We usually think of spruce trees as towering giants in the forest, but they actually make fantastic additions to a home garden. One of my favorite ways to grow them is in containers! This is a total game-changer if you want a living, breathing Christmas tree that you can enjoy year after year.
Buying a Potted Spruce
If you’re looking to start your potted spruce journey, I recommend heading to a local nursery or a specialized garden center. The little trees you find there have usually been “transplanted” several times already. This process trains the root ball to stay compact, which in turn keeps the whole tree at a manageable, cute size for your patio or porch.
Potting Your Own Spruce
Do you have a healthy young spruce sapling growing in your yard? You can actually pot it yourself! And the best part is that it works both ways—if your potted spruce eventually gets too big for its container, you can always plant it back out in the garden to let it reach its full potential.
Using Potted Spruces as Christmas Trees
Spruces are a classic choice for the holidays. However, if you bring yours inside to decorate, keep the visit short. Our cozy, heated living rooms are a bit of a shock to them, and staying inside too long can cause them to start dropping their needles. Keep it well-watered while it’s indoors, and move it back outside shortly after the holidays to keep it happy.
The Best Spruce Varieties for Pots
The standard Norway Spruce can get pretty massive, and you’d have to do a ton of pruning to keep it small. To save yourself the headache, I suggest picking a naturally dwarf or slow-growing variety.
Here are a few of my top picks for container life:
- Dwarf versions of the Norway Spruce
- Alberta Spruce (the classic “cone” shape!)
- Sakhalin Spruce
- Blue Spruce (for that gorgeous silvery-blue tint)
Winter Care for Potted Spruces
Even though spruces are tough and cold-hardy, life in a pot is a bit harder than life in the ground. Because there’s less soil to insulate the roots, they need a little extra TLC when the temperature drops. I like to place my pots on a piece of wood or Styrofoam to block the rising cold from the ground. You should also wrap the pot in burlap or a winter garden fleece for extra warmth.
Don’t forget to water! Even in winter, the sun can dry out the needles, and the root ball shouldn’t ever bone-dry. Just wait for a day when the ground isn’t frozen to give it a light drink.
