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Synonyms: Norway spruce, Abies abies(L.) Druce nom. inval., Abies alpestris Brügger, Picea excelsa (Lam.), Picea montana Schur, Picea rubra A.Dietr., Picea vulgaris, Pinus abies L.basionym, Pinus excelsa Lam., Pinus viminalis Sparrm. ex Alstr.
Norway spruce is a typical species of evergreen tree from the genus of the Pine family. Widely distributed in the northeastern part of Europe, where it grows in continuous forests. In the western part of Europe it is found only in the Carpathians, the Alps, and also in the mountains of the Balkan Peninsula. Locally naturalized in North America, British Isles and Pyrenees. A forest-forming species, in the taiga it forms pure forests - spruce forests. Often adjacent to Scots pine, Siberian spruce and deciduous trees, forming mixed forests.
It is a medium-tall tree 30 (50) m in height, 6-8 m in width, with a trunk diameter of up to 1.2 (2.4) m. At a young age (up to 10-15 years) it grows slowly, later faster. Annual growth reaches 50 cm in height and 15 cm in width. The crown is wide-conical, dense, with a sharp tip. The branches are drooping or prostrate, arranged whorled. The bark is gray, peels off in thin plates, scaly, rough. The trunk is full wood, smooth. The shoots are almost horizontal or drooping, tonic, sparsely pubescent or bare, glandular-hairy, with small exudations of resin, from greenish-reddish-yellow to brown, matte, by autumn they become reddish-brown from the cortical layering.
Norway spruce is heterogeneous in its branching types. There are 5 types: comb - branches of the 1st order are located horizontally, the 2nd are thin and comb-like, hanging down; incorrectly combed - branches of the 2nd order grow incorrectly combed; compact - branches of the 1st order are relatively horizontal, medium in length, densely covered with short-branched branches of the 2nd order; flat - branches of the 2nd order are horizontal, widely branched; brush-like - branches of the 1st order have thick short branches from which small branches hang corymbose-like.
The root system is superficial, so the plant is susceptible to wind blows.
The buds are oval or cone-shaped, dark brown, blunt-pointed or slightly pointed, non-resinous. The kidney scales are dry, numerous, filmy, yellow-brown in color.
The needles are tetrahedral, short, 2-2.5 cm in length, prickly, arranged spirally, slightly curved, sitting one at a time on leaf pads, dark green, shiny, with inconspicuous stomatal stripes, between which a green edge protrudes. Can be stored on the tree for 6-12 years.
Flower buds are 4-8 mm long and 4 mm in diameter. Male spikelets (microstrobiles) are axillary, reddish-yellow, 20-25 mm in length, grow at the ends of last year's shoots and are surrounded by scales at the base. It's dusty in May. Female cones (megastrobiles) are purple or green, develop at the ends of biennial shoots, located above the male ones - several pieces on the upper part of the crown. At first they are located vertically, later they gradually turn their tip down and become drooping. They ripen in October.
The cones are oblong, 15 cm long and 4 cm wide, green in early summer, later dark purple, light brown when ripe. The seed scales are convex, rhombic, narrowed at the top, less often truncated along the edge, wavy-notched or jagged along the edge. Covering scales are much shorter than seed scales, oblong in shape. The seeds are ovoid-pointed, up to 4 mm in length and 2 mm in width. The wing is reddish-brown, shiny, up to 15 mm in length, easily separated from the seed. Until winter, the seeds remain in the cones and spill out in January-March.
It produces seeds from the age of 20 years and continues up to 60 years, depending on the density of location in the place of growth (single-growing individuals begin to produce seeds earlier). Seed production does not occur annually, but once every 4-5 years.
Life expectancy is 250-300 years. The age of a spruce is determined by the number of floors of branches, since they are formed once a year. It is necessary to add 3-4 years to the number of floors (the time of formation of the first floor).
Varieties: Picea × fennica (Regel) Komarov - a hybrid between and Norway spruce; Picea abies var. acuminata (Beck) Dallim. & A.B. Jacks.; Picea abies var. alpestris (Brügger) P.Schmidt.
Shapes:"Acrocona" ("Asrosopa"), "Aurea" ("Aurea"), "Aurea Magnifica" Golden Magnificent ("Aigea Magnifica"), "Berry" ("Barryi"), "Clanbrassiliana" ("Clanbrassiliana"), " Columnaris, Compacta, Conica, Cranstonii, Echiniformis, Echiniformis, Formanek "Formanek", "Gregoryana", "Inversa", Inverted ("Inversa"), "Little Gem", "Maxwellii", "Nana" (" Nana"), "Nidiformis", Nest-shaped ("Nidiformis"), "Ohlendorffii" ("Ohlendorffii"), "Pyramidata", Pyramidata ("Pyramidata"), "Pygmy", Dwarf ("Pygmaea"), "Procumbens" ( "Procumbens", "Pumila", "Pumila", "Pumila Glauka", "Pumila Glauca", "Reflexa", "Remontii", "Repens" ", Creeping ("Repens"), "Viminalis", Rod-shaped ("Viminalis"), "Virgata", Serpentine ("Virgata"), "Will's Zwerg".
O. V. Thome “Flora von Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz”, 1885
Frost resistance zone: 2a (-45°)
Location: light-loving, but shade-tolerant. At a young age he suffers from spring burns. Grows well in fresh, well-drained acidic, sandy or loamy soil. Does not tolerate stagnation of water, dryness and salinity of the soil. Doesn't like air pollution. In monoculture it can lead to soil acidification.
Landing: Soil mixture: turf and leaf soil, peat, sand in a ratio of 2:2:1:1. Drainage is made from broken bricks, layer 15-20 cm. Planting depth: 50-70 cm. Root collar at ground level.
Care: after planting, you can fertilize with 100-150 g. During dry periods, it is recommended to water 10-12 liters per plant daily. It is also advisable to sprinkle the crown. Loosening is carried out to a depth of 5-6 cm, while the peat is not removed, but mixed with soil. Young seedlings need to be covered with spruce branches for the winter.
Trimming: tolerates pruning well. At correct formation hedge, you can achieve the effect of an “impenetrable green wall”. When forming 2 tops, you need to remove one.
Diseases: schutte, snow schutte, fusarium, stem and root rot, bark necrosis, ulcerative (wound) cancer, cone rust, spruce spinner.
Pests: spruce budworm, spider mite, Sitka spruce aphid.
Reproduction: seeds, cuttings, grafting or layering. The lower branches take root well in the soil. Lost during seed propagation decorative properties. Seed germination rate is 60-80%. - They germinate without pre-sowing preparation, but soaking in water (18-22 hours) or cold stratification (2-8 weeks) increases the percentage of germination. In a closed container, seeds can be stored for up to 5 years.
Usage: Wood is widely used in construction, for making musical instruments, furniture, in the pulp and paper industry. Tannins are obtained from the bark. Cones and buds are used in medicine. IN landscape design Norway spruce is widely used in single and group plantings. Used to create alleys, arrays, hedges. Popular for urban landscaping, as well as for creating snow protection plantings along roads. In many countries it is widely used as a Christmas or New Year tree.
(Picea obovata) and the northern ecotype of Norway spruce – (Picea fennica) from Norway and Finland, which is more winter-hardy, smaller in size and grows more slowly.
Young shoots and cones of Picea abies
Description of the species. tree in natural conditions 30-50 m high, rarely 60 m. This is the tallest native tree in Europe. The diameter of the trunk is 1-1.8 m, the crown is 6-8 m. In the Republic of Belarus, the largest spruce is located in Belovezhskaya Pushcha (300 years old, height 42 m, trunk diameter 1.4 m). The dominant shape of the crown is cone-shaped, with slightly drooping branches, and remains sharp until the end of life. Due to its extensive range, the species is heterogeneous in appearance, mainly in terms of various types branching and some others (for example, different deadlines beginning of the growing season).
Blooming female cone Picea abies
The apical bud is 4-5 mm long, 3-4 mm wide, ovoid-cone-shaped, larger than the others and covered with needles bent over it. Each such bud is surrounded by 2-3 lateral buds, sitting almost in a ring shape, due to which the shoot, and then the branches, are arranged in whorls in the same order. Almost always, single scattered buds develop between the whorls, due to which the branching is not strictly whorled, with lateral intermediate branches, which gives the crown a densely branched appearance. The trunk is smooth and full of wood. The bark is thin, gray-copper in color, scaly, slightly flaking, in old trees it comes off in rounded plates, fissured.
The shoots are drooping or almost horizontal, bare or sparsely pubescent, greenish-reddish or yellowish-brown, thin, matte, taking on a reddish-brown tint by autumn. The buds are dark brown, oval, more or less cone-shaped, slightly pointed or blunt-pointed, non-resinous, surrounded by numerous dry, filmy, yellow-brown scales. The kidney scales are obtuse triangular, light or reddish brown. Under the outer scales, internal, light brown or colorless scales are found; under them there is a shoot embryo with a needle bud. In developed apical buds, the scales are folded downward, forming something like a beautiful rosette at the base of the young shoot.
The needles are slightly curved to crescent-shaped, arranged whorled, indistinctly in two rows. The needles in relation to the shoot are directed forward, somewhat spaced from the shoot, less often erect, tetrahedral in cross-section, length 10-35 mm, width 1.5-1.8 mm with 2-4 stomatal lines on each side. They are dark green, shiny, with inconspicuous stomatal stripes, between which the green edge of the needle clearly protrudes; ending in a conical, awl-shaped, lighter, yellowish tip, slightly tapering towards the base. In a transverse section through a magnifying glass, resin ducts are visible; in the center of the leaf there is a vascular-fibrous bundle. The needles are held in favorable conditions 6-7(12) years old.
Flower buds are larger than leaf buds, up to 8 mm in length, 4 mm in diameter. It blooms in April - May (when the bird cherry blossoms). Male microstrobiles are spherical-oval, purple-red, similar to strawberries, 20-25 mm long, when flowering at the base they are surrounded by light green bracts, several appear on the branches collected on one axis. Female cones are located higher, they are bright red or green, several at the top of the crown, and erect during flowering. At the beginning of summer they are light green, later dark purple.
General view of a mature Picea abies tree with mature cones
When the seeds ripen, they become fusiform-cylindrical, not narrowed at the base and apex, shiny, with large, relatively hard, woody-leathery seed scales elongated at the top, light brown, woody, length 10-20 cm, width 3-4 cm. Seed scales are rhombic, obovate, convex, narrowed at the top, sometimes truncated at the edges, jagged or wavy-notched, sometimes truncated. The covering scales are oblong, much shorter than the seed scales.
The seeds spill out at the end next winter, they are oblong-ovate, matte, dark brown, lighter on one side, with an elongated, long tip bent to the side, 4-5 mm long, 2 mm wide, with a yellow-red, easily separated, shiny wing of 3 times longer than the seed (15 mm).
Ecological property of the species. It grows in central and northern Europe (in the mountains of the Pyrenees, Alps, Carpathians), in the north from Scandinavia to the south-forest zone (Belarus) and from the Alps to the Urals in the east. It rises up to 800 m into the mountains, where it is the dominant species. In nature, it forms spruce forests or is mixed with linden, maple, birch, and oak. Thanks to cultivation, it is found everywhere. Lives 300, occasionally 500 years. Up to 10-15 years it grows slowly, then quickly. Annual growth in height is 50 cm, in width - 15 cm.
It has increased frost resistance, suitable for growing within USD zones 1-8 (frost-resistant down to -45°C), but is sensitive to early spring frosts, especially in depressions and micro-depressions of the relief, in closed clearings, and therefore there is species iberation with late growing seasons. It is very shade-tolerant, demanding of air and soil humidity, but does not tolerate stagnant moisture, does not grow in raised sphagnum bogs, and does not tolerate salinity and dry soil. Tolerates excessive flowing moisture.
The best soils are fresh, medium-fertile acidic loams and light, moist sandy loams. Cannot tolerate seals and loved ones groundwater, salinity and dry soil. It is rare in urban plantings, as it is sensitive to gas and dust. The breed is shallow-rooted (the root system is superficial), therefore it is susceptible to wind blows. On loose, humus, freezing soils it forms raw humus. Therefore, in monoculture it leads to acidification of the soil. Attracts mushrooms.
Reproduction and cultivation. Seed germination is 60-80%. It can be stored in a hermetically sealed container for up to 5 years and germinates without sowing preparation, but cold stratification (2-8 weeks) or soaking in water (18-22 hours) increases germination. Like other spruce species, it is propagated by cuttings. Up to 10-15 years it grows slowly, then the annual growth increases (50 cm in height and 15 cm in width). Seeds from 25-30 years of age.
Purpose and application. The wood is white with a yellowish tint, soft and light. Goes to sawing, is good building material, valuable raw materials for the production of cellulose, as well as for the manufacture of musical instruments, containers, sleepers, and telegraph poles. Tannins are obtained from the bark. Valuable forest-forming, field-protecting and water-protecting species.
Landscape construction. Norway spruce - this is our native forest-forming species, known to every inhabitant of Europe; it is often used in reforestation and field protection plantings along railways, and also as a decoration for parks and squares. Gardening culture has given some decorative forms the crowns of the common spruce (weeping, columnar, spherical) and the color of the needles (golden, silver).
Sometimes found in Belarusian parks common spruce (picea oirgata) with long, slightly branched branches. In forest parks it is cultivated in group plantings, groves, massifs, alleys or used in hedges. Wild forms of common spruce growing in forests differ in the nature of branching, the structure of the bark, the color of female spikelets and other characteristics. Of these forms, the most decorative is spruce with a comb type of branching, in which first-order branches hang down with long strands. Beautiful hundred-year-old specimens of these spruce trees have been preserved in Nesvizh Park.
It should be borne in mind that not all specimens are highly decorative; sometimes the shape of the crown is uneven, so it is better to take seeds from selected producers. Currently, Norway spruce is almost never used in urban plantings, as it is believed that this species does not tolerate gas and dust. Meanwhile, with moderate air pollution, spruce grows successfully, maintaining high decorative value. Light brown cones up to 6-12 cm greatly decorate the tree during the fruiting period. It combines well with larches, fir, pine, birch, maple, ash, oleaster and other shrubs.
In contact with
Picea abies
Taxon: family Pine ( Pinaceae).
Other names: Norway spruce
English: Norway Spruce, Christmas Tree
Description
Spruce- an elegant, slender evergreen tree up to 30-50 m high from the pine family. The crown of the tree has the shape of a regular narrow cone and descends almost to the ground. The top of the spruce is always sharp, it never becomes dull. A spruce grows tall and slender only when the topmost bud of the tree blooms normally every year and gives rise to a new shoot. If the apical bud of a young spruce tree is damaged or the shoot on which it is located is cut off, the appearance of the tree changes dramatically. The growth of the main trunk stops, the lateral branches closest to the top gradually rise upward. As a result, instead of high and slender tree it turns out low and ugly. The spruce trunk is covered with flaky brownish-gray bark. The branches are arranged in whorls. The needles are needle-shaped, oblate-tetrahedral, dark green, shiny, 2-3 cm long, kept on the branches for 6-12 years. The needles of spruce are much shorter than those of pine. The lifespan of spruce needles is longer than that of pine needles. In spring, spruce, like pine, has male and female cones on its branches. This happens around the time when the bird cherry blossoms. Spruce- a monoecious plant, male spikelets are located in the lower part of the shoots in the axils of the needles. Female cones are elongated-cylindrical, young ones are bright red, late ones are green, in a mature state they are brown, up to 15 cm long. Pollen ripens in the male cone spikelets, resembling a fine yellow powder. The spruce dusts very profusely. Pollen is carried far around by the wind and settles on various objects. It is noticeable even on the leaves of forest grasses. Spruce cones, which ripen in the first year, are formed by spirally arranged covering scales, in the axils of which there are two ovules, from which seeds develop after fertilization. The seeds are dark brown with wings, similar to pine seeds. Having fallen out of the cone, they spin in the same way in the air like a propeller. Their rotation is very fast, and their fall is slower. Seeds carried by the wind can fly quite far away from the mother tree. Seed dispersal occurs at the end of winter, on dry sunny days.
Unlike pine, spruce is shade-tolerant. Its lower branches do not die off and are preserved, which is why it is dark and damp in spruce forests. Spruce has a much smaller root system than pine and is located in top layer soil, so the tree is unstable and often strong winds they throw him to the ground.
Spruce grows well under the canopy of pine, birch, and oak. She, like other shade-tolerant trees, has a thick, dense crown that allows little light to pass through.
One of the characteristics of spruce is its sensitivity to late spring frosts. The return of cold weather in the spring destroys its young, newly emerged, not yet strong shoots. Young fir trees damaged by frost can sometimes be seen at the beginning of summer somewhere in the open (in a clearing, in a large clearing in the middle of a forest, etc.). Some of their needles are green and old, but the young shoots are withered and brown, as if scorched by fire.
In spruce, like in pine, the annual rings of wood are clearly visible on the cross section of the trunk. Some growth rings are wider, others are narrower. The width of the annual ring largely depends on the environmental conditions in which the tree grows (temperature, humidity, light, nutrients etc.). The better the conditions, the wider the ring. In years that are especially favorable for wood weather conditions rings are especially wide. Since spruce creates very strong shading, only fairly shade-tolerant plants can exist under its canopy. There are usually few shrubs in a spruce forest; the soil is covered with a continuous green carpet of mosses, against which a few taiga grasses and dense thickets of blueberries grow (this type of forest is called a spruce-blueberry forest). Where the soil is better supplied with nutrients and sufficiently drained, as a rule, a continuous cover of wood sorrel develops - a small herbaceous plant with trifoliate leaves, like those of clover (this type of forest is called spruce-sorrel forest). On soils, especially poor and very damp ones, a continuous rather thick carpet of cuckoo flax moss is spread under the spruce trees (the name of such a forest is a long-spruce forest).
In a spruce forest, due to strong shading, the shoots of almost all tree species quickly die. However, the regrowth of the spruce tree itself persists for a very long time under these conditions. However, he looks very depressed. The trees are smaller than a person, similar in shape to an umbrella, their crown seems to be flattened, very loose. Living branches are very thin, with sparse short needles, the stem is like a ski pole. If you cut off such a stem at the bottom with a sharp knife, then in the cross section you can see unusually narrow growth rings, almost indistinguishable to the naked eye. They can only be seen with a strong magnifying glass. The reason for this is the fact that in deep shade the tree produces almost no organic matter, and therefore cannot produce much wood.
Spruce sprouts are almost the same as those of pine. They are quite rare in the forest. This is explained by the fact that the thin, weak root of a germinating seed is often unable to “break through” a thick layer of dry fallen needles. But many seedlings occur where this obstacle does not exist - on rotten tree trunks lying on the ground, on rotten stumps, on recently exposed areas of soil, etc.
Spreading
The area of natural distribution of common spruce in our country is almost the entire northern half of the European part. In the northernmost regions of this territory, as well as in the Urals and Siberia, a closely related species, Siberian spruce (Picca obovata), grows. Spruce occupies 10% of the forest area, forming spruce forests and is part of mixed forests, one of the most common tree species. In the European part of the country, spruce does not spread far to the south, as it is quite moisture-loving. To the east of the Urals it is replaced by a related species - Siberian spruce, in the Caucasus - by oriental spruce.
Growing
Spruce propagates by seeds. This tree cannot grow in climates that are too dry. Spruce also does not tolerate dry soil. In this respect, it is much more demanding than pine, which grows well on very dry sands. Spruce is more demanding than pine in terms of soil fertility. It does not grow in extremely nutrient-poor high-moor (sphagnum) bogs.
Collection and preparation
Needles, immature cones, and young tops of spruce branches are used as medicinal raw materials. The cones are collected in the summer before the seeds ripen and dried on racks under a canopy.
Chemical composition
Found in cones essential oils, resins, tannins, phytoncides, minerals. Spruce needles contain ascorbic acid (200-400 mg/%) and the same substances as cones.
Use of spruce in medicine
A decoction and infusion of cones is used for diseases of the upper respiratory tract and bronchial asthma, pine needles as an anti-scurvy agent, especially in winter time. The needles also have a diuretic and antimicrobial effect. It is recommended for diseases of the kidneys and bladder. IN folk medicine A decoction of buds and young cones is used in the treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis, scurvy, dropsy, and inflammatory diseases of the respiratory system.
Medications
Infusion of spruce needles: 20-25 g of crushed needles are brewed with boiling water (1:5), boiled for 10 minutes, then infused for 10 minutes, this dose is taken during the day. This infusion is drunk for scurvy and respiratory diseases.
A decoction of spruce cones. The cones are crushed, poured with water (1:5), boiled for half an hour, the resulting decoction is gargled and dripped into the nose. Bath infusion. The paws are boiled with salt, and the resulting decoction is added to baths for joint pain of various origins.
The spruce forest is clean, but it has a depressing effect on a person who has little contact with it, although the spruce is a donor tree, not a vampire, but when there are many donors nearby, they have a bad effect on each other.
Use on the farm
Spruce is widely used in national economy. Its wood is in large quantities goes, for example, to make paper. Spruce wood is used to produce cellulose, artificial silk and much more; it is widely used in construction. Spruce wood is an indispensable material for the manufacture of some musical instruments (for example, the tops of violins are made from it, etc.).
Spruce is also an important supplier of tannins, which are necessary for tanning leather. These substances in our country are obtained mainly from spruce bark. Our other plants as sources of tannins are of much less importance (the bark of oak, willow, larch, rhizome of the herbaceous plant bergenia, etc. is used).
A little history
Spruce is not only a New Year's tree. It is constantly used to accompany a person on his last journey. Spruce branches are placed under the coffin, and wreaths are made from spruce branches. This tree is both festive and mournful. Phytoncides from pine needles disinfect the room and drive out “evil spirits.” It is believed that when a body is removed from the house with the help of fir branches, all the bad things that sent a person on his last journey are removed, the spruce eases the suffering of his soul, which has not yet had time to finally part with the body - this will take 40 days. Fir branches lying on the grave help ease the soul of the deceased.
Sometimes healers and witches, reading conspiracies, as if to strengthen, enhance the effect, burn a small sprig of spruce in an iron bowl and see how the ashes are arranged, in what form - promising or not.
Photos and illustrations
| Life form: | Tree |
| Dimensions (height), m: | 30-35 |
| Crown diameter, m: | 6-8 |
| Crown shape: | Widely conical, with a sharp apex. |
| Growth pattern: | Up to 10-15 years it grows slowly, then quickly. |
| Annual height gain: | 50 cm. |
| Annual increase in width: | 15 cm. |
| Durability: | Up to 250-300 years |
| Leaf Shape: | The needles are needle-shaped, tetrahedral, pointed, 1-2 cm long, 0.1 cm thick, stored on branches for 6-12 years |
| Summer color: | Dark green |
| Flowers (color): | Male spikelets are reddish-yellow. Female bumps are purple or green |
| Beginning and end of flowering: | In May |
| Cones: | cylindrical, 10-15 cm long, 3-4 cm wide, immature cones light green or dark purple, mature light brown or reddish brown, hanging down |
| Decorative: | It has a beautiful crown shape and needle color |
| Application: | Single plantings, groups, alleys, arrays, hedges and walls. |
| Relation to light: | Shade-tolerant |
| Relation to moisture: | Does not tolerate stagnation of water, salinity and dry soil |
| Relation to soil: | Prefers fresh, well-drained, sandy and loamy soils |
| Frost resistance: | Very frost-resistant |
| Note: | Tolerates cutting and shaping well |
(Picea obovata) grows throughout the Irkutsk region and is more evenly distributed than others coniferous species. It is most common as an accompanying species in forests of very different composition. Less often it acts as the main forest former mainly in valley forests. Siberian spruce grows on soils of varying fertility, including cold, waterlogged but dry sandy soils in Central Siberia, as a rule, avoids.
The example of the ecology of Siberian spruce shows the influence of climate on the relationship of tree species to soil. In the continental climate of Central Siberia, Siberian spruce is rarely found even as an admixture on the dry sandy soils of the interfluves, although in the humid climate of the north of the European part of Russia it forms lichen spruce forests on such soils.
Quite a large tree. Specimens over 30 m high are sometimes found in river valleys in the south of the region. But usually the largest spruce trees are slightly lower than 30 m. The diameter of large trees of this species, as a rule, does not exceed 68-72 cm, although individual trunks reach 1 m in thickness. To the north and east of the region, the size of spruce trees decreases, but not as much as pines and larches.
The growth of Siberian spruce in height changes with age and significantly depends on light exposure. In general, like other conifers, Siberian spruce grows fastest in the pole stage, then growth decreases, but continues until old age.
The seeds ripen by the end of September in the year of pollination and do not always escape early September frosts. Seed production in spruce begins in open areas from 15-18 years, in forest stands - from 30-50 years. Harvest years are repeated every 3-5 years, somewhat more often in better forest conditions. In the intervals between them, Siberian spruce produces almost no seeds. Yields range from 200 to 700 thousand seeds per 1 hectare.
In open areas, spruce needles and shoots are damaged by late frosts, which greatly delays its regeneration in cleared areas and burnt areas. This usually does not happen under the forest canopy.
Siberian spruce needles live 2-3 years longer than Norway spruce needles (8-10 years instead of 6-7 for Norway spruce).
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Spruce is a universal decoration for any area. In winter and summer it remains beautiful, enlivens the landscape and gives it respectability. The most important thing is to choose the right spruce for the site, the types and varieties of which number in the dozens.
IN natural nature Spruce trees are tall evergreen trees with a narrow cone-shaped crown and an even trunk. Thanks to selection, new varieties have been developed, and spruce trees are of great interest due to the variety of needle colors and unusual shapes.
Did you know? Many people have noticed that it is easier to breathe in a coniferous forest. This is because spruce trees contain phytoncides, which have a beneficial effect on the cardiovascular system and respiratory system.
Spruce (in common parlance - Christmas tree) belongs to the pine family; the spruce genus includes more than a dozen species and varieties, differing in the arrangement of branches, size, crown shape and color.
Plantings different types This beauty occupies the bulk of forests on European territory. In urban conditions, such spruce trees practically do not grow, because a large number of gases in the air adversely affect growth and are practically fatal to them.
Under natural conditions, Norway spruce (Picea abies) changes very easily, which is why a huge number of varieties have been developed. The most common varieties are:
Important! In hot summers, young spruce trees need weekly watering (12 liters per tree) and loosening of the soil.
Another name for this beauty is Caucasian spruce (Picea orientalis). In nature it grows up to 50-65 meters in height, with a crown with a diameter of 22 meters. The shape of the crown is pyramidal, with hanging branches of a beautiful brown hue. 
Young fir trees have a light brown (sometimes reddish) color, slightly pubescent, shiny. At the top of the young growth droplets of resin are released. The needles are slightly flattened and bent upward, making them non-thorny. The needles are hard, thick, golden at first and dark green when ripe. Distinctive feature- the needles seem to be covered with varnish.
The color of mature buds can range from reddish to violet-purple. They grow at the ends of shoots in the upper part of the crown.
Important! The growth of eastern spruce does not tolerate direct sun rays. This species can grow on shallow soils, but is sensitive to dry winds and drought.
In landscape design it is used in group plantings, but looks more impressive alone.
The Latin name of this species is Picea pungens. Frost-, wind- and drought-resistant. It tolerates gas pollution better than other species and has a long life expectancy (almost half a century).
Prickly spruce belongs to the pine family; the spruce genus includes dozens of varieties, the appearance of which always causes admiration. This is a slender, large (up to 40 m in height and 3 m in width) tree, whose homeland is considered to be North America. The cones of this species are light brown, ripen in September and decorate the tree until spring.
Decorative forms of needles can have yellow, blue and bluish shades - it all depends on the thickness of the wax coating. With the onset of winter, the plaque disappears and the needles become dark green.
Blue spruce is rich in luxurious decorative varieties. Good for growing and design:
All these varieties of decorative spruce fit perfectly into the design of the site and do not require special care. This coniferous tree grows up to 20-30 meters in height and has a narrow conical crown shape. The branches of mature trees bend towards the ground.
Young shoots are red-brown with a dense glandular, reddish edge. The needles are tetrahedral and spiny. The mature cones have an ovoid (sometimes spherical) shape. Color – purple-brown.
Frost-resistant, tolerates shade well, unpretentious to soil quality. During dry periods it needs additional watering.
Did you know? Black spruce grows in the wild in North America. It has been cultivated in Europe since 1700, and in Russia it has been grown since the mid-19th century.
This type of Christmas tree grows slowly even in favorable conditions, which makes it possible to use it in small areas.
If you want to choose a spruce for your plot, pay attention to the following varieties and types:
Designers recommend the following varieties of black spruce for the garden: 
Did you know? Latin name ate Picea originated from the ancient Roman Pix, which translated means “resin.” These forest evergreen beauties have been known for thousands of years and are long-lived - they can live up to 300 years.
