Thursday, March 6, 2014

How to Prune a Spruce

Picea Pruning

These are 2 Spruces that anchor a lot in Ellicott City, Maryland that are extremely large for their kind in Maryland. In fact that Norway Spruce may be either the largest or very close to, in the state of Maryland. The only larger Spruce Ive ever seen in Maryland is in fact an Oriental Spruce and not a Norway. Blue Spruces tend to prefer cooler climates so the one in the photo is also an exceptional tree for the Baltimore area. So on this landscape renovation project I worked with the home owner to preserve and show off these trees that they are very happy to have on their lot. With little care other than a yearly cleaning out of old shaded out stems and a weekly or biweekly deep watering during drought, these Spruces will likely last decades and even centuries to come. The natural needle mulch was left in place. It keeps the soil cool and moist and adds to the health of these trees. Studies show that trees with no turf on their roots often grow double or more the rate of trees that do.
I always enjoy preserving unique and historic plants on projects I work on. These Spruces required alot of climbing and alot of time as I selectively thinned out the canopies to enhance their natural effect. This has been one of my favorite projects this year. Hope you enjoy these photos.

Before




After






























* photos taken on Dec 8 2011 in Ellicott City, MD

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