Blue Spruce chopped down - can I propagate ?

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paani Cowichan Valley, BC(Zone 8b) Jan 20, 2012

beautiful blue spruce next door just got chopped down by "green" rehabbers.

It was 20+ years old and 15-20 feet high. Always perfectly healthy.

Most parts are still lying around (cut down today).

Can I propagate? please advise!!

I'd especially like to get one going for our foreclosed neighbor who loved that tree,
and had raised it up from a foot high spindly little thing.

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Resin Northumberland, United Kingdom(Zone 9a) Jan 20, 2012

Unfortunately, not. Spruces are effectively impossible to propagate by cuttings. Grafting on a seedling rootstock would work, but needs a lot of expertise.

If it had any cones on, you could collect them to see if there's still any seed in (though usually the seed is shed by Oct / Nov).

Resin

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paani Cowichan Valley, BC(Zone 8b) Jan 20, 2012

Resin, thanks. I thought it was not very likely, but was hoping to be wrong!

For grafting, I don't have the expertise, and I'd have to locate rootstock too.
But it's 100% sure that it's gone if I don't try, so I just might.


My cuttings do have cones - sets of 3 at the tips. One about 1/2 inch in length and two smaller ones.

I don't see any seed. But maybe I'm missing it. What does spruce seed look like?

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Resin Northumberland, United Kingdom(Zone 9a) Jan 20, 2012

Doesn't sound like cones, perhaps galls, or old pollen cones. Blue Spruce cones are around 8-10 cm long, straw-coloured: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Picea_pungens2.jpg The seeds (2 under each cone scale) are black, around 3 mm long, with a papery wing 15 mm long.

Resin

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paani Cowichan Valley, BC(Zone 8b) Jan 20, 2012

maybe I should have started with asking 'what do I have' ?
He always called it his blue spruce so I just assumed.

It had the classic conical shape with branches to the ground, and a real blue to it.
I never saw any large cones on it though.

here are the cuttings:

Thumbnail by paani
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Resin Northumberland, United Kingdom(Zone 9a) Jan 20, 2012

Yep, a Blue Spruce. Those are the foliage buds there, not cones.

Resin

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paani Cowichan Valley, BC(Zone 8b) Jan 21, 2012

thanks again Resin.
seems this spruce will live in memory only then.
what a pity.

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