| PSC 2620: Woody Trees and Shrub | Course Home | Week 12 |
Picea abies 'Nidiformis' - Bird's Nest Spruce
Plant Viewer
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| The needles are 1/2 - 1 inch long and arrayed around the stem and angled towards the stem end. | The new growth is a bright light green color and soft. Image: Wikimedia.org |
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| Bird's Nest Spruce can grow to 6 feet high, with a wider spread. | Most specimens in our climate stay lower and compact because of winter snow loads. |
Plant Description
Picea abies 'Nidiformis', or Bird's Nest Spruce, is a small coniferous evergreen shrub that is a cultivar of Norway Spruce (Picea abies). It grows slowly to be 3-6 feet high with a slightly greater width. It has a very dense branching habit, with a depression in the center of the shrub that makes it look as if a bird was nesting in the shrub. It prefers to grow in a well-drained soil with regular moisture provided. Once established it is quite drought tolerant.
The stiff needles are dark green in color and 1/2 - 1 inch long. The needles form all the way around the stem and tend to be angled forwards, towards the end of the branch. Most needles are straight, but some can exhibit a slight curl. In the spring, the new growth emerges a distinctly lighter green and the needles are soft and pliable.
Landscape Use
Bird's Nest Spruce is a popular plant for foundation plantings. It is also popular in commercial plantings and is regularly seen in parking islands. It is a good evergreen choice for residential lots because of their small and compact size.
Points of Interest
In my experience, our heavy snow loads tend to cause the plant to have a more broad and spreading form and help to keep them compact and low to the ground.