Blue Spruce (Colorado Spruce) vs Sitka Spruce - TreeTime.ca

Blue Spruce (Colorado Spruce) vs Sitka Spruce

Picea pungens

Picea sitchensis

COMING SOON

(new stock expected: fall of 2025)

CUSTOM GROW

Blue Spruce (Colorado Spruce)
Sitka Spruce

Blue Spruce, also known as Colorado Spruce, is our best selling tree! People are attracted to the distinctive blue-green color of this hardy evergreen. But Blue Spruce really stands out because it is tough, long lived, and adapted to a wide range of growing conditions. Blue Spruce trees are ideally suited for use in shelterbelts, privacy screens, or as accent trees.

Please note: our Blue Spruce are grown from seed and the needles vary in color from green to blue.

Sitka Spruce is a native conifer and the largest spruce species in the world. It grows quickly and reaches impressive heights, often reaching more than 50 metres (164 feet) in suitable conditions. It has strong, durable wood that has long been recognised for its commercial value.

It contributes to soil stability and plays an important role in coastal ecosystems. It offers cover and nesting sites for birds and small animals, and its seeds provide food for wildlife such as songbirds and small mammals.

Sitka Spruce plays a role in reforestation and ecological restoration projects in Coastal BC. The Wright Brothers used Sitka Spruce wood to build the frames of their first flying machines.

Blue Spruce (Colorado Spruce) Quick Facts

Sitka Spruce Quick Facts

Zone: 2a
Zone: 5a
Height: 27 m (90 ft)
Height: 61 m (200 ft)
Spread: 6 m (20 ft)
Spread: 11 m (35 ft)
Light: full sun
Light: partial shade, full sun
Moisture: dry, normal
Moisture: normal, wet
Growth rate: slow
Growth rate: fast
Life span: long
Life span: long
Growth form: upright, conical
Spreading: seeds - low, layering - low
Suckering: none


Foliage: blueish green needles
Bark: thin, flaky, gray-brown to gray-purple
Cones: large light brown cones (up to 10 cm long), mature in August and open on the tree, then fall to the ground over the following year
Cones: Reddish-brown, papery cones
Hybrid: no
Hybrid: no
Catkins: no
Catkins: no

In row spacing: 3 - 4 m (10 - 12 ft)

Between row spacing: 5 m (16 ft)
Native to: BC
Other Names: colorado blue spruce, colorado spruce
Other Names: coast spruce, tideland spruce