Red Spruce and Black Spruce

Let's enjoy the beauty of the Adirondack Park while studying the two common spruces of the North Country.

[@amytaylor1909]

Great video ❤

[@barkinuptherighttree4698]

Thanks for watching!

[@hanzifaction]

Great video! To me red spruce and white spruce are tricky to tell apart. You should compare if you come across both

[@barkinuptherighttree4698]

Thanks for watching! I did find some white spuce growing on Azure Mountain NY a couple of days after recording this video. After consulting with a local botanist I was told these trees probably seeded in from nearby white spruce plantations. I intend to add White Spruce to this channel in a location where Black, Red and White Spruce are native and common in the forests and bogs.

[@Efrat1206]

Gorgeous video, wish I was there. I probably wouldn't have wanted to leave. :-)

[@barkinuptherighttree4698]

Thanks for watching...I was fortunate to have great hiking weather both days while recording these videos. Meanwhile White Spruce is more common in Northern New England than New York but I do hope to record it in the future.

[@rocoman1006]

Very helpful video. I'm from Rhode Island and I don't get out to these forests often enough to be strong in identifying black/red spruce and balsam fir when I get out to the Whites. Is there a key identifying feature that helps you distinguish between balsam fir and black spruce at 4-5k' elevation when they are much shorter?

[@barkinuptherighttree4698]

Thanks for watching Ron...most of my above tree line hiking has been in the Adirondacks of New York but from what I have read Black Spruce and Balsam Fir do grow in a stunted 'krumholz' form in the Whites as well. With a few minutes of observation I think you could easily discern Black Spruce krumholz from Balsam Fir by its shorter, duller blue green needles. Balsam Fir needles are flat, shiny and very fragrant when crushed. Also Balsam needles are more widely spaced on the branches than Red or Black Spruce. I did find an area on Algonquin Peak about 500' below the summit where Red and Black Spruce were growing together with the Balsam but only found Black Spruce with the Balsam at the summit. Good luck on your adventures in the Whites!

[@barkinuptherighttree4698]

Hi Ron, I was fortunate to have excellent weather last week for hiking above tree line in the Whites last week. I was able to better answer your question with a couple minutes of footage from the top of the Ammonoosuc Ravine trail near the Lake of the Clouds Hut. The video of that hike is on my other channel (LET'S DIG A LITTLE DEEPER) and titled 'Ascending New Hampshire's Ammonoosuc Ravine to Lake of the Clouds and Mount Monroe'. I look at trees above 4500' from minutes 10:23 to 15:24 on that hike and Black Spruce and Balsam krumholz from minutes 12:11 to 15:24. Black spruce does appear to be common in the krumholz in the area near Lake of the Clouds and Mount Monroe. I even found some larger Black Spruce trees on my descent of Ammonoosuc Ravine around 4300' near where the trail crosses the headwaters of the Ammonoosuc River. Probably very icy up there this week as that trail gets very little sun this time of year.

[@Needagoodnamebutcantthinkofone]

I have to disagree, when you say hemlocks don't grow too far into swamps, I am in the northeastern United States and we have a lot of hemlocks in the swamps they seem to be the only tree that can make it in the swamps, at the same time I'm not trying to devalue or discourage you or your channel I'm just throwing out some information, sometimes it helps sometimes maybe I'm wrong, most of the time it's just weird around here I guess, which would include the bears the berries the herbs both natural and introduced as well as the trees.... 😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣

[@barkinuptherighttree4698]

Thanks for watching and offering your observations on Eastern Hemlock...I too have seen shallow swamp forests where hemlock grows. The wetland in this video in Northern New York State is typical of what you find in the Adirondacks and Northern New England with mostly Balsam Fir, Tamarack and Black Spruce. I will keep an eye out for Hemlock Swamps while hiking and could record them in the future. Good Luck

[@oxman7]

Very interesting. I live in the UK and would like some decent conifer trees for screening the farm land from neighbours. Some has rushes and is too wet to drive a machine through and of no real use. Do you think Black Spruce is the tree for it? Most reading suggests that Spruces generally like well drained soil. Our typical choices for conifers are probably Scots pine (native) Norway Spruce (nice continous foliage and somewhat naturalised) and Sitka Spruce because they seem to be quite hardy, grow fast and give a lot of biomass.

[@barkinuptherighttree4698]

Thank you for watching! You certainly pose an interesting question about planting Black Spruce on your property. Near the southern edge of it's natural range in North America Black Spruce almost exclusively grows in wet soils composed of acidic peat derived from sphagnum moss. Further north it is found in well drained and rocky soils as well. If your soils are not comprised from peat I may suggest another evergreen that can tolerate wet soils. Northern White Cedar (sold commercially as Arbor Vitae) is a popular landscape plant hear in the states and could probably tolerate the milder UK climate better than Black Spruce. It also performs well in less acid or neutral soils...I have literally seen it growing right out of limestone and dolomite ledges. Norway Spruce and Scots Pine are often found in plantations here as a result of reforestation projects. Best wishes

[@indonesiaraya1522]

Too much talk.not to the point