Slenderina Weeping Colorado Spruce

There is something very special about weeping trees and adding one to your landscaping will transform your garden. Their striking and appealing form, their individualism, and the sheer beauty of those cascading branches bring a special magic that no other type of tree can bring. There are many different weeping trees, but they all fall into one of two types. Some have a central leader that grows upwards more or less normally, but with cascading side branches. Others have no leader and simply grow where they will, or where we train them to. An outstandingly beautiful tree in that second group is the weeping blue spruce, and we have found some stock of a particularly graceful and elegant version of that tree, with a shape more slender than usual when staked, and an even more intense blue coloring. These trees, the Slenderina® Weeping Blue Spruce, hold the promise to become superb specimens in your garden, and their fast growth rate means that it won’t take long.

Growing Slenderina Weeping Colorado Spruce Trees

The Slenderina® Weeping Blue Spruce is a unique plant. We are all familiar with the regular blue spruce, a tree with a single upright trunk and sturdy horizontal branches that radiate around it in a dense pyramidal form. The intense blue of their stiff needles is famous and always admired. The weeping tree we have is very different, but it has the same intense silver-blue needles radiating stiffly outwards around the stems. However, it has no natural central trunk. Instead, it grows as it chooses, in all directions across the ground, staying low – unless we take control, which is what our growers have skillfully done. Attached to a strong stake and held upright this tree is now vertical, but all the side branches continue to cascade downwards, spreading like a skirt when they reach the ground, and becoming large quickly since the branches of this tree lengthen by as much as 12 inches a year.

The tricky part of getting it started has been done. What happens next is up to you. If you plant the Slenderina Weeping Blue Spruce as you receive it, and do no more, it will grow no taller, but instead, it will grow outwards in an ever-increasing circle of undulating and flowing branches, taking the contours of the surface beneath. This can be wonderful on a slope, or when planted at the top of a wall. If you have rough, rocky ground that is unsightly, this tree will transform it into a brilliant silver-blue carpet. Grown this way it will cover an area 12 feet in each direction in about 10 years, but it will stay just a foot or so tall.

If you want a bold, upright tree with a gorgeous cascading look, then when planting, place a strong stake, as tall as you wish, right beside the trunk. This should be sturdy and durable and metal is usually best. Tie your new tree loosely to the stake, and as the central stem grows, continue to attach it. The ultimate height is up to you. The side branches will cascade down, and the lowest ones will form a skirt around the base. Every tree will be different, depending on how it develops, so your tree will be unique, and very easily you can guide it where you want it. As it grows the trunk will thicken and become strong so that the tree is self-supporting. Because of the risk of wind or snow damage, we always recommend keeping a strong stake in place.

A third alternative is to attach the tree to a sunny wall, or a strong trellis. Tie the leading growth to the wall and take it up. On a wall, you can have multiple leading growths, and you could cover a wall completely this way, with a beautiful and dramatic result.

The Slenderina Weeping Blue Spruce should be grown in full sun, and it will take a little partial shade too. It is resistant to cold, growing well in zone 3 and even probably in zone 2, as well as taking the heat of zone 8. It is happy in almost any well-drained soil, from sand to clay, and once established it is very drought resistant. It normally has no pests or diseases, and deer usually leave it alone. It is a tough, reliable grower, so the only attention needed is to its form, and there your imagination is in charge.

History and Origins of Slenderina Weeping Colorado Spruce Trees

The blue spruce, Picea pungens, is also called the Colorado spruce. It grows high up in the Rocky Mountains, all the way from Montana to New Mexico. The harsh life in the mountains has made it tough, and it brings that toughness to its life in gardens. There are numerous special forms of this tree, including several weeping varieties, and many with powerfully-blue foliage. Plants that lack any tendency to grow upright have probably been found several times, but the best and bluest is a seedling found growing in the late 19th century at the Koster & Co. Nursery, in Boskoop, The Netherlands. It was probably on a plant of that top-quality form, around 2000, that David and Linda Eshraghi, who own a plant nursery in Hillsboro, Oregon, found a special branch that had even more intensely silver-blue foliage, and a narrower growing habit when staked into a tree. They called their tree ‘Glauca Slenderina Pendula’ and trademarked it as the Slenderina® Weeping Blue Spruce. This tree is undoubtedly the very best weeping blue spruce available, and these kinds of gorgeous trees don’t come our way too often. Our stock will soon be gone – order now and bring something truly unique and outstanding into your garden.