- the tallest and fastest growing representative of the genus spruce (Picea), its range is limited to damp sea coasts, where in winter the air temperature usually does not drop below -18 ° C, and the annual rainfall exceeds 3810 mm. Previously, forests from Sitka spruce were mercilessly cut down: this tree gives a strong and light wood, from which at the beginning of the 20th century. built aircraft hulls, and today they build boats and make musical instruments... An elegant tree at the time of fruiting, decorated with large, up to 10 cm long, light brown cones.
Sitka spruce grows in damp, often swampy forests, where the moist soil surface is covered with a thick layer of forest litter. At a distance of more than 160 km from the sea coast, it does not occur.
The Sitka spruce is one of the national natural treasures of the United States, because it not only possesses the most valuable wood, but also is an ornamental evergreen coniferous tree.
Under natural conditions, this species grows along the Pacific coast of North America - from Alaska to the southern states of the United States, where it often neighbors Douglas spruce and other types of conifers. In addition, a few specimens of Sitka spruce have been found in the north of Great Britain.
FEATURES OF THE VIEW
Since the Sitka spruce is most often found along the banks of rivers or near the sea coasts, in its homeland it is also called coastal spruce... This type is very effective in single and loose-group plantings. Nowadays, the valuable wood of the Sitkhinskaya spruce, which has a brown tint, is widely used in pulp and paper, joinery and furniture production.
Area Northwest coast of North America: from California to Alaska.
Sizes of an adult plant The tree is 40-98 m high.
Decorativeness The needles and cones give the tree an elegant look at the time of fruiting.
Needle shape The needles are very narrow (up to 0.1 cm), two-colored, up to 2.8 cm long, shiny, dark green on one side, and bluish-silver-white on the other.
Time and form of flowering Spring is the beginning of summer.
Cones Cones are large, up to 10 cm long, light brown in color.
Soil requirements The species is picky about soil and air humidity, and successfully develops in temporarily flooded areas.
Attitude to light The species is shade-tolerant, but develops better with sufficient lighting.
Resistant to urban conditions The species is resistant to smoke and gases.
Frost resistance The type is frost-resistant.
Shelter for the winter Young plants in the first year of planting.
Life span Lives 700-800 years.
(Picea asperata)- a typical inhabitant of woodlands located in the south-west of China, where relict forests are still intact. In the treatise published during the reign of the Qing dynasty " Yulong Mountain Major Herbs"named more than two hundred and twenty species of plants, which included rough spruce. This wonderful coniferous tree has decorative qualities, and also tolerates the harsh cold weather and conditions of a modern city, therefore, gardening experts recommend that gardeners use it more actively in landscape construction. 
(Picea Engelmannii)
Homeland: Rocky mountains of western North America.
Description of the plant: tree up to 30-50 m high, with a trunk up to 90 cm in diameter, with a dense conical crown and slightly drooping branches. In culture, it is usually relatively small size growing slower than European spruce and prickly spruce. The bark is fissured, scaly, reddish brown, thin. Young shoots are yellowish-brown with rusty pubescence. Needles 15-20 (25) mm long, tetrahedral, sharp, hard (but softer than prickly spruce), with 2-4 stomatal lines on each side, gray-green, directed forward and holding 5-10 (15) years; when rubbed, it emits a specific, pungent odor. Cones are ovoid-cylindrical, 4-7 cm long and 2.5 cm wide; unripe - purple, when ripe - light brown.
Winter hardiness: high.
Growing features: undemanding to the soil.
Reproduction: seeds. Garden forms by semi-lignified green cuttings or grafting.
Usage: singly or in small groups and alleys.
Note: is of great interest for landscaping populated areas as a highly decorative species with high resistance to smoke. Form Glauka (Glauca) has the most intense bluish color.
Spruce is a pine tree that remains green even in summer. Spruce is recognized as a symbol of the new year all over the world. This unique tree grows up to 50 meters high.
Some spruce trees grow up to 600 years old. There are many such specimens, but they have to be protected. Typically, trees of this type only live up to 300 years.
Spruce, photos of spruce on the site and brief characteristics
In the early stages of growth, the spruce has stem-type roots. This lasts for the first fifteen years. Then development is only superficial, and the main core begins to die off.
In the beginning, only stem cells of growth are formed, and after a few years, branches begin to grow. The trunk has a round shape and a brownish bark, which exfoliates into small-type plates.
As for the resinousness, there is very little of it and it is homogeneous. Its shade is white with a slightly golden tint.
Matte branches create a pyramidal tower of the tree. They grow almost perpendicularly. Smaller branches create a tetrahedral bifurcation.
Among the varieties of spruce, there are also those that have a bluish and even yellowish shades. The needles do not fall off for about six years, and then they are simply renewed.
Many insects are attracted by the smell of the spruce. They literally eat the tree, after which new needles begin to grow.
The new needles are bristle-like and smaller than the others, but will catch up with their predecessors over time.
The cones growing on the tree are slightly oblong and rounded, they elongate into a cylindrical shape. The length reaches fifteen centimeters, and the average diameter is four centimeters.
The cone consists of an axis and scales, which are located in a circle, and seed scales grow between them. Seed scales bear two ovules, which have a false wing.
The seeds reach maturity around October. Then they fall off and are carried by the wind. Seed germination lasts about a week, plus or minus a couple of days.
Spruce varieties
Spruce planting, observation and other works made it possible to divide the tree into 45 species. Nowadays, they grow at random all over the world, and their height only occasionally exceeds fifty meters.
European spruce
The tree has a green color all year round. The height does not exceed 30 meters, only in some cases there are specimens up to fifty meters in height.
The top has the shape of a cone, and the branches are slightly drooping and outstretched in different directions. As for the bark, it is dark gray.
Over time, the bark exfoliates into thin plates, but remains on the trunk until it dries up.
The tetrahedral needles are located along the entire branch, growing in a spiral. The northwestern part of Europe is rich in dense forests in which this type of spruce grows.
In addition, this type of spruce is found in almost all countries with a suitable climate.
Siberian spruce
The tree reaches thirty meters in height and has a pyramidal cone. Approximately one hundred centimeters in girth, the maximum trunk diameter of this spruce. Spruce needles are slightly smaller than usual and sharper than ordinary needles.
The tree grows in Russia, Kazakhstan and a number of other countries with a suitable climate. Many countries protect trees from cutting and take care of old species.
Eastern spruce
It differs from the usual one by a little greater growth, about five meters higher than an ordinary spruce. Its cone is on the top of the tree, not green, as usual, but grayish in color. The branches of the tree are very thick and heavy.
The bark has no special resin, and the shade is similar to a gray-brown color. The tetrahedral needles are slightly rounded at the ends.
This spruce can be easily found in the Caucasus and the northern territories of Asia. As a rule, there are clean tracts, but there are specimens growing in mixed forests.
Korean spruce
The tree does not stand out for its special height dimensions; it does not exceed 40 meters in height. The trunk is grayish-brown and does not exceed 80 centimeters in diameter. Only a bluish bloom distinguishes the tree into a unique group, otherwise everything is the same as that of an ordinary spruce.
The pyramidal cap, the needles are tetrahedral, the branches are lowered on top of each other, etc. Spruce grows and develops in the countries of the East, such as: China, Korea and others. The tree grows in both mixed and pure massifs.
Spruce Ayanskaya
Outwardly, the spruce is similar to the European one. The spruce's needles are sharp and tetrahedral, and the crown is of a pyramidal type. The branches hang down one above the other and are slightly curled with the tips up.
The trunk grows in height up to forty meters, but sometimes it is a little more. The girth of the tree trunk is no more than a meter, and often even less.
The Far East has become a refuge for this type of spruce. The tree grows in a variety of places, both in mixed forests, and separately in a small number of units. The color of the tree is great for the winter holiday.
Spruce photos
