Gardening Plants & Flowers Shrubs

18 Spruce Tree and Shrub Types to Consider for Your Landscape

Spruce up Your Yard With These Evergreen Beauties

By
Vanessa Richins Myers
Vanessa Richins Myers
Vanessa Richins Myers has a BS in horticulture and over 10 years of training and experience as a professional horticulturist and gardener.
Learn more about The Spruce's Editorial Process
and
David Beaulieu
David Beaulieu
David Beaulieu

David Beaulieu is a landscaping expert and plant photographer, with 20 years of experience.

Learn more about The Spruce's Editorial Process
Updated on 07/29/24
Oriental spruce tree with pine cones hanging from branches against blue sky

The Spruce / Evgeniya Vlasova

Spruce trees are extremely versatile and have many landscape uses. The narrow, conical growth pattern of many spruce trees makes them excellent choices for specimens in the yard. The shape, of course, means it's a natural choice for Christmas trees, too.

Spruce trees and shrubs are cone-bearing conifers; they belong to the genus, Picea, which includes 35 species. Picea belongs to the Pinaceae family, making it a relative of pines (Pinus), firs (Abies), cedars (Cedrus), hemlocks (Tsuga), larches (Larix), and a few other species. 

Here are 18 types of spruce trees and shrubs that add year-round color to your property.

Spruce trees generally do well in cooler climates and may struggle in warmer, more humid ones. Most species prefer a slightly acidic soil. Make sure to give them lots of room, as many grow into extremely large trees.

  • 01 of 18

    Bird's Nest Spruce

    Bird's nest spruce shrub with horizontal branches

    The Spruce / Evgeniya Vlasova

    The bird's nest spruce is a unique cultivar of Norway spruce (P. abies) that takes the form of a round dwarf shrub with an indentation on the top, resembling a bird's nest. It works well in a container if you wish to have a small evergreen conifer on your patio. This variety grows slowly in the early years, achieving only 1–2 feet of height in the first 10 years.

    • Name: Bird's nest spruce (Picea abies 'Nidiformis')
    • Native Area: Northern and central Europe
    • USDA Growing Zones: 3–8
    • Height: 2–4 feet (up to 8 feet over 30 years)
    • Sun Exposure: Full sun
  • 02 of 18

    Black Spruce

    Black spruce tree

    MPF / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0

    The black spruce does well in wet areas and is native to boreal forest or taiga regions. It's one of the primary hosts for the parasitic eastern dwarf mistletoe (Arceuthobium pusillum). Although the species is a large tree, smaller cultivars are available.

    • Name: Black spruce (Picea mariana)
    • Native Area: Northern North America
    • USDA Growing Zones: 3–7
    • Height: 30–50 feet
    • Sun Exposure: Full sun
  • 03 of 18

    Brewer Spruce

    Drooping green foliage of the Brewer spruce
    pcturner71 / Getty Images

    This tree is sometimes called the weeping spruce because of the way the branchlets hang down. It is an excellent choice for a specimen tree in your garden as the weeping form gives it a unique appeal. A winner of the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit, the Brewer spruce prefers cool, wet winters and dry, warm summers and is difficult to grow without these conditions.

    • Name: Brewer spruce (Picea breweriana)
    • Native Area: Northern California, southern Oregon
    • USDA Growing Zones: 6–8
    • Height: 30–50 feet
    • Sun Exposure: Full sun
  • 04 of 18

    Oriental Spruce

    Yellow-green needs of the oriental spruce or caucasian spruce
    Janusz Lukomski-Prajzner / Getty Images

    The oriental spruce, also known as the Caucasian spruce, grows in a wide variety of soil types but needs to be sheltered from wind. This slow-growing tree works well as a specimen conifer, and it has 1/2-inch needles, which are shorter than most other spruces. If you want one with yellow needles, look for the 'Skylands,' 'Aurea,' or similar cultivars. 'Barnes' and 'Nana' are dwarf cultivars, while 'Gowdy' is columnar in shape.

    • Name: Oriental spruce (Picea orientalis)
    • Native Area: Mountainous regions from Caucasus to Turkey
    • USDA Growing Zones: 4–7
    • Height: 10–35 feet
    • Sun Exposure: Full sun
    Continue to 5 of 18 below
  • 05 of 18

    Colorado Blue Spruce

    Colorado blue spruce

    The Spruce / Adrienne Legault

    The Colorado blue spruce has blue needles in a range of shades. The Glauca variety is a light blue, and Glauca Pendula is a weeping variety. If you want a shorter one, try the Glauca Jean's Dilly variety. This spruce, the state tree of both Colorado and Utah, does well in droughts overall but does need regular watering in hot areas.

    • Name: Colorado blue spruce (Picea pungens)
    • Native Area: Rocky Mountains, south of Montana
    • USDA Growing Zones: 3–8
    • Height: 30–60 feet
    • Sun Exposure: Full sun
  • 06 of 18

    Dwarf Alberta Spruce

    Dwarf Alberta trees shaped as cones in middle of garden

    The Spruce / Evgeniya Vlasova

    The dwarf Alberta spruce is a unique cultivar of the white spruce, known for its conical shape, soft, bright-green needles, and dwarf shrub form. It's a great choice for a Christmas tree and is commonly used for creating spiral shrub topiary and other shapes (it's often seen planted in a pot next to a front door).

    • Name: Dwarf Alberta spruce (Picea glauca 'Conica')
    • Native Area: Alberta, Canada
    • USDA Growing Zones: 3–6
    • Height: 10–13 feet
    • Sun Exposure: Full sun
  • 07 of 18

    Engelmann's Spruce

    Several Engelmann spruce trees along a hillside

    Famartin / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0

    Some have considered this tree a subspecies of the white spruce, sharing its narrow, conical shape. It's the most common spruce in the higher elevations of the Rocky Mountains. The tree is not a great landscape specimen in warmer climates. Engelmann spruce trees lives for hundreds of years, achieving towering heights if the growing conditions are favorable.

    • Name: Engelmann's spruce (Picea engelmannii)
    • Native Area: Western North America
    • USDA Growing Zones: 2–5
    • Height: 70–100 feet
    • Sun Exposure: Full sun
  • 08 of 18

    Norway Spruce

    Norway spruce tree with partially bare branch hanging with pine cones

    The Spruce / Evgeniya Vlasova

    The Norway spruce is commonly grown as a Christmas tree. If you want an unusual specimen, look for the 'Inversa' cultivar, a dwarf weeping type that's a definite eye-catcher. This species needs soil that drains well, and it will have problems if the soil is too wet. Note that Norway spruce is considered an invasive species in some parts of the United States.

    • Name: Norway spruce (Picea abies)
    • Native Area: Northern and central Europe
    • USDA Growing Zones: 2–7
    • Height: 40–60 feet
    • Sun Exposure: Full sun
    Continue to 9 of 18 below
  • 09 of 18

    Red Spruce

    Green foliage of the red spruce
    saulgranda / Getty Images

    Often farmed as a Christmas tree, the red spruce is upright, oval, and extremely long-lived. It can be planted in areas that receive some shade (it's especially tolerant of shade when young), should stay relatively cool, and requires adequate moisture. However, it's susceptible to acid rain and doesn't make a good landscape tree in urban areas. While it's named for the reddish color of its bark, this species is also called the yellow spruce, inspired by the light yellow wood of the tree.

    • Name: Red spruce (Picea rubens)
    • Native Area: Southeastern Canada, northeastern United States
    • USDA Growing Zones: 3–6
    • Height: 60–130 feet
    • Sun Exposure: Partial shade
  • 10 of 18

    Serbian Spruce

    Serbian spruce tree with glossy needles on sprawling branches

    The Spruce / Evgeniya Vlasova

    The Serbian spruce tolerates some drought and shade, though it prefers medium levels of moisture in the soil, and it's a good choice for urban landscapes because it resists air pollution. This is one of the better spruce species for hot, humid conditions. Its species name, omorika, is the Serbian word for spruce.

    • Name: Serbian spruce (Picea omorika)
    • Native Area: Balkans
    • USDA Growing Zones: 4–7
    • Height: 50–60 feet (occasionally 100 feet)
    • Sun Exposure: Full sun
  • 11 of 18

    Sitka Spruce

    Feathery green foliage of the Sitka spruce
    rdparis22 / Getty Images

    The Sitka spruce, the state tree of Alaska, is the tallest spruce species, capable of reaching higher than 300 feet in the wild. The largest recorded specimen was 318 feet. Although this variety will be shorter in cultivation, make sure there's plenty of room in your landscape because "shorter" means it still reaches more than 100 feet at maturity.

    • Name: Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis)
    • Native Area: Alaska to California
    • USDA Growing Zones: 6–8
    • Height: 50–100 feet or more (300 feet is possible)
    • Sun Exposure: Full sun
  • 12 of 18

    White Spruce

    White Spruce (Picea glauca)
    ArendTrent / Getty Images

    The white spruce is frequently grown commercially as a Christmas tree, but it also makes a good specimen tree for the landscape and is useful for windbreaks. The needles have a whitish waxy (glaucous) coating, leading to the common name. This is an extremely hardy tree once established, but it's somewhat sensitive to urban pollution.

    • Name: White spruce (Picea glauca)
    • Native Area: Canada, northern United States
    • USDA Growing Zones: 2–6
    • Height: 40–60 feet
    • Sun Exposure: Full to partial sun
    Continue to 13 of 18 below
  • 13 of 18

    Globe Blue Spruce

    Closeup of Globe blue spruce tree.

    Cynthia Shirk / Getty Images

    Globe blue spruce is a dwarf cultivar that works well in small spaces. But its compact form will be threatened over time by the emergence of upright shoots. Prune off these shoots to maintain its compact form.

    • Name: Globe blue spruce (Picea pungens 'Glauca Globosa')
    • Native Area: Species native to North America
    • USDA Growing Zones: 2–7
    • Height: 5 feet
    • Sun Exposure: Full sun
  • 14 of 18

    Weeping Serbian Spruce

    Serbian spruce tree with weeping branches and long needles against blue sky

    The Spruce / Evgeniya Vlasova

    This cultivar of the Serbian spruce makes a striking statement in the landscape. It not only has weeping branches but also a severely columnar form. It does not do well in hot, humid climates but does tolerate air pollution.

    • Name: Weeping Serbian spruce (Picea omorika ‘Pendula’)
    • Native Area: Species native to Balkans
    • USDA Growing Zones: 2–7
    • Height: 15 feet
    • Sun Exposure: Full sun
  • 15 of 18

    Black Hills Spruce

    Black Hills spruce tree with white-green needles clustered on branches

    The Spruce / Adrienne Legault

    Black Hills spruce is a popular Christmas tree, and it's easy to see why, with its conical shape and dense branching pattern. It stays shorter than the species plant for many years because it grows more slowly than the latter. Like the species plant, it is intolerant of pollution, so it doesn't make a good street tree.

    • Name: Black Hills spruce (Picea glauca 'Densata')
    • Native Area: Portion of Black Hills of South Dakota
    • USDA Growing Zones: 3–6
    • Height: 20–25 feet for many years (finally maturing to about 50 feet)
    • Sun Exposure: Full sun
  • 16 of 18

    Fat Albert Blue Spruce

    Closeup of Fat Albert spruce tree.

    Nahhan / Getty Images

    'Fat Albert' is valued for its dense branching pattern and the steel-blue color of its needles. Like many other types of spruce shrubs and trees, it is susceptible to rust disease and spider mite invasions.

    • Name: Fat Albert blue spruce (Picea pungens 'Fat Albert')
    • Native Area: Species native to North America
    • USDA Growing Zones: 3–7
    • Height: 10–15 feet
    • Sun Exposure: Full sun
    Continue to 17 of 18 below
  • 17 of 18

    Dwarf Black Spruce

    Closeup of foliage of dwarf black spruce.

    insonnia / Getty Images

    A smaller cultivar of black spruce is 'Nana,' an Award of Garden Merit recipient from the Royal Horticultural Society. It forms a hassock-shaped mound only 1–2 feet high, making it much more suitable for small spaces than the large species plant.

    • Name: Dwarf black spruce (Picea mariana 'Nana')
    • Native Area: Species native to Northern North America
    • USDA Growing Zones: 3–7
    • Height: 1–2 feet
    • Sun Exposure: Full sun
  • 18 of 18

    Golden Oriental Spruce

    Closeup of bough of golden oriental spruce.

    Nahhan / Getty Images

    The golden oriental spruce (or "gold-tipped oriental spruce") is a cultivar of the regular oriental spruce. It is grown for its bright yellow spring growth, which stands out against the older needles, which are a dark green.

    • Name: Golden oriental spruce (Picea orientalis 'Aureospicata')
    • Native Area: Species native to mountainous regions from Caucasus to Turkey
    • USDA Growing Zones: 4–8
    • Height: 25 feet
    • Sun Exposure: Full sun
FAQ
  • What are the disadvantages of a spruce tree?

    Spruce trees tend to have prickly needles that cause discomfort upon contact. This makes them potentially unsuitable for areas such as around pools and along walkways.

  • What is the difference between a spruce tree and a pine tree?

    Spruce needles are attached to the branch by a swollen area known as a "pulvinus," which is left behind when the needle drops. Another identifying feature is that, unlike the clustering needles of pines, each pulvinus holds only one needle.

  • How big do spruce trees get?

    Spruce trees range from shrub-like dwarfs to giants (Sitka spruce routinely reaches 125 to 180 feet tall). The latter are suitable only for large yards because they need a lot of space.

  • How do I tell what type of spruce I have?

    It usually takes a trained eye to determine exactly which type of spruce you have but looking at the shape of the tree, the bark, branches, and cones gives you cues. For example, a Colorado blue spruce has a broad, dense pyramidal shape with stiff branches that grow horizontally to the ground whereas the Serbian spruce has a narrow pyramidal form with thin, arching branches. Black spruce has the smallest cones of all the spruces, they are only ½ to 1½ inches long and spherical in shape and they remain on the tree for many years whereas the cones of the red spruce are much larger, up to 2 inches, and wide in the middle and they drop the first year.

14 Common Evergreen Shrubs
The Spruce uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

  1. Norway Spruce. Invasive Plant Atlas of the United States.

  2. Serbian Spruce. Chicago Botanic Garden.

  3. White Spruce. University of Minnesota.