Picea breweriana

Rare and beautiful, this small-medium conical tree with graceful pendulous branches looks like a majestic green fountain. S/M-GDr

Weeping Brewer's Spruce is my personal favorite spruce tree and is native to very small patches in the Klamath and Siskiyou Mountains just south of the nursery. This tree used to be wide spread but has become outcompeted by faster growing trees such as Douglas Fir and now resides only on difficult sites such as ridgetops where there is little competition. It is also tolerant of serpentine soils where again there is little competition.
There are two main reasons why Brewer's Spruce is a better choice than almost any other species. First, the needles are much softer and less painful when you accidentally brush into the tree. Having plants that are too spiny to touch (like most other Spruce) typically means that you end up never pruning anything and the plant getting out of control, so softer spruce species like Brewers is a fantastic choice. Second, as trees age they start to develop a very strong weeping habit. Long side branches stick out from the trunk with very long evenly spaced branchlets that hang up to ten feet, forming solid curtains of foliage. Trees grown in full sun produce better weeping habits than those grown in the shade. The weeping typically starts when the trees are 10-15 years old so get these trees in early so they have time to mature. Brewer's Spruce is well worth the wait.

The brewer spruce is a southern Oregon native that is now very difficult to find. Our friend, Dee Grissell, was able to grow seedlings for us. This attractive tree has an upright leader with all the dark green branches weeping to the ground.

To quote Hillier's Manual of Trees & Shrubs, "Perhaps the most beautiful of all spruces. There are few more breathtaking sights than a fine specimen of this spruce with its curtained branches, rising like a majestic green fountain." What else can we say?