El giant fir it is one of the conifers that best resists cold, in fact, it is grown only in mountain areas where temperatures are mild all year round except in winter, when significant frosts and snowfall are recorded.
Although its growth rate is rather slow, it is interesting to reserve a place for it in the garden. Here is your file.
Origin and characteristics
Our protagonist is a conifer native to northwestern North America, where it grows at altitudes between 700 and 2000 meters above sea level. You can also find it at lower altitudes (200 masl is the minimum), but it develops better in cool or cold areas. Its scientific name is great abies, but it is better known as giant spruce, large spruce, or Vancouver spruce.
It is an evergreen plant, which reaches a height of between 40 and 80 meters with a trunk diameter of up to 2m. The leaves are acicular, flat, 3-6cm long by 2mm wide, dark green on the upper side and with two white lines on the upper side.
What are their cares?
If you want and can have a copy, we recommend providing the following care:
- Location: outside, in full sun.
- Earth:
- Garden: acidic, fertile and well drained.
- Pot: substrate for acidophilic plants. It is not a vegetable being to be kept in a container for life, but as its growth rate is rather slow, it can be cultivated for a few years.
- Irrigation: it has to be watered 3-4 times a week during the summer, somewhat less the rest of the year. Use rainwater, lime free or acidified (it is achieved by diluting the liquid of half a lemon in 1l of water, which is very hard).
- Multiplication: by seeds in autumn. They need to be cold to germinate.
- Rusticity: withstands cold and frosts down to -30ºC.
What did you think of the giant fir?