White spruce (spruce tips)
Picea glauca
Lemony young tips in late spring for syrup, tea and beer; shelter for the whole yard.
Hardiness: zones 1 to 5
Light: full sun to part shade
Size: about 60 ft tall, 20 ft wide
Harvest: May to June
From: Boreal North America
Drought-hardy once established
Here: Wants more winter cold than the Lake Erie shore (zone 6b to 7a) provides.
Good for: food, wildlife.
Native to: Alaska, Northern Europe & the taiga, Eastern Canada, Western Canada, Northeast, Midwest & Great Lakes. Hardy in zones 1 to 5.
The story
White spruce is the tree of the boreal forest and its spring tips were a vitamin C tea for Cree, Dene and Gwich'in families, its roots sewed birchbark canoes, and its gum sealed them; Jacques Cartier's crew was cured of scurvy by a spruce decoction in 1536. Alaskan brewers make a beer from the tips.
Planting
Full sun or part shade, moist drained soil, and a cold climate; plant young in spring. A 60-foot windbreak tree.
Growing
Water the first summers; then nothing. No pruning beyond removing dead limbs.
Harvest and use
Pick the pale green new tips in late spring for two weeks; make syrup, tea, salt, or beer. Pick lightly from each branch.
What to watch for
Spruce budworm, spider mites in dry heat, and warm climates.
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More native and wild plants
General guidance, not professional advice. Conditions vary by yard and year; for local specifics ask your county extension office. Never eat a wild plant you cannot identify with certainty. Traditional uses are shared as history, not medical advice. © 2026 Sean Priest · Irie Orchard. Terms & credits · Privacy · Home