Table of contents
- Location
- substrate & soil
- watering & fertilizing
- Plant
- Cultivation in the bucket
- multiply
- sowing
- Cut
- hibernate
- Care mistakes, diseases or pests
- Conclusion
The blue spruce is one of the most popular Christmas trees in Germany, but it also cuts a fine figure in the home garden. With its dense and wide growth and its light blue color, it is one of the most beautiful of the evergreen conifers. Originally at home in the Rocky Mountains, it also copes well with the winter temperatures in the local latitudes. In the gardens in this country, however, there are mostly cultivated trees with a particularly intensive blue-grey coloring of the needles.
Location
The blue fir is a flat-rooted tree, which means that there must be enough space around its location for its roots to spread. If it is planted against a wall or in a corner, it must therefore be ensured that the roots can unfold well on the other sides. In addition, it has a dense and wide growth, its crown grows cone-shaped, but the branches straight on all sides. Therefore, it also needs a lot of freedom on all sides here. Otherwise, the ideal location must have the following characteristics:
- sunny and bright
- It is better to avoid partial shade or even full shade
- She doesn't mind the wind
- therefore the location does not have to be protected
- can be planted as a specimen
- if there is a lot of space, it can also be planted in a group
Tip:
If there are small children in the family, the spruce should be given a place where the little ones cannot reach. It's no coincidence that the tree got its name, because the silvery, shiny needles are not entirely harmless, as they end in a very sharp point.
substrate & soil
The spruce does not make any special demands on the soil either. If this is sandy and loamy, it is just as good for the spruce as a humus-rich soil. Therefore, the soil in the garden is actually perfect for the blue spruce. However, if the soil is particularly heavy and loamy, it can also be enriched with sand or compost. In addition, it should always be kept moist, the conifers do not tolerate dry soil so well.
watering & fertilizing
Regular watering is mandatory for the blue fir, because prolonged drought should be avoided at all costs. It is therefore particularly important that it is supplied with enough water in the hot summer months during a longer dry period. And also in winter, in periods of dry frost, you have to think about watering. Here, however, water may only be added on frost-free days. When fertilizing, the following should be observed:
- Regular fertilizing promotes the growth of the spruce
- use complete fertilizer for this
- Blue grain, for example, is a good choice here
- but you can also choose fir fertilizer from well-stocked specialist shops
- Pay attention to the various manufacturer's instructions for fertilizer application
Tip:
Even in winter, when there is a long dry cold, the coniferous trees must be sufficiently watered on frost-free days. Otherwise the plant could suffer from drought stress, which would result in needle shedding.
Plant
If the planting hole is dug for planting in the garden bed or on a meadow as the center point and the soil is dug out, this can ideally be filled into a wheelbarrow provided. This makes it easier to prepare and mix with sand and compost. The planting hole should be filled with stones or shards of clay to prevent waterlogging, for example during long periods of rain, so that the water can drain off better. When planting the spruce, proceed as follows:
- Place the spruce with the root ball in a water bath
- After a while, put them in the prepared planting hole
- now loosen the cloth wrapped around the root ball
- this can remain in the ground
- fill in prepared soil
- Press lightly all around
- Water the blue fir well
- water well for the next few weeks
Cultivation in the bucket
If the blue fir you bought is still small, around 1.50 meters high, it can also be cultivated in a bucket in the early years. This is an advantage above all if the decorative spruce is to be decorated on the terrace, balcony or in the living room over the Christmas period. Then the bucket can simply be pushed to the desired location, provided it was placed on a mobile frame before planting. Since the spruce does not tolerate waterlogging, drainage should also be created when planting in the bucket to prevent it the water is damming up in the vessel above the drainage hole because earth has settled here and the excess irrigation water can no longer drain away can. Because water that the roots constantly come into contact with could rot and, in the worst case, the plant dies. Therefore, when cultivating in a bucket, proceed as follows:
- Put the tree in a water bath
- Place shards of pottery or stones over the drain hole
- lay plant fleece over this
- Fill in the prepared soil halfway
- Remove the spruce from the water bath and place in the bucket
- carefully loosen the cloth around the root ball
- Cloth can remain in soil
- being made from natural materials, it will disintegrate over time
- Fill in the remaining soil and press down lightly
- water well
Tip:
When cultivating in a bucket, repotting is not recommended. If the blue spruce gets too big, it should be given a place in the garden bed or as a shade provider on a lawn in the garden. Because the fir should not remain in a pot for too long, otherwise it will be prevented from growing and will wither over time.
multiply
The spruce can be propagated by cuttings. This is faster than growing from seeds. If there is already a blue spruce in the garden and more are to be added, this method is recommended. If the existing spruce has new shoot tips in spring or early summer that are not yet lignified but are no longer quite soft, these are torn off. This tearing off creates a tongue of bark, from which the roots later form. It is therefore very important that the cuttings are not cut off here. The cuttings obtained in this way are then proceeded as follows:
- Put potting soil in a pot
- mix them with sand or peat to improve permeability
- remove the lower side shoots from the cuttings
- then put it in the ground and water it
- a bright location, for example on a windowsill, is ideal
- A transparent film provides warm, humid air
- alternatively, the pot can be placed under a large, upturned glass
- air regularly
- Keep cuttings moist
- by autumn roots have formed
- overwinter in the house
- in spring the new plants may be planted outdoors
Tip:
Do not put the cuttings outside immediately after rooting the next year, but cultivate them in a bucket for the first few years. In this way, once the trees have grown strong enough, they can be used as a Christmas tree before they move into the garden.
sowing
A spruce tree is fertile after about thirty years. The seeds in the cone can be used for sowing. When the cone of a blue spruce is ripe, the scales detach and fall off, and the seeds fall out as well. These can be sown directly in the garden bed. However, it makes more sense and is more effective to put the seeds in one or more small pots with potting soil. Do not insert them too deeply and always keep them moist. After about 10 to 20 days, the first seedlings will appear here. The pots are ideally placed in a bright place with a temperature between 15° and 20° Celsius.
Cut
Spruces no longer sprout from old wood. Therefore, it does not make sense to cut a blue fir. Ideally, it is only thinned out, that is, dead wood or stunted branches are removed. The ideal time for this pruning is just before new sprouting, i.e. at the end of winter. The weather on this day should be frost-free and overcast.
hibernate
Blue spruces are hardy and do not need special protection, they protect themselves. Only very young spruces that have just been planted should be protected against frost with a layer of mulch over the root. The young shoots, on the other hand, must be protected from the intense winter sun, as must the trunk.
Tip:
If the spruce loses its needles in winter, this does not have to be due to a care mistake or an illness. The evergreen firs renew their needles about every seven years. If new needles grow back quickly after the shed, this is no cause for concern. If the blue fir is also in a shady location in winter, the shedding can happen every year.
Care mistakes, diseases or pests
If brown needles form and are dropped, this may be due to the fact that the spruce suffered from a too long dry period. Therefore, even in winter, care must always be taken to ensure that the soil around the conifers is always kept moist. But waterlogging or road salt can also be the cause. The attractive blue spruce in particular is also often attacked by Sitka spruce aphids. Even with such an infestation, the tree loses its needles in large quantities. Then it is advisable to use insecticides against the pest. Various fungal diseases can also occur and afflict the blue fir, then you have to target them Fungicides are used, because fungal infestation should not be taken lightly become. As a rule, however, the fungi only very rarely appear on the coniferous trees.
Tip:
If a fungus has occurred or if there are other diseases, such as the inexplicable dropping of needles, the hobby gardener can You can also get help from the forestry office responsible for your place of residence, because the foresters have been trained for such cases and also help here gladly.
Conclusion
The blue spruce is an easy-care and decorative coniferous tree that grows very quickly, needs a lot of sun and space and, as a small tree in a pot, is well suited as a Christmas tree. The spruce requires little care, as it hardly needs to be cut and only needs to be watered sufficiently. As a shade provider in a large garden, it is a real eye-catcher with its slightly blue-silver colour. However, the hobby gardener must already be aware when purchasing that the tree can grow up to 20 meters high and has a long lifespan.
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