columnar(?) evergreen

Discussion in 'Plants: Identification' started by Mary Munroe, Apr 10, 2008.

  1. Mary Munroe

    Mary Munroe Member

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    I'm looking for the name of a columnar fir/spruce tree that seems to currently popular with the landscapers in the lower mainland. It's spread is about 1 metre wide.
    It can be found at the car dealer lots, Canadian Tire parking lot on Lougheed, along North Road at Lougheed Mall or planted against the wall of Centennial Secondary. I've seen a blue version of it in someone's yard. Are these all different trees or are they the subalpine fir (abies lasiocarpa)?
     
  2. DGuertin

    DGuertin Active Member 10 Years

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    I don't know if it's the same, or if it's even hardy enough to survive in your area, but they plant the heck out of Italian Cypress down here, and that has the same kind of form...
     
  3. Mary Munroe

    Mary Munroe Member

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    It's definitely not a cypress. It's not the fastigiate form of the species since the branches are defined, short, dense looking and sort of turns upward at the ends. It's not a vertical type of tree like the cypress or cedar 'emerald green' that is popular around here. It's just tall and skinny with branches.
    If I knew how to post with picture I can include a picture of the tree at the school.
    The trees at the dealerships have a lighter colour on the underside of the needles than the upper side of the branch.
     
  4. lorax

    lorax Rising Contributor 10 Years

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    Directions to posting pictures are in the right-hand sidebar, just click on "Attaching Images"
     
  5. chimera

    chimera Well-Known Member 10 Years

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    Last edited: Apr 11, 2008
  6. Michael F

    Michael F Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator 10 Years

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    Needs photos. There are various different fastigiate cultivars of several spruce and fir species they could be. The "blue version of it" could very easily be a different species to greener ones.
     
  7. Mary Munroe

    Mary Munroe Member

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    Attached are pictures of the trees planted against the side of the school. The needles are finer than the other tree which is similar to the needles of the noble fir but the general shape of the tree is the same. The underside of the branch is blue and the upper is green.

    There's another tree with a smaller spread that looks like a "tree growing up a pole" with the top 3 ft or more just looks like a pole because the branches haven't developed yet. It's a darker almost black green colour. The general tree shape is similar.

    Any clues?
     

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  8. jimmyq

    jimmyq Well-Known Member 10 Years

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    Picea omorika is fairly common here for a narrow tree but that is a REALLY columnar one if thats what it is.
     
  9. DGuertin

    DGuertin Active Member 10 Years

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    If I didn't know any better, I'd almost say this could be an Araucaria. Just don't think it can be though...
     
  10. Ron B

    Ron B Paragon of Plants 10 Years

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    Serbian spruce.
     
  11. Michael F

    Michael F Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator 10 Years

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    Yep, Picea omorika.
     
  12. Mary Munroe

    Mary Munroe Member

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    thanks all.

    Now, can one plant a hedge with the narrow form of picea omorika? I heard that they are slow growers, so does one have to start with larger specimens. Planted about 3 feet apart? Recommend any local nurseries or suggestions? Need something narrow and tall.

    Looking for a hedge of interest other than the usual 'Emerald Green'; since the wind storm last year the existing larger hedges around the area looks rather unkept with the branches flopping over. New neighbours have flattened the lot next door of the mini forest and now building a multi-family 3 storey. Need a hedge to hide the monster home. Tried bamboo since it's suppose to be fast growing but something keeps munching on it before it gets established.

    Other option is to move but the fruit trees are finally producing.
     
  13. Ron B

    Ron B Paragon of Plants 10 Years

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    This is a tall tree so although naturally and characteristically narrow it will grow much bigger than Thuja occidentalis 'Smaragd'. One I measured in Lake Stevens, WA during 1992 was 61 ft. tall with an average crown spread of 21 ft. As I recall this specimen had less tidy and regular habit than usual. Established seedlings might be expected to approximate 1 ft. per year in height increase. Faster growth might be possible but not necessarily desirable, producing less firm wood. This tree can already be somewhat prone to damage; when I cut one down once it was actually possible to break the upper stem by holding it up and snapping (jerking) it in the air, like cracking a whip.

    If you find a grafted named cultivar of predictably narrow habit it will cost much more per unit than unselected seedlings (seed-raised plants). To use grafted stock in quantity you will have to locate liners or shell out for larger plants.
     
  14. Michael F

    Michael F Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator 10 Years

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    For what it's worth, the UK champ Picea omorika is 29m tall.
     
  15. Debby

    Debby Active Member 10 Years

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    I recall reading that the roots of fastigate trees and shrubs spread just as much as those of less columnar plants. Don't know if that's a consideration for hedging or edging a flower border or a lawn. Photinia and laurel grow fast and can be sheared to make dense, narrow/flat hedges. Yew is a nice dark backdrop for flower beds. Investment in mature plants would lessen the wait for plants to gain height.
     
  16. Ron B

    Ron B Paragon of Plants 10 Years

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    Fraser photinia and English laurel are large bulging shrubby trees with large leaves cut unattractively into sections when formally sheared. In addition the photinia is now commonly exhibiting the same leaf spot problems here that have been complained of by people in other parts of the continent for some time. The laurel seeds out into undeveloped land in and near local communities to sufficient extent that additional planting should probably be discontinued.

    Small plants of Irish yew can sometimes be acquired but then you will have a wait of many years before a screen of some height is acheived - at which point it may begin to splay apart in snow.
     

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