Bird's nest spruce
Picea abies 'Nidiformis' · Pinaceae
A dense, flat-topped, spreading dwarf spruce with a slight hollow in the centre, like a bird's nest. It grows only a few centimetres a year.
- Size
- 3 ft tall, 5 ft wide
- Zones
- 3 to 7
- Light
- Full sun
- Flowers
- Grown for its leaves
- Pets
- No toxicity recorded
- Job in a bed
- Specimen
A bed built around bird's nest spruce
The planner designed this bed around bird's nest spruce when this page was made: a 16 × 8 ft (4.9 × 2.4 m) English border in zone 6, full sun. It chose the other plants from the 966 that suit those conditions, and says below why bird's nest spruce stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Bird's nest spruce × 1, dark green leaves
- 2 Verbena 'Homestead Purple' × 5, purple
- 3 Cheddar pinks 'Tiny Rubies' × 34, pink
- 4 Sweet coneflower 'Henry Eilers' × 4, yellow
- 5 Garden phlox 'David' × 3, white
- 6 Wild quinine × 3, white
- 7 Wild lupine × 8, blue
- 8 Hyacinth × 5, blue
- 9 Easter lily × 3, white
- 10 Daffodil × 10, orange
Why this plant
- The only plant grown for its leaves. Leaf lasts all season, where a flower lasts a few weeks.
- The bed's only structure. Shrubs and grasses keep their shape when the perennials die down, and it is the only one here.
Why here
- In the middle. At 3 ft it is the step between verbena 'Homestead Purple' (10 in) in front and garden phlox 'David' (3½ ft) behind: each is seen over the one before.
- One plant, alone. A shrub is seen as an object, and needs clear ground around it.
Why now
- Here for its leaves, all year. They cover the 14 weeks between early March and late November when nothing on the plan is in flower.
- One of two evergreens. They are what the bed has to show from November to March.
Planned as an English border: 8 of the 11 groups (73%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. The longest in flower is verbena 'Homestead Purple': 21 weeks, from mid May to early October. White is the colour seen most, on 3 of the 9 kinds grown for their flowers.
The planner's own design check: 10 Excellent, 7 Good.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
Where bird's nest spruce goes in a border
At 3 ft it belongs in the middle of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is medium tall (2½ to 3 ft).
Its job: specimen. A feature plant with a shape of its own. It stands alone with room around it, and repeats only at a distance.
A low, wide, dark green cushion that anchors a planting of smaller things all year. The bright green new growth in spring is a feature in itself.
- Evergreen structure in a small bed
- Rock gardens
- Foundation planting
What to plant with bird's nest spruce
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Juniper 'Blue Star'.
- Sedum 'Angelina': low enough (5 in) to stand in front of it.
- Creeping thyme: adds the flowers, early June to mid July; low enough (3 in) to stand in front of it.
Questions about bird's nest spruce
Does bird's nest spruce need sun or shade?
Bird's nest spruce grows in full sun (6 or more hours of direct sun a day).
It wants ordinary well-drained soil, of average fertility, and a good soak in dry spells.
What zones does bird's nest spruce grow in?
USDA zones 3 to 7. It is hardy to zone 3, which means it survives winter nights down to about −30 °F (−34 °C).
Above zone 7 it struggles: the zones measure winter cold, but a plant's top zone usually means the summers are too hot or the winters too mild for it to rest.
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
How far apart should bird's nest spruce be planted?
4 ft (120 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 5 ft (150 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 3 ft (90 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many bird's nest spruce plants do I need?
Usually one. At 4 ft (120 cm) across, it is a plant you place, not one you mass. For a hedge or screen, set them 4 ft apart: three plants for a 10 ft run.
In the bed above, the planner used one in one group.
Is bird's nest spruce poisonous to dogs and cats?
No toxicity is recorded for dogs, cats, horses or people, according to NC State Extension.
"Not toxic" is not "edible": a pet that eats a lot of any plant can be sick.
Is there a native plant like bird's nest spruce?
Bird's nest spruce comes from Europe. These North American natives come closest to doing its job:
- Dwarf balsam fir: the same job in a bed; 12 in shorter, 18 in narrower.
- Dwarf blue spruce: the same job in a bed; belongs at the back, not in the middle, 12 in taller.
- Globe arborvitae 'Danica': the same job in a bed; 12 in shorter, 24 in narrower.
Matched the way the planner's Swap button matches plants: the same job in a bed, then size, then flowering time.
Do deer eat bird's nest spruce?
Mostly not. NC State lists it as resistant to deer. No plant is proof against a hungry deer in a hard winter, but this one is low on the menu.
What does bird's nest spruce look like in winter?
Bird's nest spruce keeps its dark green leaves all winter, so it is one of the plants that hold a bed together from November to March, when the perennials have gone.
Is bird's nest spruce good for bees and butterflies?
Bird's nest spruce is visited by songbirds.
More Picea
- Dwarf Alberta spruce Picea glauca 'Conica'
- Dwarf blue spruce Picea pungens 'Globosa'
- Norway spruce 'Little Gem' Picea abies 'Little Gem'
In these guides
Every fact on record
- Type
- Shrub
- Size
- 3 ft (90 cm) tall, 5 ft (150 cm) wide
- Plant
- 4 ft (120 cm) apart
- Height class
- Medium tall (2½ to 3 ft)
- Place in the bed
- Middle
- Flowers
- None: grown for its foliage
- Leaves
- Fine texture, evergreen; dark green
- Shape
- Mounding, clumping
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 3 to 7
- Light
- Full sun
- Soil
- Average, well-drained
- Water
- Moderate
- Feeding
- Light, in spring
- Family
- Pinaceae
- Comes from
- Europe
- Attracts
- Songbirds
- Stands up to
- Deer, pollution
Checked against NC State Extension. Flowering times are for zone 5: later in colder zones, earlier in warmer ones. Toxicity and spread information is a general gardening guide, not veterinary or medical advice, and invasive status varies by region. If a person or pet eats a plant, contact poison control or a vet. Check your local invasive species list before planting anything with a spread warning.