Picea sitchensis

Picea sitchensis, known as the Sitka spruce, is a large coniferous evergreen tree that can grow over 330 feet tall with a trunk diameter exceeding 16 feet. It is the 5th largest and 3rd tallest conifer in the world. Certainly not suitable for a city garden but if you have the space, this is a special, stately tree. It is found only near the coast from Alaska to northern California. The blue-green leaves are stiff, sharp and needle-like. The cones are pendulous, slender, and up to four inches long with thin, flexible scales. Cones start out green or reddish, maturing to pale brown after pollination. The bark is thin, scaly and flakes off in small plates. The crown is broad and conical when young maturing to cylindrical in older trees. The branches spread and swoop upward. Grows rapidly under favourable conditions. A very long-lived tree with the oldest known individual just under 600 years but the species is thought to live to 700-800 years. In the landscape its height will be diminished, however, preplanning is essential, great in open parks too. Sitka spruce provide habitat and food for a wide range of birds and mammals and are a larval host plant for various species of butterflies and moths.

The Sitka Spruce is probably one of the best Spruce species for pruning and shaping and creates a wonderful lawn specimen. The dense foliage and medium growth rate creates an easily manageable evergreen windbreak or privacy screen that is nearly impenetrable. Depending on the amount of sunlight, trees can take on either a dark green or slightly blue-tinted color with the blue color appearing when given partial shade. It is a good alternative to the Colorado Blue Spruce (Picea pungens) in cool, wet climates where the Colorado Blue Spruce is subject to frequent needle loss problems.

Needles are about 1" long; sharp; yellow-green to blue green; usually flat. Some needles on a twig point sideways while others point forward. Needles tend to look green above and blue-green to white below. Tall narrow tree native to the Pacific Northwest, deer resistant.

The majesty of the Sitka is not all in its size [very large & fast for a spruce], but in the noble bearing of the crown... The branches have an upward sweep... the branchlets... a beautiful weeping habit. (Peattie). Sun/Med