Globe Blue Spruce #10 pot

Globe Blue Spruce (Picea pungens 'Globosa')

Common Name: Blue Globe

If you love the awesome blue color of a Colorado Blue Spruce but don't have space for a large growing tree form, the Globe Blue Spruce may be the just the right plant to light up your small garden space. Its branching is short and dense forming a rounded mound to 3 to 5 feet tall and 5 to 6 feet wide when all grown up. Its short, sickle-shaped needles are a stunning silvery blue color. Extremely tough, the foliage is resistant to winter burn down to -50F and maintenance is minimal to none. The more wind and/or cold this one gets the better it does! Drought tolerant and very easy to grow in a sunny to partly shaded environment, and with true blue color and well-behaved growth and modest size, these outstanding qualities make the Dwarf Globe Blue Spruce one of those special focal point plants you want to choose just the right spot for in your landscape.

Landscape & Garden Uses

Growing slowly in a dense rounded mound to 3 to 5 feet tall and 5 to 6 feet wide over time, the Dwarf Globe Blue Spruce is ideal for use as a focal point specimen in small garden spaces, home foundation plantings, conifer or rock gardens and containers. In larger spaces it can be well-spaced at 7 feet or more apart for groupings. AA fine addition to conifer gardens, blue theme gardens, and the Xeriscape (low water needs).

Suggested Spacing: We suggest using this unusual plant as a specimen in smaller spaces or groupings of 3 in larger spaces

Growing Preferences

The Globe Blue Spruce is easy to grow in a damp to moist but well-drained soil of average fertility. As with so many other conifers, constantly soggy or wet soils can lead to root rot or other harmful plant diseases. So make sure to plant this one in well-drained soil. Established plants have good drought tolerance. It grows best in full sun however in Zones 7 and 8 where summer are really hot it will prefer some shade or filtered sun during the middle of the afternoon. Once established water needs are quite low when growing in the ground. In pots, soil moisture will need to be monitored more closely, especially during summer. When the top two inches of soil is dry, provide water.

USDA Plant Hardiness Zones: 2a-8b (West); 2a-7b (East) 

Plant Type: Coniferous Evergreen Shrub

Height at Maturity: 3-5'

Width at Maturity: 5-6'

Spacing: Best as a specimen or in small spaced groupings 7 feet or more apart

Growth Habit / Form: Broad Rounded Mound

Growth Rate: Slow, 3 to 4 inches per year

Foliage Color: Silvery Blue

Fragrant Foliage: Yes

Sun Needs: Full Sun or Mostly Sun, Filtered Afternoon Sun in hot climates of Zones 7 and 8

Water Needs:  Average, low when established

Soil Type:  Clay (amend heavy clay to ensure good drainage), Loam, Sand, Silt 

Soil Drainage: Moist to Lightly Moist but Well Drained

Soil pH: 5.0 – 7.5 (Acid to Neutral)

Maintenance / Care: Very Low

Attracts: Visual Attention

Resistances: Cold Temperatures (-50F), Deer, Disease, Drought (when established), Insect