Alberta Spruce Spiral (spider, landscape, grow, fertilizer)
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I saw some of these at Home Depot yesterday and I thought they were quite nice. They were about $150 if I remember correctly. I am considering this for a spot in my landscape. Does anyone know how hard these are to maintain?
Shouldn't need too much attention long as it establishes okay from the pot. Have a couple of dwarf albertas at my house that were here already when I bought it. Haven't really had to do anything. The ones in your pic are probably over 10 years old to be that tall; that's why they're $150 too.
The normal shape as you probably know is very conical, even more so than most pine and spruce trees. These are sheared into this spiral shape I gather so I would think you would at least eventually need to prune a little bit to keep up the spiral shape. They grow slowly enough though that it shouldn't be that hard to keep up with though.
I saw some of these yesterday at one of the local building supply stores. I can't even believe they'd try to sell them here, because they would sure burn up in the heat.
i have been searching alot about them and if you get one you will need to know that they do not like shade and may get spidermites if they do it may kill your tree some people say to wash it thouroughly some say use weed killer or other chemicals but im not sure what works
i have been searching alot about them and if you get one you will need to know that they do not like shade and may get spidermites if they do it may kill your tree some people say to wash it thouroughly some say use weed killer or other chemicals but im not sure what works
No! Not weed killers on an Alberta spruce or any other plant! But ou're right about spider mites -- they decimate Alberta spruces. Hot and dry weather brings them out and they can do incredible damage in a short period of time. A strong spray of water knocks them off but you must do that every couple of days to keep the mites in check. Most people aren't that vigilant. I'd use a systemic on this one, like Bayer Tree and Shrub Defence, in the spring. I don't use systemics often at all, but I would if we had any Alberta spruces. We had a few when we moved into this house, but they were all nearly dead from spider mites by the time we moved in.
They need good airflow around them. That should not be a problem as you surely won't be blocking them in with other shrubs. All conifers also need good light. The airflow does help with the mite problem, as does not having too many alberta spruce in the garden or neighborhood.
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