Looks like a nice catch for screening. Not too narrow, not too wide yet has some height.

Strikes me as rather plain and ordinary. The one on the left in the 3rd-4th pics looks much nicer to me.

Resin

Was going to say the same, Resin. FWIW, something Spruceman always said sure is true..that NS, as a species, is full of variation. I know of an extremely nice specimen shoehorned in between two houses in town. This tree is simply perfect. Very full, dark green, rather narrow, although its location could account for that, this forty or so foot tree grew about 18 inches this summer. Just a beauty. Elsewhere, there are NS having the same attributes, but much wider.

+oM

I must like normal trees a lot then. And I do.

Regards fellas,

Dax

Actually Dax I like the other one as mentioned by +om and Resin.

To be there first hand I could change my mine.

It appears the first row of lower branches been removed on the one you are considering for cultivar potential.

Dave

The only thing, to my eye, is that the other tree looks exceedingly common....
at least that's the standard form around here. The tree Dax has in mind has a more
open, erect habit to its limbs - not as shaggy as the typical P. abies.

Josh

Just depends on what one happens to like in this species. Since Dax is the guy doing the cloning, it falls to him to place value on any given specimen.

My comments went a little off-topic, I do realize.

+oM

I think I'll just clone one for myself and call it good. Norways like the one to the left photo 3 take up a lot of space albeit they are good looking trees.

Alright fella's.

Dax

Just curious, why do you guys think this one is a plain ordinary Picea abies?

I don't see any pendulous branches in that plant. I've been looking quite a bit this weekend and haven't seen any like the one Dax has pictured (ecspecially at the size).

Let me tell you Picea abies is just as much over planted here as Picea pungens and Pinus nigra.

Unlike P. nigra and Picea pungens, NS thrives, with no debilitating disease issues. I'd say it stands head and shoulders above those two species in this area, sometimes literally!

+oM

It also performs quite well in clay soils as its one of the few Picea species that tolerates wet soils.

I guess my point is that I saw several dozen P. abies on my way to work and none of them had strictly upright branches.

Folks:

Sorry I did not get to see and respond to this topic sooner. I have a few ideas that may, or may not be important in evaluating this tree.

First, the narrowness or breadth of Norway spruce can vary according to some non-genetic factors. As Tom mentioned about the one he has seen, restricted light from the sides may cause a tree to grow more narrowly. Another issue is leader damage--where trees have had weevil attacks, and or had the leader damaged regularly by bird perch, the tree may grow more broadly. This kind of damage is very common, so a tree that has not had that damage, may seem to be of a more narrow genetic strain. But it may not be.

As for other aspects, such as the color and "fullness," and to some extent the weep of the foliage, can depend on soil factors. NS is very tolerant of a wide variety of soils, but they will look much better on the richer and deeper soils, especially those with a relatively high gravel content and good magnesium content. So Dax may clone this tree and have one that looks much better, depending on the soil he grows it in.

But all that said, this tree looks like it will have much "stiffer" foliage than some--less weep, regardless of the soil.

So, my "warning" to Dax would be not to expect a clone to look that much like the "parent." It may, or it may not. But, by all means clone it and see how the tree develops. In all my years of being a Norway spruce lover, and having grown thousands, many of which I have planted myself, I am not sure that the breadth of Norway spruce trees is a characteristic that is very clearly determined by the genetic make-up of the tree. Yes, I am sure some genetic influences are at work in some specimens, but I am not sure how much. I find it difficult to say what is genetic, and what is environmental, in determining the narrowness of any specific tree.

Of course there are some cultivars that have wonderfully narrow weeping forms, such as the 'Pruhoniceana,' which may be my favorite. I am growing three of these.

--spruce

This tree, dead and center to south and west exposure with nothing to block sun. The soils (it is fairly close to me) are at worst loamy clay and possibly deep/black/loam.

I hear you spruce but I think this Norway was blessed with utter plainness, ;-)

Dax