The few genus Spruce includes about 40 species of evergreen plants. All of them are characterized by fragrant needles, a beautiful, even crown shape and relative unpretentiousness. Some species are actively used in landscape gardening, others are more rare.
Let us describe how the black spruce, introduced into the culture in Europe since 1700, looks like. In terms of decorativeness, it is not much inferior to the Canadian variety, but in general it is unpretentious and stable.
Homeland of the plant
Around the world, the species spread from North America. Its natural habitat is limited in the west of Alaska, in the east - the island of Newfoundland (is a symbol of the province), in the north - forest-tundra, and in the south - northern Michigan and Minnesota. The tree is also found in the Appalachian Mountains of New York. It grows, as a rule, in the taiga, less often in mixed forests. Widely distributed in permafrost regions, in lowlands, sphagnum bogs. Status - a plant with a low threat of extinction.
Black spruce: description
An evergreen tree in its natural environment grows up to 20-30 m in height and reaches a trunk diameter of 30-90 cm. The crown is conical in shape, with lower branches hanging to ground level. Cracked bark, scaly, reddish-brown or grayish, thin. The tree has the thinnest needles compared to other fir trees - 0.7-0.8 mm and 0.5-1.2 cm long. The shape of the needle is tetrahedral, prickly, with pronounced stomatal lines above and below, the color is dark, greenish -blue. On the branch are densely located, the life span is an average of 8-9 years. The needles during grinding have a characteristic tart aroma.
Cones of spruce are round-ovoid in shape, sometimes almost spherical, small in size: in length - 2-3.5 cm and in width - 1.5-1.8 cm. Until maturity they are a natural decoration of a tree, have a purple-brown unusual color. Scales obovate, wavy, have characteristic strokes in the middle. Cones remain on spruce for 20-30 years without falling.
In culture, a tree is shade-tolerant, it is undemanding to soils, winter-hardy, but sensitive to heat. In a drought, it needs good watering. It grows slowly, but in Russia it is rare in culture, inferior in popularity to another species - blue spruce. Outwardly, it is very beautiful, its small size allows it to be used everywhere, and the gray and thick needles give fluffy. The most common are four decorative varieties of spruce, which we dwell on in more detail.
Baysneri
The variety was allegedly bred in 1915. The hybrid has a dense crown of rounded shape. The height and diameter of the bush are almost the same, reaching a maximum of 5 m. Slow growth. The needles are green, with a delicate bluish-silver tint. There is a variety of variety called Compacta, characterized by more modest sizes (up to 2 m), without a pronounced peak, but the color and shape of the needles is similar.
Doumeti
The hybrid is a tall slender tree 5-6 m in height. The crown is broadly conical with numerous branches rising up. The needles have a pronounced blue tint, densely covers the shoots. Numerous cones of spruce are located directly on the trunk. The variety is winter-hardy, fast-growing. Recommended for landscaping parks, squares, creating group plantings. It is noteworthy that the tree can be propagated by cuttings. This is a fairly rare occurrence among conifers. For the first time such a spruce was grown in France.
Kobold
The variety obtained as a result of hybrid crossbreeding of the other two - Doumeti and Omorika. A stunted tree, which reaches a height of one meter by 20 years of age, annual growth is 5 cm. The shape of the crown is spherical. Neat twigs are covered with dense needles up to 12 mm long and 0.5 mm wide. The hybrid is very decorative and certainly deserves the attention of gardeners. The variety was obtained in Germany in 1951.
Fir-tree black Nana
An elegant dwarf hybrid with a rounded crown. It rarely reaches 0.5 m in height, and grows very slowly. Light green needles with a bluish tint are thin, but long, so the plant seems very “dense” and fluffy. The variety is resistant to frost, urban gas pollution. It is recommended to use for landscaping small gardens, alpine slides, rockeries, roofs, as a pot culture. Pretty easily propagated by cuttings.
These are not all varieties of black spruce; there are still hybrids, but they are rare. For example, with variegated white, shiny or very thin needles, weeping crown shape up to 5 m in height, dwarf. In the natural environment, black spruce can create hybrids with the closest possible species.
Growing Features
Black spruce is a shade-tolerant and undemanding plant for soil fertility. However, it should be noted that it develops best in a lit place, protected from drafts and strong winds. It tolerates mild swamping and a not too pronounced continental climate. It reacts poorly to transplantation, trampling of the peri-trunk space, since the root system becomes superficial over the years.
In order for the black spruce to grow beautiful and healthy, provide it with fertile soil. You can cook it yourself from a mixture of sand, peat, turf and leafy soil in a ratio of 1: 1: 2: 2. At the bottom of the landing pit, it is imperative to pour a drainage layer with a thickness of 15-20 cm from expanded clay or broken brick.
If you use spruce to create a hedge, then a strong forming pruning is permissible, after which the crown thickens with even greater force. In other cases, it is recommended to remove only dry and damaged branches. Watering young plants should be regular and plentiful, adults - only in extreme heat. The conifers, including black spruce, have a root system close to the surface of the soil; therefore, loosening is permissible, but to a minimum depth of 10 cm. It is best to mulch the peri-stem circle with peat or wood chips.