Getting to Know Skylands Spruce - Conifer Tree - September 2024

Skylands Spruce - Picea Orientalis 'Skylands' is a tree that I've been thinking about for years.  I've only come across a couple of them in the nursery trade in all my years looking - at the Hidden Gardens nursery.  Hidden Gardens is now solely focused on bonsai, so their nursery is closed, but I grabbed these couple of photos of a couple of trees - a #6 and a #10 container.  

But, before we get to the photos, what is Skylands?  Missouri Botanic Garden has a page up that lists the details of the tree:

'Skylands' is slow-growing, upright, conical-pyramidal form that typically grows 8-10' tall over the first 10 years. Over time, it may eventually reach 35' tall with a spread of 10-12' wide. Exterior needles are bright yellow in full sun or yellow-green in part shade. Regardless of sun exposure, the yellow needle color typically tends to fade as the summer progresses. Interior needles are green. Foliage may burn in full sun locations in hot summer climates. Attractive red pollen cones in spring provide interesting and showy contrast with the yellow foliage. 'Skylands' was introduced into commerce by Skylands Botanical Garden in New Jersey in 1979.

The form - conical-pyramidal - is a big draw.

So, too is...of course the color.  Yellow-green.

Wilson Brothers Nursery listing calls it 'stunning'.   They also talk about how it can add a foot in height each year and....that we have to think about protecting it from sun during the afternoon when it is young.

A simply stunning accent tree, the 'Skylands' is a fast-growing oriental Spruce displaying bright yellow new growth softening to golden-yellow that lasts all year on an upright pyramidal form. This bright foliage contrasts beautifully with the darker green older leaves. Add showy cherry-red cones that turn to purple to its already colorful foliage and interesting form and you have a truly outstanding feature in the landscape that draws the eye and grabs attention. A robust grower, Skylands can add 12 to 15 inches in height per year, reaching 10 to 15 feet tall and 6 to 8 feet wide at the base in 10 years. 

Note: Skylands will grow in full sun to part shade. That said, young trees will appreciate some shelter from intense afternoon sun until the tree has developed a good root system. Some folks erect shelters to protect their young trees from the direct afternoon sun.

The past two seasons, I've used a shade cloth canopy to protect some new, young trees.  Last year - in 2023, I protected a pair of Spring Grove Ginkgos on either side of our back stoop.  This year, I used the same shade cloth setup (with some bamboo posts) to protect the island bed in our front yard that also had a Spring Grove Ginkgo and a Northern Glow Korean Maple tree.  

Now...let's take a look at Skylands Spruce - below are those photos from The Hidden Gardens nursery:

Fall planting time is almost here and getting a small Skylands is top on my priority list.  My intention is to plant it in our front yard as part of an expanded conifer and Japanese garden planting that I started with my island bed.  The photos in this post - where I showed some front yard inspiration - is what I'll revisit when/if I plant a Skylands.  

My current thinking is in one of two spots:  First...is right *behind* the island bed - expanding that bed backwards towards the house.  Sitting it to the left-side - behind the dwarf Ginkgo.   Skylands is listed at six-to-eight-feet in diameter at maturity, so that means I'd need to plant it 4-feet-or-so from the Spring Grove Ginkgo and the Korean Maple.  Because of how that Ginkgo is planted, I think there's probably two-feet of bed already there - and free'd up.  So, that means I'd have to extend the island bed back probably four feet.  It would look like this:

But, I'm also thinking about this post about a 'hide and reveal' path - aka using Miegakaure - with conifers that obscure some of the turns.  A Skylands Spruce *could* work in a couple of places to accomplish some of this - albeit in a very non-mature form.  Why?  Becuase of the price, any Skylands that I buy is going to be VERY small - like 30" or so at best.

Here are a couple of options for that small tree below.  Yellow is 'adjacent' to the current island bed (in orange).  Purple is a new stand-alone spot in the MIDDLE of the current yard.  The White spot is closer to the property line, so it doesn't look peculiar  - when planted alone. 

All of them get *about* the same sun exposure.  Expanding the island bed seems like the most logical.  But, is gardening always logical?  

Speaking of which....what about the backyard?  Pizza oven opens up new tree possibilities, doesn't it?

And, as we all know (by now):  conifers should come first.