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Norway Spruce

As the name implies, Norway spruce (Picea abies) is a European native now common in North America. It’s large — up to 80 feet tall and 35 feet wide — and can grow three feet per year in the right conditions.

Fast-growing Norway spruce is a beautiful, graceful evergreen with pyramidal shape and boughs that become more pendulous with age. Many small cultivars are available including the popular bird’s nest spruce “Nidiformis” and “Pumila.”

Zones: 2-7.

Culture: Full sun; tolerant of wind and various soils.

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Oriental Spruce

Slower growing than the Norway spruce, Oriental spruce (Picea orientalis) can take half a century or more to reach 50 to 60 feet in height.

A dense conifer with lustrous, dark-green needles, it grows in an attractive pyramidal shape highlighted with pendulous branches. This graceful habit makes Oriental spruce an excellent specimen plant. Cultivars are even more intriguing: “Aurea” has golden yellow new growth; “Pendula” is a compact weeping cultivar.

Zones: 4-7.

Culture: Full sun; tolerates some shade and poor, stony soil; needs protection from strong winter winds.

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Serbian Spruce

With its narrow, pyramidal shape and drooping or sometimes ascending branches, Serbian spruce (Picea omorika) looks beautiful as a specimen or grouped together as a hedge. Slowly growing to 50 to 60 feet tall and 20 to 25 feet wide, Serbian spruce features green needles with a silvery underside that shimmers in the breeze. “Aurea” has yellow needles, “Nana” is dwarf and “Pendula” has drooping, twisted branches.

Zones: 4-7.

Culture: Part shade; deep, rich, moist soil that is well drained; benefits from protection from harsh winter winds.

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