In the extensive list of conifers used in landscaping, spruce is one of the leading places. The genus Spruce belongs to the Pine family and includes about 50 species that naturally grow in Northern Europe, Central and Northeast Asia, China and North America.
One of the species of this genus widely used in green building is spiny spruce. This is a beautiful slender tree, undemanding to growing conditions, frost-resistant and resistant to air pollution. According to the latest indicator, prickly spruce is superior to most representatives of the family, for which it is appreciated by landscapers all over the world.
In nature, the plant lives on floodplains and mountain slopes mainly in the western regions of North America. It is successfully cultivated in the countries of Central Europe, in Russia and other regions with a temperate climate.
Spruce prickly photophilous, therefore, landed in open sunny areas. The culture is quite demanding on soil fertility, but does not tolerate excessively overfed substrates; likes moisture, but does not tolerate waterlogging. The site for its landing should be well-drained, smooth, with a low level of groundwater.
Prickly spruce responds well to pruning. In the first years of life, a tree can be formed by removing young buds in the spring and thus stimulating branching. On the site of each removed kidney, 2-3 new ones are formed, and as a result, a compact lush tree with a dense dense crown can be formed in a few years.
Despite the fact that this spruce is characterized by high resistance to gas pollution, dusting and smoke, in a city it needs such a procedure as a shower. In other words, the crown needs to be washed periodically with water. As a result, dust and dirt are washed off from the needles, the plant begins to “breathe”, its appearance improves and the risk of developing pathogens is reduced. Ideally, showering is carried out up to 5 times a month.
The plant is planted on the background of lawns, in solitary plantings and compositions with other coniferous and deciduous crops. It looks spectacular in combination with one-color fir, false lies, Cossack juniper, and Serbian spruce.
There are many cultivars of this species, designed for the most varied in size plots - from city parks to house adjoining territories and front gardens. The prickly spruce "Glauka" (gray), which is distinguished from the main species by the bluish-green color of the needles, which does not change throughout the year, is especially popular. This is a wonderful plant for the city, which tolerates smoke, dust, gas, drought, strong winds and frosts. Its branches in winter do not break and do not deform under the weight of wet snow, and in spring they do not suffer from sunburn. Many forms of this variety were obtained, including spherical (Glauca Globosa). This is a compact tree, in adulthood, reaching a height of 1 m and having a diameter of up to 1.5 m. It is grown in small sized areas, in containers and even on balconies. A group of such trees on the ground grass looks very impressive.
Varieties “Argentea”, “Hoopsii”, “Montgomery”, “Oldenburg” and many others are widely used in green construction. Compact and spreading, dwarfish and huge, columnar, spherical, pyramidal, with greenish, silver, bluish and even golden needles - all of them are good in their own way. Cultivars ate prickly so much that you can perhaps arrange a garden using only these plants. And if some 10 years ago only the owners of large tracts could afford this tree because of its impressive size, now even a small piece of land in front of the city office can decorate a spruce - a decorative culture that has been living next to a man for almost a hundred years .