Blue Spruce is growing slow.

one of my bluespruces has been there two years and has not hardly grown any the other has grown a little my neighbors bluespruce has grown rather quickly but mine is slow why. My Norway seems to grow a little faster.

Was your neighbor's tree planted at the same time as yours? Most trees & shrubs will take a couple years to really get going--they like to work on getting their roots going first before they put out a lot of top growth so if your neighbor's tree has been in the ground for longer that may be the reason. Otherwise, there are tons and tons of things that can affect how fast an individual plant will grow. Since yours haven't been in the ground that long I honestly wouldn't worry much unless the tree looks unhealthy.

If yours is the exact same species/cultivar and was planted at exactly the same time, then it would help to understand any differences in the location and care (amt of sun/shade, amt of water, fertilizer, is one of them at the top of a hill and the other at the bottom, is the soil exactly the same in both areas, is one more sheltered & the other more exposed to wind, etc). There also could be differences in how rootbound the trees were when they were planted, or the quality of the prep work that went into planting them (soil amendments, etc) But again unless yours is looking unhealthy I wouldn't worry too much.

His has been there a little longer also his seams to get more blue than mine his might get a little more sun and I have never fertilized it his soil is almost the same of course he does use the bag soil on his flower beds not sure if he used any on the tree his in the front yard a flat yard mine is next to the creek bank. Last year it lost needles a bit but this year it looks fine.

If his has been there longer that alone could explain the difference, and it sounds like there are enough differences in the conditions that you could see plants grow at a different rate. There's also the possibility that his & yours are not the exact same species/cultivar, and even if they are plants don't always grow exactly the same. So as long as yours looks healthy I wouldn't worry about it.

If you look up PICEA (blue spruce) or Picea pungens 'Glauca' you will find that there are at least another half doz different variety of this tree.
The Norway Spruce is again a different species also, ALL these trees / plants like an acidic soil damp, young plants should not be planted till all dangers of frost has passed as this will damage the young growing tips and cause needle drop.
Maybe the bags of soil your neighbour is spreading is specially for acid loving plants such as you have, in spring you can add to the soil feeds such as phosphate which would normally be dug in at planting time, or add a handful of multi/general or nitrogen fertiliser each spring (April-May) this will help give an even growth and enhance the colour of the foliage. Hope this helps you out, Good luck. WeeNel.

The one I got not got good blue color sometimes I dont think its even a blue spruce since it shows no color the needles are right and everything just wish it had good color as my neighbors.

This message was edited Dec 2, 2011 8:08 PM

You might have to wait another few years before the true colour is produced as some tree's have to be a bit more mature to show off there beauty.
Just be patient and care for it for several more years. Good Luck. WeeNel.

Thankyou.

Have you visited other blue spruces on line or at the nursery? It's important to know what you truly have for starters. Also, as others have mentioned, the blue spruce starts off very slowy. Mine is in pretty deep shade--I'm just tickled it's still alive. That spruce often gets an unfortunate blight here in the PNW, so I didn't make a huge initial investment. I'm assuming NC has plenty of acidic soil, since it's a good spot for rhodies and azaleas. If your soil might be deficient, sprinkle some of the free coffee grounds that Starbucks makes available to their gardening friends. A great source of a free, nutritious soil additive.