Common Name: Colorado spruce  
Type: Needled evergreen
Family: Pinaceae
Zone: 2 to 7
Height: 3.00 to 5.00 feet
Spread: 4.00 to 6.00 feet
Bloom Time: Non-flowering
Sun: Full sun
Water: Medium
Maintenance: Low
Suggested Use: Hedge
Leaf: Colorful, Evergreen
Other: Winter Interest
Tolerate: Rabbit, Deer, Drought, Air Pollution
Garden locations

Culture
Easily grown in average, acidic, medium moisture, well-drained soils in full sun. Tolerates some light shade. Prefers rich, moist soils. Although established plants have some drought tolerance, soils should be kept consistently moist and not allowed to dry out in the early years. Generally prefers cool climates and will struggle in the heat and humidity of the deep South.

Prune out upright shoots to maintain globose form.
Noteworthy Characteristics
Picea pungens, commonly called Colorado spruce (also blue spruce), is a medium to large, narrow, pyramidal conifer with horizontal branching to the ground. It typically grows 30-60’ tall in cultivation, but may reach 100’ or more where it grows naturally. It is native to the central Rocky Mountains from southern Montana and eastern Idaho south to New Mexico where it is typically found growing in moist locations from 6000 to 11000 feet in elevation. Stiff, bristly, four-angled, green to blue-green to silver-blue needles (to 1.5” long) point outward from the branches in all directions. Cylindrical light brown cones (to 4” long) have flexible scales. Dark gray bark furrows on mature trees. From a horticultural standpoint, trees with blue or silver blue foliage are generally more coveted than trees with green foliage.

Genus name is reportedly derived from the Latin word pix meaning pitch in reference to the sticky resin typically found in spruce bark.

Specific epithet means sharp-pointed in reference to the needles.

‘Glauca Globosa’ is a dwarf, globe-shaped, blue-needled, evergreen shrub with a flattened top that will slowly grow over time to 3-5’ tall and to 4-6’ wide. It is typically sold as a grafted plant. Blue needles hold their color well throughout the year, but are brightest when they first emerge in spring. This dwarf shrub is similar in appearance to Picea pungens ‘Montgomery’.