Peachleaf Willow
Salix amygdaloides Medium tree Zones 2–8 35–60 ft
Shares stream banks and floodplain forests in the wild.
A native we do not grow
Sitka Spruce
Picea sitchensis. Large tree, 40 to 90 feet where planted, zones 6 to 9; full sun, part shade or shade; average or wet ground.
We do not grow Sitka 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 | Tideland spruce, coast spruce, western spruce, Menzies spruce |
|---|---|
| Form | Large tree |
| Height, feet | 40 to 90 where planted; up to 329 in its native stands |
| Spread, feet | Up to 40 |
| Zones | 6 to 9 |
| Sun | Full sun, part shade or shade |
| Soil moisture | Average or wet ground |
| Growth | Medium |
| Leaves | Evergreen |
| Traits | Wildlife value, salt tolerant |
| Pollen | April to June |
| Fruit | Cones, August to October |
| First crop | 15 to 40 years (stands from 20 to 40) |
| Pollination | One bears; a second improves the crop. Each tree carries both male and female cones and the wind carries the pollen; in spruces, seed from a tree's own pollen is more often empty, so trees in a group set more good seed. |
| Lifespan | Can live 800 years, and the oldest dated one reached 593. 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 | The coast, stream banks, floodplain forests and sandy barrens |
| Native in | 4 states |
Sitka spruce is native in 4 states: Alaska, California, Oregon and Washington. The states are the USDA PLANTS Database's records, with the native range read from Silvics of North America.
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 Sitka spruce's natural communities in the wild, by the companion species tool's rules.
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, NC State Extension, the Morton Arboretum, Oregon State University's Landscape Plants, Cal Poly's SelecTree, Calscape, the Wildflower Center and the Gymnosperm Database.