A native we do not grow
Engelmann Spruce
Picea engelmannii. Large tree, 50 to 100 feet where planted, zones 2 to 8; full sun, part shade or shade; average or wet ground.
We do not grow Engelmann spruce, and it is not in our shop. This page gathers what our tools say about it and the natives we grow for the same ground.
At a glance
| Other names | Columbian spruce, mountain spruce |
|---|---|
| Form | Large tree |
| Height, feet | 50 to 100 where planted; up to 223 in its native stands |
| Spread, feet | Up to 25 |
| Zones | 2 to 8 |
| Sun | Full sun, part shade or shade |
| Soil moisture | Average or wet ground |
| Growth | Slow |
| Leaves | Evergreen |
| Traits | Wildlife value |
| Pollen | May to July |
| Fruit | Cones, August to October |
| First crop | 15 to 40 years (good crops from 150 to 250) |
| Pollination | One bears; a second improves the crop. Each tree carries both male and female cones, set apart in the crown so that a tree seldom pollinates itself, and in spruces self-pollination lowers the share of filled seed. |
| Lifespan | Typically lives 250 to 450 years, and the oldest dated one reached 911. Only a tiny share of trees has ever been ring-counted or cross-dated. |
| Black walnut | Not named on the Morton Arboretum's lists |
| Ground | Rich moist slopes and stream banks |
| Native in | 11 states |
Engelmann spruce is native in 11 states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming. The states are the USDA PLANTS Database's records, with the native range read from Silvics of North America and the Jepson eFlora.
What our tools say
How fast it grows and how big it gets, by site Whether it suits your zone, sun and soil How far from a house, wires and a septic field What grows with it in the wild and in a yard When to plant it where you live When it sheds pollen and bears cones, month by month How to sow its seed, with dates for your place How many to plant for a crop of seed Whether one you have can be moved, and what the move takes How old one is, from its trunk How a big one scores against the champion trees
For the same ground, we grow
These trees we grow share the most of Engelmann spruce's natural communities in the wild, by the companion species tool's rules.
Western Soapberry
Sapindus saponaria var. drummondii Medium tree Zones 5–9 20–50 ft
Shares stream banks in the wild.
Read from
Its figures come from Silvics of North America, the Forest Service's Fire Effects Information System, the Woody Plant Seed Manual, the USDA PLANTS Database, the Missouri Botanical Garden, the Wildflower Center, Cal Poly's SelecTree, Oregon State University's Landscape Plants, Utah State University Extension, the Jepson eFlora, the Gymnosperm Database and Rocky Mountain Tree-Ring Research.