Serbian Spruce | A Must Have For Your Gardens

The Serbian spruce, Picea omorika, is an excellent addition to any garden or landscape. The upswept branches give it an elegant look, and the needles are a glossy dark green with streaks of white underneath, giving the tree a "silvery" appearance. For this post, we'll be covering the beauty and characteristics of four Serbian spruce varieties:

• Gotelli Weeping Serbian Spruce
• Bruns Serbian Weeping Spruce
• Gunter Serbian Spruce
• Dwarf Serbian Spruce

Gotelli Weeping Serbian Spruce, Picea omorika 'Gotelli Weeping'

The Gotelli spruce I have highlighted here is likely my favorite tree out of all tree species currently growing in my landscape. I planted the Gotelli shown here from a #6 pot, about 3-4' tall. It has done wonders in this location and is now about 12 feet tall. I love the pendulous weeping habit and the looser, informal feel of the branching structure. Elegant. We'll let the photos speak for themselves.

Key Gotelli Serbian Weeping Spruce Characteristics:

• Coniferous evergreen with bluish-green, silvery needles
• Hardy to Zone 4 
• Tolerant of dry and alkaline soils
• Mature size of 25' Tall X 15' Wide
• Dark purplish cones

Bruns Weeping Serbian Spruce, Picea omorika 'Pendula Bruns'

The Bruns is a much more narrow spruce than the Gotelli. I have struggled to establish this variety and I am currently on my third tree planted. Severe winters have taken out two of my previous plantings. I am having success with the Bruns shown below, now going through its third winter and doing great. One of the damaged trees is shown on the far right.

Other than its size, 15’ Tall X 3’ Wide, The Bruns Serbian has the same characteristics as the Gotelli, with bluish-green needles, hardiness and adaptability.

Gunter Serbian Spruce, Picea omorika 'Gunter'

As of this writing, the Gunter Serbian Spruce is on my "to plant" list. This variety has a compact globe form reaching 4' x 4, along with the characteristic bluish-green needles. I've read that it will eventually develop a leader with age. I have noticed this with some of the Colorado Globe spruce as well. I prune them to keep the globe shape when this happens. 

I also wanted to mention the Dwarf Serbian Spruce, Picea omorika 'Nana' (also on my "to plant" list). This dwarf variety is a compact evergreen reaching 10' High X 8' Wide. 

Photos of the Dwarf Serbian remind me of the Dwarf Alberta Spruce and Big Berta Spruce. These are two white spruce varieties with a similar tight, bunchy, upright form, but without the Serbian bluish-green, silvery needles.

Sorry, I do not have any photos to share on this variety. You can read about the Dwarf Serbian and all the varieties we discussed at Iseli Nursery, an excellent resource to browse and research unique conifers, complete with photos and descriptions.

Enjoy the video below for a guided tour of these wonderful Serbian Spruce conifers.

Thanks for stopping by Garden Hike!

Kevin

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