White Spruce

Choose White Spruce if you want a tough, cold-hardy native evergreen for windbreaks and property lines. It is the straight species, seed-grown, so form and color vary from tree to tree. The tradeoff is that it dislikes heat and city conditions — this is a northern New England tree, and it earns its keep on open, cold, exposed ground.

Buy This If

• You want a native evergreen, not an ornamental import.
• The site is cold and open.
• You have room for a full-size spruce.

Skip This If

• You need uniform, matched trees.
• The spot is hot, dry, or heavily salted.
• You are planting close to the house.

PGNE Report Card

Our Experience

At PGNE, we'd typically recommend White Spruce for the back of the property and along field edges rather than as a front-yard specimen — it is a workhorse, not a showpiece. It is native here, so it belongs in wildlife and restoration plantings where an imported blue spruce would look out of place. Give it 12-15 ft of spacing in a windbreak row and leave the lower branches on.

Plant Facts

Customers Usually Ask

How is this different from Black Hills Spruce?

Black Hills is a regional variety of the same species (Picea glauca var. densata) — denser and slower. This is the straight species: faster, a little looser in form.

Is it really native?

Yes. White spruce is native to northern New England and across the boreal north, which makes it a good fit for wildlife and restoration work.

How far apart for a windbreak?

12-15 ft. Crowding causes the lower branches to thin out on the shaded sides.