Picea pungens 'Compacta'
Common Name(s):
- Phonetic Spelling
- PY-see--uh PUN-jenz com-PAK-tah
- Description
-
Dwarf spruce is a cultivar of the Colorado blue spruce. It is a compact, densely branched, flat-topped evergreen with long blue, sharp-tipped needles. Over time, its low horizontal branches form a beautiful spreading skirt. It is slow growing reaching only 1-5 feet in 10 years.
This tree needs average well-drained soil in full sun. It does best in cool-weather summers and will grow slower in the hot humid southeast weather. Native trees will be a better choice for NC. It may tolerate the NC mountain area weather.
VIDEO Created by Elizabeth Meyer for "Trees, Shrubs and Conifers" a plant identification course offered in partnership with Longwood Gardens.
- Profile Video:
- See this plant in the following landscape:
- Patio Room
- Cultivars / Varieties:
-
- Tags:
- Cultivars / Varieties:
-
- Tags:
-
-
Attributes:
- Genus:
- Picea
- Species:
- pungens
- Family:
- Pinaceae
- Life Cycle:
- Woody
-
-
Whole Plant Traits:
- Plant Type:
- Shrub
- Woody Plant Leaf Characteristics:
- Needled Evergreen
- Habit/Form:
- Dense
- Horizontal
- Growth Rate:
- Slow
- Maintenance:
- Low
-
-
Cultural Conditions:
- Light:
- Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day)
- Soil Drainage:
- Good Drainage
- NC Region:
- Mountains
- USDA Plant Hardiness Zone:
- 3a, 3b, 4a, 4b, 5a, 5b, 6a, 6b, 7a, 7b
-
-
Flowers:
- Flower Description:
- No flowers
-
-
Leaves:
- Woody Plant Leaf Characteristics:
- Needled Evergreen
- Leaf Color:
- Blue
- Leaf Feel:
- Prickly
- Leaf Type:
- Needles
- Leaf Arrangement:
- Whorled
- Leaf Shape:
- Linear
- Leaf Margin:
- Entire
- Hairs Present:
- No
- Leaf Length:
- 1-3 inches
- Leaf Width:
- < 1 inch
- Leaf Description:
- Stiff sharp blue-green needles with three or four whitish stomatal lines on each surface are 1-1.5 inches long and spiral along the stem
-
-
Stem:
- Stem Is Aromatic:
- No
- Stem Description:
- Nearly horizontal stems
