Weeping Norway Spruce

A living sculpture for the garden: cascading, dark-green branches that drape and pool wherever you train them.

The Weeping Norway Spruce (Picea abies 'Pendula') is an evergreen conifer grown for its dramatic, weeping habit rather than a tidy outline. Stiff, pendulous branches clothed in glossy, deep-green needles tumble downward from whatever height you stake the leader to, so the same plant can be a low, ground-hugging mound or a tall, narrow waterfall of foliage. It grows at a fast clip, matures anywhere from 4 to 15 feet tall depending on how it's trained, and spreads 6 to 8 feet wide. No two specimens look alike, which is exactly why designers reach for it as a focal point.

Why growers choose the Weeping Norway Spruce

• Year-round structure. Rich, dark-green needles hold their color through all four seasons, giving the garden weight and presence in the dead of winter when everything else has gone bare.
• Trainable, one-of-a-kind form. Staked high it becomes a tall cascade; left low it sprawls into a flowing mound or groundcover. You shape the silhouette to your space.
• Tough and cold-hardy. Comfortable all the way down to Zone 3, it shrugs off hard winters, wind, and exposure that would set other conifers back.
• More deer-resistant than many evergreens. Spruces, with their stiff, sharp needles, are typically passed over by browsing deer far more often than arborvitae.
• Fast establishment. A fast growth rate means it puts on size and character quickly once its roots take hold.

Use it as a standout specimen by an entry, a sculptural accent in a rock garden or mixed border, a draping anchor at the top of a retaining wall, or a slow, weeping screen when several are trained tall and set in a row.