Picea | Spruce | Evergreen Conifer

Our spruce has been grown in a pot from seed right here at the Arundel Arboretum. 

Picea abies, commonly known as the Norway spruce, is a prominent coniferous tree native to Northern, Central, and Eastern Europe. Recognisable by its tall, symmetrical shape and dense, evergreen foliage, it often reaches heights of 35–55 metres, with some specimens growing even taller under optimal conditions. The Norway spruce is widely planted in Europe and North America, not only for ornamental and landscaping purposes but also for timber production, given its straight grain and versatility. Its wood, known as "whitewood," is prized in the construction industry and is also used in the manufacture of paper and musical instruments.

The tree's bark is brown to reddish and scaly, becoming rougher as it ages. Its branches grow in horizontal layers, with pendulous branchlets giving the tree a slightly weeping appearance. Needles are dark green, pointed, and around 1–2 cm in length. Cones are one of its defining features, typically measuring 10–18 cm, with a cylindrical shape and rounded, overlapping scales that turn brown as they mature.

Picea abies is hardy, thriving in a range of climates and soil types, though it prefers well-drained, acidic soils and benefits from full sun. In colder climates, it is often cultivated as a Christmas tree due to its classic conical form and appealing fragrance. However, it requires ample space for its expansive root system, making it unsuitable for small gardens.

Ecologically, the Norway spruce plays an essential role in forest ecosystems, providing habitat and food for various wildlife species. 

Picea glauca 'Sander's Blue', commonly known as 'Sander's Blue' White Spruce, is a stunning dwarf conifer prized for its vibrant blue-green needles that add a colorful accent to any garden space. This cultivar exhibits a compact, pyramidal form, making it an excellent choice for smaller landscapes or as a focal point in a larger garden arrangement.

Typically reaching an ultimate height of 10 to 12 feet, with a spread of 4 to 5 feet, 'Sander's Blue' White Spruce grows slowly, which makes it manageable and suitable for residential gardens without the worry of overwhelming the space. It thrives in full sun to partial shade and prefers well-drained, moist soil. Hardy and adaptable, this spruce tolerates cold climates well, making it a versatile choice for various garden zones.

Gardeners often use 'Sander's Blue' as a specimen plant due to its distinctive color and structured form. It also fits beautifully into rock gardens, urban gardens, and even as part of a conifer collection, where its unique hue can be fully appreciated against contrasting greenery.

Picea pungens 'Lucky Strike' is an excellent choice for garden landscapes, particularly in smaller or more formal settings. This compact cultivar of the Colorado blue spruce features dense, upright growth and a narrow, pyramidal form that provides architectural structure and year-round visual interest. Its vibrant, silvery-blue needles create a striking contrast against green foliage in the garden, making it a standout specimen or focal point.

This conifer is especially well-suited for rock gardens, foundation plantings, and mixed borders, where its slow growth habit—typically reaching 6 to 10 feet tall over many years—ensures it won’t outgrow its space quickly. 'Lucky Strike' is hardy and thrives in full sun with well-drained soil. It is drought-tolerant once established and generally low-maintenance, requiring little to no pruning to maintain its shape.

Due to its resilience and ornamental value, Picea pungens 'Lucky Strike' is a valuable addition to gardens seeking evergreen color and form. It pairs well with other conifers, ornamental grasses, or perennials, creating a dynamic and attractive garden design throughout the seasons.

Picea glauca 'Sander's Blue', commonly known as 'Sander's Blue' White Spruce, is a stunning dwarf conifer prized for its vibrant blue-green needles that add a colorful accent to any garden space. This cultivar exhibits a compact, pyramidal form, making it an excellent choice for smaller landscapes or as a focal point in a larger garden arrangement.

Typically reaching an ultimate height of 10 to 12 feet, with a spread of 4 to 5 feet, 'Sander's Blue' White Spruce grows slowly, which makes it manageable and suitable for residential gardens without the worry of overwhelming the space. It thrives in full sun to partial shade and prefers well-drained, moist soil. Hardy and adaptable, this spruce tolerates cold climates well, making it a versatile choice for various garden zones.

Gardeners often use 'Sander's Blue' as a specimen plant due to its distinctive color and structured form. It also fits beautifully into rock gardens, urban gardens, and even as part of a conifer collection, where its unique hue can be fully appreciated against contrasting greenery.

Picea abies 'Pusch' is a dwarf cultivar of the Norway spruce, known for its compact size, unique cone production, and suitability for small gardens and rockeries. Originating from the traditional Picea abies species, this slow-growing variety is cherished for its ornamental value and attractive, miniature form.

This conifer typically grows to a height of 60 to 90 cm (2 to 3 feet) over the course of 10 years, forming a compact, rounded shape. Its dense branches are covered in short, dark green needles that provide a striking year-round display. What makes Picea abies 'Pusch' truly special, however, is its prolific production of bright red, small cones in spring. These cones first appear as vibrant, ruby-red structures, creating a colourful contrast against the green foliage, before maturing into a more subdued brown hue later in the season.

Due to its modest size and slow growth rate, Picea abies 'Pusch' is ideal for smaller spaces, container gardening, and rock gardens. It thrives in full sun but can tolerate partial shade, preferring well-drained, slightly acidic soil. While it is hardy in cold climates, it benefits from being sheltered from strong winds and extremes in weather, especially during its early growth stages.

This cultivar requires minimal maintenance and is relatively resistant to pests and diseases, making it a low-care option for gardeners seeking year-round visual interest. Pruning is rarely necessary, though it can be done lightly to maintain its shape. Overall, Picea abies 'Pusch' is a striking and versatile choice for anyone looking to add a splash of colour and texture to their garden or landscape design.

The Picea glauca ‘Perfecta’, commonly known as the dwarf white spruce, is a compact, slow-growing conifer prized for its neat, conical shape and silvery-green needles. A cultivar of the white spruce (Picea glauca), this tree is ideal for smaller gardens or as a feature in rockeries, borders, or containers due to its modest size. Typically growing to a height of 1.5 to 2 metres over many years, it maintains a tidy, dense form that requires little maintenance.

The needles of the Picea glauca ‘Perfecta’ are soft to the touch, bluish-green in colour, and create a shimmering effect in sunlight, adding a striking element to the garden landscape. Its branches are short and evenly spaced, enhancing the tree's symmetrical, pyramid-like appearance.

This tree is hardy and well-suited to the UK climate, tolerating cold winters and thriving in a range of soil types, provided the soil is well-drained. It prefers full sun but can tolerate partial shade. Picea glauca ‘Perfecta’ is relatively low-maintenance, requiring minimal pruning, and it is also resistant to pests and diseases. Once established, it has moderate drought tolerance but benefits from regular watering during dry spells, especially when young.

One of its most appealing features is its year-round interest. As an evergreen, it provides structure and colour in the garden throughout all seasons, making it a popular choice for those seeking a focal point that doesn’t lose its charm in winter. Whether used as a standalone specimen or as part of a mixed border, the Picea glauca ‘Perfecta’ is an excellent choice for adding texture, form, and seasonal interest to small or medium-sized gardens in the UK.

Picea pungens 'Lucky Strike' is an excellent choice for garden landscapes, particularly in smaller or more formal settings. This compact cultivar of the Colorado blue spruce features dense, upright growth and a narrow, pyramidal form that provides architectural structure and year-round visual interest. Its vibrant, silvery-blue needles create a striking contrast against green foliage in the garden, making it a standout specimen or focal point.

This conifer is especially well-suited for rock gardens, foundation plantings, and mixed borders, where its slow growth habit—typically reaching 6 to 10 feet tall over many years—ensures it won’t outgrow its space quickly. 'Lucky Strike' is hardy and thrives in full sun with well-drained soil. It is drought-tolerant once established and generally low-maintenance, requiring little to no pruning to maintain its shape.

Due to its resilience and ornamental value, Picea pungens 'Lucky Strike' is a valuable addition to gardens seeking evergreen color and form. It pairs well with other conifers, ornamental grasses, or perennials, creating a dynamic and attractive garden design throughout the seasons.

Picea omorika ‘Nana’, commonly known as the dwarf Serbian spruce, is a beautiful compact evergreen conifer prized for its elegant shape, attractive foliage and excellent garden performance in the UK. This slow-growing variety is a smaller form of the native Serbian spruce, making it ideal for gardens where space is limited but year-round structure and interest are required.

Unlike the larger Serbian spruce, which can become a substantial tree, ‘Nana’ forms a dense, rounded to broadly conical shrub with a neat, architectural habit. It typically grows to around 1.5–3 metres in height and width over many years, making it well suited to smaller gardens, mixed borders, rockeries, Japanese-style planting schemes and large containers.

The foliage is one of its most appealing features. The short, fine needles are arranged densely along the branches, displaying a rich green colour on the upper surface with distinctive silvery-white bands underneath. This creates a shimmering effect as the branches move in the breeze, giving the plant a refined and elegant appearance throughout the year. The attractive colouring provides excellent contrast when planted alongside flowering shrubs, ornamental grasses or darker-leaved evergreens.

Picea omorika ‘Nana’ is a hardy and reliable plant, tolerating UK winters well and performing best in a sunny or partially shaded position. It prefers a moist but well-drained soil and is adaptable to a range of soil types, including clay soils, provided drainage is adequate. Once established, it requires very little maintenance and naturally maintains its attractive shape without regular pruning.

This dwarf Serbian spruce is also well suited to urban gardens, as it handles pollution and exposed conditions better than many conifers. It makes an excellent low-maintenance specimen plant, adding evergreen interest, texture and form to the garden all year round.

A versatile and elegant conifer, Picea omorika ‘Nana’ is an excellent choice for gardeners looking for a distinctive evergreen that offers beauty, structure and long-term reliability without becoming too large.

Picea abies ‘Inversa’ is a striking, architectural evergreen that brings drama and elegance to a garden throughout the year. Unlike typical upright conifers, this distinctive weeping Norway spruce produces cascading branches that fall vertically, creating a sculptural, almost waterfall-like effect. Its ultimate height depends on training; when staked, it can reach 4–6 metres over time, while remaining relatively narrow, making it ideal for smaller gardens where vertical interest is desired without excessive spread.

Hardy and reliable in UK conditions, ‘Inversa’ thrives in full sun or light shade and prefers moist, well-drained soil. It performs particularly well in larger borders, gravel gardens, or as a focal point in lawn settings. The deep green needles provide year-round structure and contrast beautifully with ornamental grasses, maples, or winter-stem shrubs.

This cultivar is also suitable for contemporary landscapes where strong form and texture are key. Low maintenance once established, it requires minimal pruning beyond shaping and training. For gardens seeking character, movement, and evergreen presence in all seasons, ‘Inversa’ offers a truly distinctive and dependable choice.

Picea pungens 'Edith' is one of the finest blue conifers available, prized for its exceptionally bright silvery-blue needles and naturally elegant, pyramidal form. Originating as a selected cultivar of the Colorado Blue Spruce, it offers all the beauty of the species but with a more refined, consistent habit and a richer blue colour that is retained throughout the year.

Slow to moderate growing, 'Edith' typically reaches around 4–8 metres in height over many years, with a spread of 2–4 metres, making it an excellent choice for medium to large gardens where year-round structure is desired. Its dense branching creates a symmetrical silhouette without requiring regular pruning, making it a low-maintenance specimen tree.

The striking needles are stiff, sharply pointed and coated in a silvery wax, giving the tree its remarkable icy-blue appearance. This distinctive colouring contrasts beautifully with green foliage, flowering shrubs and autumn tones, making 'Edith' a superb focal point in both contemporary and traditional landscapes.

Hardy throughout the UK, Picea pungens 'Edith' performs best in full sun, where the blue foliage develops its most intense colour. It prefers moist but well-drained soil and is tolerant of a wide range of soil types, including chalk, loam and sandy soils, provided they are not waterlogged. Once established, it is reasonably drought tolerant and copes well with exposed positions, making it suitable for many parts of the country.

This handsome evergreen requires very little attention beyond occasional watering during prolonged dry periods while young. Its naturally neat shape means pruning is rarely necessary, and it is generally resistant to pests and diseases.

Whether planted as a striking standalone specimen, incorporated into a mixed conifer collection or used to provide year-round interest within a larger border, Picea pungens 'Edith' delivers outstanding colour, architectural form and dependable performance for generations

Picea abies ‘Acrocona’ is an excellent choice for garden landscapes due to its unique form, ornamental features, and manageable size. This dwarf cultivar of Norway spruce typically grows 10–15 feet tall and wide, making it ideal for smaller gardens or as a focal point in larger spaces. Its irregular, somewhat sprawling shape adds a touch of character and visual interest throughout the year. One of its most striking features is the production of abundant, showy, reddish-purple cones at the ends of branches in spring, which mature to brown and persist through the seasons, offering long-lasting decorative appeal.

‘Acrocona’ thrives in full sun and prefers moist, well-drained, slightly acidic soil. It is hardy and tolerates cold winters and a range of soil types once established. Minimal pruning is required, making it low-maintenance. Due to its moderate growth rate and unique cone display, it is well-suited for rock gardens, specimen plantings, or woodland-themed gardens. Its dense foliage also provides shelter for birds, enhancing biodiversity in the landscape. Overall, Picea abies ‘Acrocona’ combines beauty, hardiness, and versatility, making it a superb addition to many garden styles.