Garden Care Guide

Blue Spruce Care

Picea pungens

A very valuable landscape tree with silvery-blue needles. It loves full sun for its best color. It is a tree of cool and moist climates and is not suitable for the hot, dry Mediterranean climate; under these conditions it becomes stressed, loses its color and becomes very susceptible to diseases.

Hardy · -35 °C / -31 °F

Monthly care calendar

Timings are for a temperate Northern Hemisphere climate. In warmer areas tasks start earlier, in colder areas later; in the Southern Hemisphere shift them by six months.

January
  • Watering: Not required; winter precipitation is sufficient.
  • Pruning: Usually does not need pruning. Only remove dead, diseased or broken branches.
  • General care: Dormancy period.
February
  • Pruning: In late winter or early spring, use clean tools to remove dry, broken and hazardous branches just outside the branch collar. Do not prune a healthy tree heavily for shape, and do not cut back into old needleless wood. Skip if: a hard frost is likely soon, there is active drought stress, or the cut would have to be made only into old needleless wood.
  • General care: Rest period continues.
March
  • Watering: Water a newly planted specimen more often than established plants during its first year, as its root system is still shallow.
  • Fertilizing: For acid-loving plants in acidic soil, apply slow-release fertilizer or compost at 30-50 g/m² of soil, and do not overapply.
  • Pruning: In late winter or early spring, use clean tools to remove dry, broken and hazardous branches just outside the branch collar. Do not prune a healthy tree heavily for shape, and do not cut back into old needleless wood. Skip if: a hard frost is likely soon, there is active drought stress, or the cut would have to be made only into old needleless wood.
  • Plant protection: If symptoms spread and treatment is needed, consult a licensed plant-protection supplier or an agronomist. Plant protection products are regulated; follow local rules.
  • General care: Good time for planting and transplanting.
  • Pests & diseases: Check the branches and trunk for brown, fixed bumps (scale insects).
  • Frost risk: Young shoots may be damaged by severe late frosts.
April
  • Watering: If there is no rainfall, water every 15 days.
  • Pruning: In late winter or early spring, use clean tools to remove dry, broken and hazardous branches just outside the branch collar. Do not prune a healthy tree heavily for shape, and do not cut back into old needleless wood. Skip if: a hard frost is likely soon, there is active drought stress, or the cut would have to be made only into old needleless wood.
  • Plant protection: Start watching for spider mites (Tetranychidae).
  • General care: Growth accelerates, but stress begins as temperatures start to rise.
May
  • Watering: If there is no rainfall, water once a week.
  • Plant protection: If symptoms spread and treatment is needed, consult a licensed plant-protection supplier or an agronomist. Plant protection products are regulated; follow local rules.
  • General care: Spread a 5-7 cm layer of mulch over the root zone; it retains soil moisture and suppresses weeds. Do not pile mulch against the trunk.
  • Pests & diseases: Check the branches and trunk for brown, fixed bumps (scale insects).
June
  • Watering: Water deeply twice a week; prefer infrequent and generous watering over small and frequent. The root zone should be wetted to a depth of 30-40 cm.
  • Pruning: Avoid pruning a tree under stress; this makes it easier for Cytospora canker to enter.
  • Plant protection: The spider mite population increases in hot, dry weather; control is critical.
  • General care: To stay healthy, it should be kept cool and moist.
  • Pests & diseases: Drying of lower branches and resin oozing from the trunk are signs of Cytospora canker. Stressed trees are targets for bark beetles (Scolytinae).
July
  • Watering: Water deeply twice a week; prefer infrequent and generous watering over small and frequent. The root zone should be wetted to a depth of 30-40 cm.
  • Plant protection: If symptoms spread and treatment is needed, consult a licensed plant-protection supplier or an agronomist. Plant protection products are regulated; follow local rules.
  • General care: This is the period of most intense stress.
  • Pests & diseases: In hot and dry weather, look on the undersides of the leaves for fine webbing and speckled yellowing (spider mites). Washing the leaves during the cool hours reduces their numbers.
August
  • Watering: Water deeply twice a week; prefer infrequent and generous watering over small and frequent. The root zone should be wetted to a depth of 30-40 cm.
  • Plant protection: If symptoms spread and treatment is needed, consult a licensed plant-protection supplier or an agronomist. Plant protection products are regulated; follow local rules.
  • Pests & diseases: In hot and dry weather, look on the undersides of the leaves for fine webbing and speckled yellowing (spider mites). Washing the leaves during the cool hours reduces their numbers.
September
  • Watering: If there is no rainfall, water once a week.
  • Pruning: Absolutely do not prune. Pruning a stressed tree increases the risk of Cytospora canker.
  • Plant protection: Continue watching for and controlling spider mites (Tetranychidae).
  • General care: Cooling weather gives the plant a bit of a breather.
  • Pests & diseases: Drying of branches starting from the bottom, and resin oozing from the trunk or branches, are signs of Cytospora canker, which has no cure.
October
  • Watering: If there is no rainfall, water every 15 days. Water newly planted plants more often than established plants during the first year; the root system is still shallow.
  • General care: Good time for planting and transplanting.
November
  • Watering: Water a newly planted specimen more often than established plants during its first year, as its root system is still shallow.
  • General care: Good time for planting and transplanting.
December
  • General care: Evergreen leaves continue to lose water in winter. Water thoroughly once before the soil freezes.

The care advice on this page is general and for information only; it is not professional advice. Plant age, soil and your garden’s microclimate can change the outcome. Plant protection products are mentioned only as general information; they are regulated, and the choice, dose and timing must be decided by a qualified professional under local rules. Consult a landscape architect or agronomist before applying.

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