How to Plant, Grow, and Care for Dwarf Alberta Spruce Trees

Whether you’re looking for a stately tree to stand alone or a small specimen to plug into empty sites, the dwarf Alberta spruce tree is the one for you. It’ll reach up to 13 feet tall in maturity after growing for over 30 years. It’ll stay a short, shrubby tree, hovering between six and eight feet tall most of its life.

You can find these trees as short shrubs in one-gallon containers; plant them, and you’ll enjoy watching them mature for decades. Larger trees are available, too, and they are better for specimen plantings or living fences that call for tall plants. 

What Is It?

Dwarf Alberta spruce is a cultivar of the white spruce, a large coniferous tree native to large swaths of North America. ‘Conica’ is a variety that J.G. Jack and Alfred Rehder discovered growing in Alberta, Canada in 1904. It’s the original dwarf white spruce, and plant breeders often use it to create new, better-performing cultivars for the landscape.

Native Area

White spruce, Picea laxa, is native to North America from parts of Canada through the northern U.S. It grows where summers are cool and winters are cold in mountainous areas. It dislikes intense heat during the summertime, and it needs frigid frosts during the winter to perform well.

‘Conica’ is a variety of Picea laxa. It originates from Alberta, Canada, although it’ll perform well throughout USDA hardiness zones 3 through 6. If you live in zones 7 or 8, try growing this tree with afternoon shade to protect it from harsh summer heat. It’s marginally hardy in these warm zones. 

Characteristics

Dwarf Alberta spruces are not only smaller than white spruces, but they also have unique foliage that differs from the species! You’ll see star-like clusters of needles open from buds in early spring. Buds and fresh needles are edible, tasting like citrus, pine, and fresh greens. Chop them in salads, or try brewing tea with the needles. 

Unlike white spruces that tower over 70 feet tall, dwarf spruce trees rarely reach over 13 feet tall, and they take many years to grow this tall. Give them ample space near their base, as their lower branches grow wide in time. Like white spruces, these dwarves live long lives, often growing for over 50 years in gardens and landscapes. 

Planting

Planting these spruces is an easy task. You’ll prepare a hole, loosen the tree’s roots, and plant it in the hole. Transplanting ‘Conica’ is best during spring or fall, when temperatures are mild and moisture is abundant. 

These trees are forms of the white spruce, meaning they’re not available as seeds. Find them as cuttings or potted plants online or at a local garden nursery. 

Preparation

First, prepare the planting hole so your spruce has a comfortable new home. You’ll want to dig a hole twice as wide and as deep as your tree’s rootball. Don’t amend the dug soil—it’ll discourage your spruce roots from growing outward into the surrounding dirt. Simply use the native soil that’s in your garden.

Spruce trees are especially adaptable, and they grow well in a variety of soil types. Do not fear if the soil is too sandy or full of clay and loam, as the tree will use its penetrating roots to latch onto the dirt and make it more fertile, rich, and structured. 

The key with dwarf spruce trees is protection; grant them a site away from intense reflected sunrays and recurring hot or cold winds. 

Transplanting

Start by removing the dwarf spruce from its container. Inspect the roots closely, as they’re telltale signs of your tree’s health. Loosen the lower roots and encourage them to dangle downwards—this helps them latch onto new soil instead of circling about. 

Place your tree in the dug hole, ensuring the trunk stays upright. Backfill soil around the sides until the ground is level, with dirt up to the tree’s root flare. The root flare is where the tree’s thick roots branch off of the main trunk. Avoid burying trees too deep or too shallow by having the soil surface line up with this root flare point.

Finally, water the site well and add more soil if it sinks below the surface. You may add compost, leaf mulch, or straw on top—it’ll insulate the soil and decay, adding beneficial microorganisms and nutrients to your garden. Avoid piling up mulch on the dwarf’s trunk, as it can encourage rot and pests. 

How to Grow

This conifer grows best with full sun, low water, and cool temperatures. Give it what it needs and it’ll survive for decades in your yard, granting you year-round ornamental interest with few inputs. 

As USDA plant hardiness zones change, this tree is one of many species beginning to struggle in areas where it used to thrive. Consider growing it if you garden between zones 3 to 6. In zones 7 to 8, provide afternoon shade and wind protection.

Light

Dwarf Alberta spruce prefers full sun or partial shade, depending on its cultural conditions. Gardeners with hot summers should situate their spruce in partial shade with three to six hours of direct sunlight daily. Other gardeners in cold zones should grant full sun, with between six and eight hours of daily direct sunlight. 

This spruce performs best outdoors and isn’t a good choice for a year-round indoor Christmas tree. You may, however, bring a potted specimen indoors for a week or two to decorate during the holidays. Grant it partial shade or bright indirect sunlight, ensuring it stays well-lit throughout its indoor stay. 

Water

Dwarf Alberta spruces need average amounts of moisture, and they’ll live without extra irrigation after they establish themselves. Established plants are tolerant of both wet and dry sites, although they prefer regular moisture during the growing season. 

Ensure young transplants stay moist but not soggy throughout their first few growing seasons. You may have to water these trees extra in zones 7 and 8, as excessive summer light and heat can cause the roots to dry out quickly. 

Winter watering is important to consider—plants may suffer from frost damage if they’re too wet or dry during the cold months. Ensure their soil stays moist, not soggy. If the tree roots sit well below snow cover or mulch, they should be sufficiently moist from fall until the snow melts in spring.

Soil

Well-drained soil is the best type for Alberta spruces. They need ample drainage and porosity in the dirt so that excess moisture drains freely from the site. Plenty of organic matter in the soil is also beneficial, as it feeds and supports the tender roots while they sprout and creep outwards.

If the site is especially sandy or waterlogged with clay, consider adding heaping portions of compost or leaf mold on top of the dirt throughout the year. They’ll insulate the ground and decay, providing beneficial nutrients, porous spaces, and helpful microorganisms for your budding saplings. 

Well-drained soil is incredibly important in containers. Use a potting soil mix with plenty of perlite, vermiculite, or similar drainage components. These trees have shallow root systems, meaning they’ll need wide containers rather than tall ones as they age. Ensure the containers are a few inches deeper and wider than the rootballs, and re-pot your specimens every four to five years as they grow rootbound.

Fertilizing

Spruce are low feeders and require little fertilizer. It’s best to give them annual helpings of slow-release organic fertilizer. The nutrients seep out over multiple weeks, ensuring your dwarf spruce doesn’t receive too many at once. 

You may also use liquid or powder organic fertilizers during the growing season. Apply them at half or quarter doses to avoid oversaturating your spruce with nutrients, and cease all fertilizing as fall and winter approach. 

Where soils have ample organic materials like leaves, twigs, or plant debris, you won’t need to fertilize. The amendments decay slowly, providing all the nutrients your dwarf Alberta tree needs. Use a soil test kit if you’re unsure, as it reliably tells you how much of each nutrient is in your garden soil. 

Maintenance

Aside from their primary needs, these dwarf spruces have some other preferences you should consider. They dislike air pollution or salty ocean spray, as well as hot or cold strong winds. Their needles must also dry out in between waterings to help thwart pests and diseases.

Pruning is rarely necessary since the plant naturally grows with a compact pyramidal shape. If you decide to prune, avoid cutting stems back to the trunk unless you intend to remove an entire branch. The branches rarely sprout off of old growth, meaning you’ll want to leave a few buds on pruned stems so that fresh growth sprouts. 

Sometimes, new growth reverts into the larger form of a white spruce, Picea laxa. You’ll notice large stems with bristly needles that contrast vividly with the dwarf tree’s growth. Using loppers, remove these branches as close to the trunk as possible to prevent them from taking over.

Propagation

Dwarf Alberta spruces don’t grow from seeds. ‘Conica’ is a variety of white spruce that’s a genetic mutation—the mutation causes the growing tips to be short and squat, and it leads the mature plant to have a pyramidal shape. Because of this, you’ll need to grow new plants from cuttings off of other trees. 

Cuttings

Nurseries and commercial plant growers propagate cuttings to create thousands of these trees annually. You can mimic the process in your home or backyard to turn a single dwarf spruce into dozens! Start by taking four to six-inch hardwood cuttings off adult plants in late summer. 

Tear the cuttings off the stems using your fingers; they should peel right off. This ripping method is better than pruning, as it creates a large wound that calluses over and forms roots. Place the cuttings in moist potting soil in containers and place them under partial shade. 

Keep the soil moist but not soggy, and watch as your cuttings root. They should have ample roots before the first hard frost of winter. Protect potted seedlings from extreme frosts their first year in a greenhouse, protected porch or patio, or well-lit garage. Then, transplant them in spring so they’re frost-hardy by next winter. 

Popular Varieties

Just as ‘Conica’ is a sport of the larger white spruce Picea laxa, there are dozens of varieties of ‘Conica’ that are sports from its stems! Trees with blue foliage, ball shapes, and better structures sprout from ‘Conica’ plants, and growers cut them off and propagate them. Try any of these four unique cultivars, or choose the classic ‘Conica’ for a dependable specimen. 

‘Little Globe’

This globular spruce tree makes a round ball shape in maturity, reaching no taller than two to three feet. It sports bright green new growth that ages to a duller gray-green. Use it in containers as a focal point, or plant a few throughout your garden to add symmetry and structure to the design. 

‘Jean’s Dilly’

This popular cultivar is a play on words. You pronounce it “John’s dilly,” and it honors the horticulturalist Jean Iseli of the famous Iseli Nursery. This dwarf selection grows more slender than ‘Conica’ with dense stems and slow-sprouting buds. 

‘Pixie Dust’

This slow-growing sport of ‘Conica’ is the cutest dwarf conifer you’ll ever see! ‘Pixie Dust’ forms a pyramidal shape no taller than two feet tall, with dark green needles and bright yellow new growth. The contrast in leaf color creates a striking image in early spring as the buds push out new growth.

‘Sander’s Blue’

More like a blue spruce than a white one, ‘Sander’s Blue’ sports blue-green needles on short, dense stems. The tree grows like ‘Conica,’ taking many years to reach over ten feet tall. Give it ample space around its base so it can grow wider and taller as it matures. 

This variety’s blue-green needles may revert to dark green over time. Take cuttings off of stems with blue needles to try prolonging the color in new plants.

Common Problems

These white spruce cultivars face some different issues depending on where they grow. Some pests target them, while physiological conditions often manifest in specimens growing outside their preferred range. Keep your tree healthy and happy to help it thwart growing issues before they spread out of control. 

Pests

Sawflies, aphids, mites, worms, and beetles may target growing Alberta spruces. Avoid planting them where hot, dry winds are frequent, as these cause damage that invites mites in. Frequent mite infestations can seriously harm your tree, causing entire stems to defoliate.

Use strong streams of water daily to knock pests off during the growing season. Most pests should disappear after a week or two of repeated sprayings. If the pests remain, consider using a stronger organic pesticide like horticultural oil, soap, or neem oil. Spray trees in the morning or afternoon to avoid harming nearby pollinators.

An important aspect of pest management is maintaining a healthy tree. Pests target weak trees, meaning dry or soggy specimens are especially susceptible. After removing pests, target any physiological problems harming your tree. 

Diseases

Some minor diseases affect maturing Alberta spruces, like rusts, rots, and cankers. Keep them at bay by encouraging regular airflow, giving individual trees space, and avoiding excessively wet or dry sites. Root and trunk rots are common in soggy sites where mulch or dirt piles up around the tree’s base. 

Rusts target growing needles and stems with orange fungal growth. It may go away with the changing seasons, although it could remain and cause defoliation or weak growth. Monitor orange patches, and apply an organic sulfur or copper fungicide if they grow out of control. 

Other issues like cankers can also target dwarf white spruce trees. Canker is a bacterial pathogen that causes large, knobby growths on trunks or branches. They’ll disappear over time, although they’ll spread new bacteria onto other nearby susceptible specimens while they live. Move other hosts away from your spruce while the canker disappears to avoid further infections.