Deer-Resistant & Shade Tolerant Spruce Trees

Tall Spruces

• Some shade-tolerant spruce trees can reach 90 to 100 feet tall. Luiang spruce (Picea likiangensis) grows 60 to 90 feet tall by 25 to 40 feet wide in a broad, conical shape. It offers dark-green to bluish-green needles, pale gray bark and prefers cool summers. Sakhalin spruce (Picea glehnii) grows 80 to 100 feet tall by 25 to 30 feet wide in a narrow, conical shape. It has bright green needles, reddish young shoots, chocolate-brown bark and attracts birds. Both spruce trees grow in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 4 through 7.

About 60 Feet Tall

• Several shade-tolerant spruce trees grow about 60 feet tall. Serbian spruce (Picea omorika) attracts birds, tolerates air pollution and grows 40 to 60 feet tall by 15 to 20 feet wide in USDA zones 4 through 7. Able to withstand hot, humid weather better than most spruce trees, it has dark-brown bark and displays shiny, dark green needles that exhibit a two-tone, silvery effect. Colorado blue spruce “Glauca” (Picea pungens “Glauca”) grows 30 to 60 feet tall by 10 to 20 feet wide and has a conical shape. Good for USDA zones 3 through 8, it offers blue-green or silver-gray needles and dark or light gray bark.

About 50 Feet Tall

• Certain shade-tolerant spruce trees grow about 50 feet tall. Brewer’s weeping spruce (Picea breweriana) has a conical canopy 10 to 12 feet wide and grows in USDA zones 6 through 8. Native to Oregon and California, this tree puts out dark-green needles on weeping branches and has reddish-brown bark. Colorado spruce “Iseli Foxtail” (Picea pungens “Iseli Foxtail”) has a conical or columnar canopy, grows in USDA zones 4 through 8 and can grow up to 36 inches per year. Its needles are green or blue-green and it requires good drainage.

Shorter Varieties

• Colorado spruce “Walnut Glen” (Picea pungens “Walnut Glen”) and oriental spruce “Skylands” (Picea orientalis “Skylands”) are shorter varieties. Admittedly a shrub and not a tree, “Walnut Glen” tolerates drought and grows 5 to 6 feet tall -- or slightly taller -- by 2 1/2 to 5 feet wide in USDA zones 3 through 7. This compact variety grows in a broad, pyramidal shape and tolerates drought, rabbits and air pollution. Its powder-blue needles feature variegation in golden-yellow. “Skylands” grows to 8 to 10 feet tall in the first 10 years -- and over time may reach 35 feet tall by 4 to 12 feet wide in USDA zones 4 through 7. This tree likes full sun, but prefers afternoon shade in regions with hot summers. In full sun, its needles are bright yellow, and in partial shade, they turn yellow-green.