Spruce is our traditional Christmas tree, although it is increasingly being replaced by Nordmann. If you want to plant one in your garden, follow the advice of Roland Motte, our gardener.
Soon Christmas and the time to choose your Christmas tree. In our latitudes, it is the spruce which had all our favors to adorn our interiors. They are found in our forests, but you can plant one in your garden … if you have room. With the advice of Roland Motte, the gardener of France Bleu Lorraine and France Bleu Besançon.
Picéa Excelsa, the Christmas tree
The genus Picea contains about fifty species. It is very widespread in the northern hemisphere, be it America, Europe and even Asia and especially in mountainous regions. In Europe, the species of the genus are called spruces, on the other hand, in Canada they are called spruce.
Sometimes they are confused with firs which are of the genus Abies. It is not the same. On spruce, the cones are cylindrical. They are pending, at least for the females. On the other hand, in the fir tree, they are erect, slightly bluish. We also make a difference with the needles. The fir needles are a little more flexible, when we turn them over, we have two small white bands behind. And then, the needles of the spruce, on the other hand, are very green and a little prickly.
In forestry, spruce is widely used. It is used for example in stationery, wood packaging. It is used for frames, to make poles and even musical instruments.
A spruce in the garden
In the garden, we will rather use it in mountain gardens, above 800 meters of altitude it’s perfect because it needs a lot of freshness, a lot of humidity. It can be used alone, it will spread its branches all around the trunk. It can even be used as a hedge, it is a little rarer.
Watch out for bark beetles
For some time, and because of global warming, spruces have been attacked by bark beetles. The bark beetle, also called the typographer, is an insect that will get under the bark and is capable of killing entire stands of spruce trees. If this happens to you and if you have a spruce top, you have to take a good look at the little holes you can have on the bark. There is no effective solution to eliminate it. To eliminate this bark beetle, it will be necessary to cut the tree. This bark beetle only spreads about fifteen meters around it. So we’re going to cut down all the trees that are about 15 meters in diameter from the spruce, which is infested.
– Roland Motte
The spruce is also the Christmas tree, even if it tends to be replaced by the Nordmann. This spruce, this Christmas tree, is well we like it with its garlands, with its balls, with light. This is where he is most beautiful.
Find Roland Motte on France Bleu Lorraine and France Bleu Besançon and on his site www.rolandmotte.fr.