Modern varieties of spruce trees attract the attention of professional gardening experts and amateur gardeners, due to the variety of shapes, color of the evergreen crown and the growth rate of conifers. Dwarf and tall, spherical, weeping and pyramidal spruces can decorate a site of any style.

The use of coniferous species in landscape design is advisable not only because of the unpretentiousness of plants and the beauty of their crown - a significant factor is the resistance of these trees to dust and gas contamination. Pay particular attention to the eight varieties of fir trees discussed in this article.

What forms are eaten?

Tall, stunted and mid-sized spruce trees are diverse and crown-shaped.

It is customary to distinguish by type:

• high (pyramid, cone);
• dwarf (cone, ball);
• weeping (or creeping, creeping).

The first type is characteristic of trees over 10 m tall in adulthood (prickly Glauka). The second - for slow-growing decorative Canadian, ordinary and spiny fir trees. The third type is represented by conifers of the genus spruce species ordinary.

Five dwarf spherical spruce trees, two weeping varieties and one tall tree in the form of a regular pyramid are described in detail below. All varieties presented are susceptible to crown formation. Pruning young conifers will support the desired either neat spherical or chaotic weeping shape. Cutting branches contributes to the density and density of needles.

Did you know? Rockeries and rock gardens are such ways of designing the territory, in which the main emphasis is on the stone base. Rockeries appeared due to the fact that not only alpine plants turned out to be combined with stone details.

The most popular varieties

The following varieties are distinguished from dwarf ones:

1. Picea abies nidiformis. The form of the variety Nidiformis ordinary spruce is a lush flattened ball.
2. Canadian conic. The pyramid is small in size.
3. Picea pungens glauca globosa. This kind of prickly spruce varieties Glauka, which develops as broad-conical or spherical in adulthood.
4. Picea glauca alberta globe. Type: Canadian. Slowly growing, roundish, dwarf.
5. Picea pungens blue pearl. Look: prickly. The blue pearl is called so because in shape it is round, small, wide and has a corresponding sheen of needles.

An example of an ideal form (Christmas tree) is highlighted separately - the blue-glauka, known worldwide for spruce. This is a collective variety of Picea pungens Glauca. A large representative of a symmetrical conical shape. Belongs to the high and fast-growing among their own blue spruce.

Did you know? To find out the age of an ordinary spruce, you need to count the “floors” (tiers) of its branches and add 3-4 years for which the first tier was formed.

And here are varieties with branches that go down or even spread along the ground:

1. Picea abies formanek. Type: ordinary. Form: either with weeping or with creeping branches dwarf variety.
2. Picea abies frohburg. A low grade of the same species with a straight trunk and hanging branches.

Blue, or prickly spruce (Glauca, Glauca Globosa, Blue Pearl), are characterized by the color of needles: it can be silver, and gray, and blue, and almost white. Trees of this species are unpretentious, like drained soil, good natural moisture of the soil and plenty of sunlight. Ideal for crown formation under the age of 7 years.

Common spruce (European, represented by varieties Formanek, Frohburg, Nidiformis) - conical shape. A species whose varieties have made it more diverse. Typically, branches drooping or open - at the founder of the species.

It has a surface root system, and its tetrahedral needles sit on the tree for a long time, and the tree is unpretentious high (frost and drought tolerance, growth on different soil, the ability to take elfin forms). It grows in Europe initially.

Canadian spruce (or bluish, white - Picea glauca) comes from North America, as is blue. Young trees are usually conical, while adults look more like a cylinder with their crown. The needles of the species are interesting - in cross section it is rhombic. In the upper part of the plant, the needles are blue-green, in the lower - pale blue. It is characterized by normal unpretentiousness and greater gas resistance than European spruce.

Important! It is not necessary to plant conifers in open ground on an ongoing basis: you can use trees in containers. This allows you to change the appearance of the garden and not ruin the heat-loving varieties in winter.

Nidiformis

Variety Description:

• a crown ball resembles a nest;
• maximum height - up to 1 m, width - up to 2 m;
• lack of main branches;
• needles short dark green;
• annual growth in width is greater than in height, growth rate is low;
• undemanding to the soil;
• intolerance to stagnation of water;
• winter hardiness of an adult tree is good;
• sufficient shade tolerance;
• demanding protection of the crown against damage by a mass of snow;
• The need for watering, especially in dry, hot weather.

Picea abies Nidiformis in landscape design shows good results in the landscaping of both roofs and rocky gardens. You can use container growing.

Konika

Canadian dwarf Conica is characterized by such features:

• strict pyramidal shape;
• soft, not prickling needles;
• the maximum size of the tree is 4 m in height and 2 in width (rather narrow in its natural form after 50 years of growth);
• dense green crown.

Spruce needs little shade and protection from the wind, does not tolerate stagnation of water and heavy floods, prefers light soils. Loosening and mulching are useful care measures. Konika needs shelter for the winter against burns. The variety is susceptible to fungal diseases.

This conifer is used in rock gardens, as well as planting in pots and containers.

Formanek

Formanek is a slowly growing variety of common spruce.

Description:

• height 0.4 m, width up to 1.5 m;
• the form is weeping or lying (which depends on how high the varietal vaccination is made);
• the needles on top are gray-green, and below the silver;
• closed surface root system;
• preference for drained soil;
• photophilia, excellent condition in humid cool weather;
• winter hardiness is good.

The variety looks great in rock gardens, small garden areas, suitable for planting in containers.

Globose

Dwarf prickly Glauka Globosa - spruce widely used in rock gardens and urban gardens.

Important! Not all deciduous plants combine well with conifers because fallen needles noticeably change the acidity of the soil.

Its main features are as follows:

• the diameter of the dwarf tree is up to 2 m, height - 2-3 m;
• with age acquires an even wide conical or spherical shape;
• the crown is dense;
• spiky silver-blue needles;
• cones ripen and fall in one year;
• undemanding to the soil;
• frost resistance;
• high life expectancy;
• good drought tolerance;
• the trunk forms with age;
• needles sickle-shaped;
• elongated cones hang from the branches;
• photophilia.

In landscape design, this variety of blue spruce is widely used.

Glauka

This coniferous tree is large - in adulthood reaches a length of 10-15 m.

Description of Glauka spruce:

• average height, crown diameter up to 8 m;
• cone crown;
• tiers of branches are dense, located correctly and almost horizontally;
• bark is thick, furrowed, gray-brown;
• cones up to 10 cm are oval, flexible;
• needles with a steel sheen of blue color;
• surface root system does not tolerate soil compaction and flooding;
• photophilous variety;
• frost resistance is high, excellent drought resistance.

Due to its unpretentiousness and resistance to dry gas polluted air, the tree is used for landscaping the urban environment. Young ate for the winter is useful to cover with spruce branches.

Alberta Globe

This dwarf variety of Canadian spruce is distinguished by such features:

• rounded crown;
• up to 0.8 m high and up to 1 m in diameter;
• slow growth;
• short light green soft needles;
• intolerance to acidic soils;
• preference for drained soil;
• intolerance to dry urban climate and stagnation of water;
• preference in sunlight or partial shade;
• low frost resistance.

Since the decorative variety Alberta Globe prefers nutritious soil and does not respond well to harsh climatic changes, it is usually used for growing in containers.

Spruce is also used in the design of plots in oriental design or rocky gardens. Looks great tree in combination with shrubs.

Froburg

Frohburg Common Spruce - Another a rare type of weeping form of coniferous ornamental trees. The main trunk is clearly expressed, and the side branches hang down and hide the lower part of the plant. It gives in to the formation of an umbrella figure - for this you should tie the trunk to the support.

Did you know? The bio-concrete developed in Spain is used for vertical gardening: the material includes substances that favor plant growth.

Variety Description:

• at 10 years of age, height up to 2 m;
• the needles are shiny green, short and very dense;
• long branches touching the ground may later spread along the ground;
• slow growth;
• preference in soil drainage;
• intolerance of not only salinization of the soil, dryness, but also stagnation of water;
• grows well in places exposed to the sun, although it tolerates a shadow;
• young trees should be covered in winter;
• frost resistance is average.

Ideal for creating rock gardens and heather gardens, a variety that is suitable for use in large compositions when grown in a container way, and for decorating hedges in the country.

Blue Pearl

The blue pearl is an amazing dwarf plant that will not leave indifferent any gardener.

The main features of Blue Pearl are as follows:

• dense spherical crown of regular shape;
• shoots do not grow in one direction, which creates a special density of the tree;
• dwarf spruce reaches a height of only 0.5 m at the age of ten;
• crown width - up to 80 cm;
• stiff needles two-tone: from gray-blue to green;
• Photophilia is peculiar to the variety;
• prefers moderate soil moisture;
• frost-resistant wood;
• the cones of this dwarf are large, the color is lilac-red;
• prefers moderate watering in the heat.

Blue Pearl is ideal for lawns, rockeries and rock gardens. This decorative variety looks beautiful, it can be used in the middle latitudes of Eurasia.

Breeders gave the world and distributed throughout the world a variety of different forms and varieties of fir trees. Species such as blue, ordinary and Canadian spruce underwent changes and compiled a list of common decorative trees that are popular in landscape design.

Not all representatives of conifers are unpretentious - some are mainly used by planting in containers. This application helps to expand the imagination of gardeners, changing the style of the terrain and the arrangement of fir trees in the plots.