Dwarf blue spruce
Picea pungens 'Globosa' · Pinaceae
A dense, flat-topped globe of stiff, silver-blue needles: the colour of a Colorado blue spruce at shrub size.
- Size
- 4 ft tall, 6 ft wide
- Zones
- 2 to 7
- Light
- Full sun
- Flowers
- Grown for its leaves
- Pets
- No toxicity recorded
- Job in a bed
- Specimen
A bed built around dwarf blue spruce
The planner designed this bed around dwarf blue 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 dwarf blue spruce stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Dwarf blue spruce × 1, blue-green leaves
- 2 Bloody cranesbill 'Max Frei' × 8, pink
- 3 Verbena 'Homestead Purple' × 9, purple
- 4 White mugwort × 4, cream
- 5 Wild quinine × 3, white
- 6 Little bluestem 'The Blues' × 8, tan
- 7 Daffodil × 3, yellow
- 8 Spring starflower × 10, blue
Why this plant
- The only plant grown for its leaves. Leaf lasts all season, where a flower lasts a few weeks.
- Part of the bed's structure. Shrubs and grasses keep their shape when the perennials die down. So does little bluestem 'The Blues'.
Why here
- Anchors a back corner. At 4 ft it is one of the taller plants here, and the tallest close the ends of the bed, where they stand in front of nothing.
- A step in the back row. Next to white mugwort (5 ft): no two neighbours there are the same height, so the back steps up and down like a skyline.
- 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 13 weeks between early March and late November when nothing on the plan is in flower.
- The only leaves in winter. From November to March it is what there is to look at.
Planned as an English border: 7 of the 8 groups (88%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. The most in flower at one time is 5 kinds, in early August. The longest in flower is verbena 'Homestead Purple': 21 weeks, from mid May to early October.
The planner's own design check: 10 Excellent, 5 Good, 2 Satisfactory. It flags one thing to watch: Nothing on this plan is highly poisonous or an aggressive spreader.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
Where dwarf blue spruce goes in a border
At 4 ft it belongs at the back of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is moderately tall (3 to 4 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.
The strongest blue of any evergreen. One is a focal point, and it makes gold, burgundy and dark green look richer beside it.
- A silver-blue focal point
- Rock gardens and foundation planting
- Contrast with gold and green foliage
What to plant with dwarf blue spruce
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Sedum 'Autumn Joy': adds the flowers, mid August to mid October; bold leaves against its fine ones; low enough (24 in) to stand in front of it.
- Russian sage: adds the flowers, mid July to mid September; spires rising out of its mound.
- Switchgrass 'Shenandoah'.
Questions about dwarf blue spruce
Does dwarf blue spruce need sun or shade?
Dwarf blue spruce grows in full sun (6 or more hours of direct sun a day).
It wants ordinary well-drained soil, of average fertility, and little watering once settled. Once settled in, it stands drought.
What zones does dwarf blue spruce grow in?
USDA zones 2 to 7. It is hardy to zone 2, which means it survives winter nights down to about −40 °F (−40 °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 dwarf blue spruce be planted?
5 ft (150 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 6 ft (180 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 4 ft (120 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many dwarf blue spruce plants do I need?
Usually one. At 5 ft (150 cm) across, it is a plant you place, not one you mass. For a hedge or screen, set them 5 ft apart: three plants for a 10 ft run.
In the bed above, the planner used one in one group.
Is dwarf blue 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.
Do deer eat dwarf blue spruce?
Mostly not. NC State lists it as resistant to deer and rabbits. No plant is proof against a hungry deer in a hard winter, but this one is low on the menu.
What does dwarf blue spruce look like in winter?
Dwarf blue spruce keeps its blue-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.
More Picea
- Bird's nest spruce Picea abies 'Nidiformis'
- Dwarf Alberta spruce Picea glauca 'Conica'
- Norway spruce 'Little Gem' Picea abies 'Little Gem'
In these guides
Every fact on record
- Type
- Shrub
- Size
- 4 ft (120 cm) tall, 6 ft (180 cm) wide
- Plant
- 5 ft (150 cm) apart
- Height class
- Moderately tall (3 to 4 ft)
- Place in the bed
- Back
- Flowers
- None: grown for its foliage
- Leaves
- Fine texture, evergreen; blue-green
- Shape
- Mounding, clumping
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 2 to 7
- Light
- Full sun
- Soil
- Average, well-drained
- Water
- Low
- Feeding
- None needed
- Family
- Pinaceae
- Comes from
- USA
- Stands up to
- Deer, rabbits, drought, 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.