The dwarf Alberta spruce (Picea glauca “conica”) is a conifer found naturally in the harsh conditions of the Northern Rockies near Lake Laggan, Alberta. Unlike other conifers, it does not produce any cones or seeds, so the only method of propagation is by planting cuttings, a method that requires time and patience, as the plant will not be as large as a nursery plant for a few years. Still, if you want a large number of trees, this is a very inexpensive method of supply.

This is the method that I use, and it works fairly well. Not every cutting will survive to be planted, but I figure that if I get half of my cuttings to survive their first year in the ground, I am way ahead of the power curve.

I stole a lot of this information from various sites, but, then this is the method that I used, so I’m really just being lazy, not wanting to reinvent the wheel.

1. In December, or June if you are in the Southern Hemisphere, take 4- to 6-inch cuttings from stems that are firm and slightly flexible but not hard and woody. Cuttings from young trees less than six years old root best. Before taking cuttings, sterilize a sharp knife or pruners by wiping the blades with a mixture of one part chlorine bleach to nine parts water. Use the cuttings immediately, for best results. If you can’t use them right away, wrap them in a moist paper towel and place them in a Zip-Loc baggie.

2. Remove the lower third of needles from the cutting, and dip the end in rooting hormone. I score the end of my stems (about an inch) to help the plant absorb the rooting hormone.

3. Fill 3 inch diameter, sterilized planting pots with a good quality potting soil, mixed with pearlite to hold the water, and place the tip of one cutting at least 2 inches deep in each pot. Tamp the soil around the cutting to remove air pockets. Another method is to place a pinch of general-purpose, slow-release fertilizer in the bottom of the pots, then fill the pots with equal parts fine bark and peat moss. I add some pearlite to this mix, too. Both methods work equally well.

4. Place each pot into a saucer filled with water and wait for the pearlite to absorb enough water so that the top of the soil is moist. This method of initial watering prevents the rooting hormone from being washed away from the cutting. Wrap the pot in a plastic bag ( a bread bag will do the trick), seal with a rubber band, and cut three or four holes in the bag to allow for air circulation. The bag keeps the mini-climate humid, and the holes allow the plant to breathe.

5. Place the pots in a warm (>60F), sunny place, but not where they will be in direct sunlight. A location on top of a warm appliance such as a refrigerator speeds rooting.

6. Rooting typically takes 6-8 weeks, so be patient. You can test the cutting at 8 weeks by very gently tugging on the cutting. If it resists, the cutting took root, if it comes out without any resistance, the cutting failed and you need to start over, or move on to the next pot.

7. Check the cuttings every week. Water lightly if the potting mixture feels dry. Remove the plastic when new growth appears – typically in about three months – indicating the dwarf Alberta spruce cuttings have successfully rooted.

8. Transfer each cutting to a 6-inch pot filled with two parts garden soil, one part sand and one part peat moss. I still add a bit of pearlite to this mix. Place the pots in partial shade for five to seven days. Then move the pots to bright light.

9. Allow the new dwarf Alberta spruce to mature at least until all danger of frost has passed the following spring, then plant the tree in full to partial sunlight. If possible, let the plants mature for an extra year in that 6 inch pot. A larger tree with a well-developed root system is more likely to survive outdoors.

10. Continue watering newly planted spruces, if nature doesn’t provide soaking rains, right up until the ground freezes hard for the winter season. Established plants are relatively drought tolerant.

11. Alberta Spruce like an acid, well drained soil. My soil is mostly sand, so I meet the first criteria, but it is fairly alkaline. Rather than fuss with expensive soil conditioners, which limit root growth to where the conditioner is, I just save my coffee grounds and give the soil around each tree a dressing of coffee grounds once or twice a year. Mulching helps retain moisture.

12. After the trees reach 12 or so inches in height, I remove the lower two inches of branches. This make the tree look better ( I think), and helps prevent spider mite infestation since those critters travel from tree to tree by using the ground.

13. I find that, over time, planting the new trees at least 18 inches apart works best, especially when they’ve been in the ground for several years.

14. Browning of needles can be due to spider mites. If you shake a branch over a white piece of paper you may see the tiny moving bugs. DO NOT use horticultural oils or chemical insecticides. Dwarf Alberta spruces are sensitive to oils and many pesticides. You may treat a small infestation by spraying with water, and this is good to do a couple times a week as a prevention. You can also use an insecticidal soap solution, once a week for several weeks. I lost several trees last year to those critters, and saved many others by just using a soapy spray. The mites haven’t come back, so I guess I “done good.”

15. Pruning the tree to imitate other conifers in the forest is high art. I don’t start pruning my trees until they have had a year to adjust to their new home. I prune mine in spring after new growth has started. Dwarf Alberta Spruces are easy to take care of. They do not flower and always have green foliage. This spruce attracts many types of birds. It is resistant to deer.

I suppose that this method can be used on other conifers like the juniper and cypress, but I haven’t tried that, yet.

The dwarf Alberta spruce (Picea glauca “conica”) is a conifer found naturally in the harsh conditions of the Northern Rockies near Lake Laggan, Alberta. Unlike most conifers, the dwarf Alberta spruce does not produce any cones, so it cannot be propagated through seeds. Instead, the simplest way to grow a dwarf Alberta spruce is through a technique known as cutting. Cutting is the process of placing a tree branch into a potting medium, triggering the branch to sprout roots. Using cutting as a propagation technique takes time and patience, as the plant will not be as large as nursery plants for a few years.

Read more : http://www.ehow.com/how_8748196_grow-miniature-alberta-spruce-cuttings.html
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2. How to Grow a Miniature Alberta Spruce From Cuttings

How to Grow a Miniature Alberta Spruce From CuttingsBy Steven White, eHow Contributor

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Cuttings of Alberta spruce can grow their own roots to start a new tree.

The dwarf Alberta spruce (Picea glauca “conica”) is a conifer found naturally in the harsh conditions of the Northern Rockies near Lake Laggan, Alberta. Unlike most conifers, the dwarf Alberta spruce does not produce any cones, so it cannot be propagated through seeds. Instead, the simplest way to grow a dwarf Alberta spruce is through a technique known as cutting. Cutting is the process of placing a tree branch into a potting medium, triggering the branch to sprout roots. Using cutting as a propagation technique takes time and patience, as the plant will not be as large as nursery plants for a few years.

Read more : http://www.ehow.com/how_8748196_grow-miniature-alberta-spruce-cuttings.html
The dwarf Alberta spruce (Picea glauca “conica”) is a conifer found naturally in the harsh conditions of the Northern Rockies near Lake Laggan, Alberta. Unlike most conifers, the dwarf Alberta spruce does not produce any cones, so it cannot be propagated through seeds. Instead, the simplest way to grow a dwarf Alberta spruce is through a technique known as cutting. Cutting is the process of placing a tree branch into a potting medium, triggering the branch to sprout roots. Using cutting as a propagation technique takes time and patience, as the plant will not be as large as nursery plants for a few years.

Read more : http://www.ehow.com/how_8748196_grow-miniature-alberta-spruce-cuttings.html
The dwarf Alberta spruce (Picea glauca “conica”) is a conifer found naturally in the harsh conditions of the Northern Rockies near Lake Laggan, Alberta. Unlike most conifers, the dwarf Alberta spruce does not produce any cones, so it cannot be propagated through seeds. Instead, the simplest way to grow a dwarf Alberta spruce is through a technique known as cutting. Cutting is the process of placing a tree branch into a potting medium, triggering the branch to sprout roots. Using cutting as a propagation technique takes time and patience, as the plant will not be as large as nursery plants for a few years.

Read more : http://www.ehow.com/how_8748196_grow-miniature-alberta-spruce-cuttings.html

Thanks for this, I’m saving it off as a text file. I’ve tried rooting these (and several other conifers) before but to no avail. All of them croaked. From this list I can see I missed a few things.

Steve , brilliant write-up .

Your final comment about its applicability to other genus----it works with most tree breeds . One of the great things about the method you outline so well is that the foliage eventually becomes smaller and smaller , never quite reaching scale leaf size , but my Dad’s Bonsai Silver Birch trees , a deciduous variety , eventually finished up with leaves about 1/4" long , or about half the size of the normal tree . This process is aided by pruning thick roots off , retaining the hair roots .

I hesitate to add to your already excellent write-up , but cuttings can be made in situ on the tree .

The trick here is to take any twig or branch that takes your fancy , and at the point where it would be at ground level , cut a 1/4" gap in the bark . Imagine a mini tree .

Take some Sphagnum Moss (wet) and wrap it round the scar . Take a piece of polythene film and wrap it around the moss to hold it in place , using normal soft garden wire to secure it .

This makes a little greenhouse in effect , encouraging root hairs to form on the cut edge of the bark toward the outer end of the twig/branch . When these roots become visible when you do a regular unwrapping check , the twig can be separated with secateurs from the tree and planted exactly as Steve wrote above .

The trick is to do the job of wrapping in late autumn ; with any luck , your tree will be ready in spring .

The process is known as “Air Layering” (I think) .

I have done it quite successfully , though I have had some odd looks when doing it (with permission) in woods or forests around the UK . I also achieved it in Cyprus , but regulations forbade my bringing it home .

Mike Brit

PS When you have achieved the above , use soft iron wire wrapped (not tight) around the

branches , not coiled like a spring , but a single wrap every two diameters of the selected

branch , and then gently bend the branch toward the shape that you want -not too sharply ,

do it bit by bit , and you can finish up with branches looking gnarled and twisted like the real

trees that have been in the weather (not the trees in a cultivated forest)

Thank you Steve. I’m going to give this a try this winter.

Also from here to… Thanks’ Steve F. for the inform.

Home Depot or Lowes or something like it end of the year clearance, $1 per tree, get a lot of perrianals also at end of year, for a $1 I buy 5, if 2 die I am way ahead.

I bought 9 Dwarf Alberta Spruce one year lost 1.

Tom H

Steve,

Thanks for the post. We are trying that, just for grins. Got a half dozen in pots on top of the fridge. One is from my cypress that I really like, hope it works anyway.

Steve, I was just telling the wife we were going to have to do this in mass with the eventual layout I’m planning. I’ve tried it with some boxwood bushes before, but had no luck. After reading your write up I know a few things I did wrong. Looking forward to giving it another shot now.

Randy Lehrian Jr. said:

Steve, I was just telling the wife we were going to have to do this in mass with the eventual layout I’m planning. I’ve tried it with some boxwood bushes before, but had no luck. After reading your write up I know a few things I did wrong. Looking forward to giving it another shot now.

An update… posted elsewhere… Instead of, or perhaps in addition to, your choice, the rooting hormone, dip the stem in local honey, just before planting. I’m going to try that this spring.

The honey is both antibacterial and antifungal, as well as being a source of food for the young tree.

Steven---- Hot Damn!! You are sounding more and more like a Horticultural Heavyweight all the time!!! We NEED you in the Albuquerque Bonsai Club!! Those of you who are not renegade arborists, as Mr Feather is, should look up Musser Forests on google. Good prices and good stock on small plants, including Alberta’s. I’ve had excellent service from them in the past.

One note on Alberta’s… They can handle/enjoy most any cold, but do not like hot, dry and windy ( New Mexico Springtime). They appreciate foliar moisture, and if you can set up a misting system for your cuttings and liners, life will be simpler. Also, if you can find the variety “Sander’s Blue”, they have beautiful color and seem to handle the heat better. Our local Subway planted several along a south-facing brick wall, and I waited smugly for them to dry up and blow away— after two years, they look great.

john

John, my one attempt at Bonsai died a horrible, slow death. I think that I should probably stick with trees that grow in the ground.

Steve,

Have I ever mentioned that I don’t like you very much ;-). Now I want a Alberta spruce twig so I can try this, I might have to start my forest.

Mine are all brown, so guess we failed.

Jerry, wife’s are the same color, Brown…

Maybe Steve will tell us it’s okay?

Hmmmmm. Mine didn’t do so well this year, either, so I am in good company. I’m planning on starting a new batch as soon as they show some candles (new growth) to see how that works. Morning sun only, and I’ll set it up so they get misted hourly. Otherwise, no change in the basic plan.

I took the produce bags off ours this morning, looks like a couple may be alive. We put individual clear(sorta) produce bags over each plant, can’t see through them real good. Maybe we should have been misting? Missed that, but did water them. Fun to try anyway.

Bend one of the limbs, if it doesn’t snap off right away and just bends, it’s probably still gonna make it.

If you give them a gentle tug and they stay put, they should be well rooted, and have a good chance of survival.

Thanks for the inspiring gardening article Steve !!!

I know it takes time to write things up to share with the masses.

But,

“…dwarf Alberta spruce (Picea glauca “conica”) is a conifer found naturally in the harsh conditions of the Northern Rockies near Lake Laggan, Alberta. Unlike other conifers, it does not produce any cones or seeds, so the only method of propagation is by planting cuttings, …”

According to other botanic-flavoured sources it is NOT native to this region. Too windy/cold/hot/or dry at the requisite moments in its growth !! Unless ya have a ideal microclimate and soil conditions.

I’m pretty sure though I’ve got at least a couple ‘volunteer’ units slowly growing on the layout. Either by seed blown around from the roughly half dozen (big box store end-of-season sale bought) units that are over 9 yrs old now, or they are possibly young pines from seed fallen off the old ones at the back '40 fenceline.

And I’ve also heard the name was derived not by the supposed location/origin, but the person who first id’d them.

Granted from the GR mag site, a arti’ posting by Pat H. “…originally found in a native stand of white spruce in Alberta, Canada…” {white spruce 15-30m tall trees !}

All that said, what it really comes down-to is whether it will grow in your “microclimate”, or not

imho

doug c

p.s. i just called a regional source of native trees, http://treetime.ca/ and asked them to confirm all the things I’ve heard over the last 15 yrs involved in g-gauge gardening. They were not even aware of dwarf alberta spruce … mainly cause they work with (and sell retail) actual native vegetation. They’re also involved in reforestation and native vegetation restorative projects.