Spanish Fir 'Glauca'

Spanish fir 'Glauca' (Abies pinsapo 'Glauca') is a conifer whose branches look like steel bottle brushes. The short, stiff, blunt needles sit radially all round the shoot, and the deep grey-blue colour with its steely sheen stays equally bright the whole year, in summer and under snow alike.

This is a specimen tree for a large plot: give it an open lawn where the architectural build of the branches and the blue tone of the needles can be read. It grows slowly, yet passes 4 m in 10 years and spreads to 4-8 m wide with age, so in a small garden the dwarf form 'Horstmann' is taken instead.

Key characteristics:

• What makes it special: The needles are not prickly spikes but blunt steel-blue strokes: every branch reads as a precise geometric figure, and the colour never dulls.
• Dimensions: A true tree: over 4 m tall at 10 years, and when mature it spreads its crown 4-8 m wide.
• Hardiness: It winters down to -23 °C (USDA zone 6).
• Light: Full sun is its element; it tolerates partial shade, but only sun gives a dense crown and rich needle colour.
• Soil: It likes moderately fertile, slightly acid, moderately moist and well-drained soils; heavy clays are not its story.
• Watering: Watering is moderate, and an established tree comes through dry, hot spells with confidence.
• Care: It needs almost no care; just choose a sheltered spot - it copes poorly with urban pollution.
• Landscape use: A specimen on an open lawn, where the architectural build of the branches and the blue needles read best.
• Origin: It arose as a chance seedling and was introduced in 1867 by the Desfosse & Thuillier nursery in Orleans; it holds the RHS Award of Garden Merit.