Cedrus

Atlas Cedar - Cedrus atlantica - How to grow Blue Atlas Cedar - Cedrus atlantica glauca

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• published: 24 Dec 2015
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Blue Atlas Cedar is a variety of Atlas Cedar, Cedrus atlantica. This member of the Pine family (Pinaceae) is native to the Atlas Mountains of Algeria and Morocco, where it grows at elevations of 4200 to 6500 feet above sea level, often in forests with Abies numidica (Algerian Fir), Quercus ilex (Holm Oak), junipers of various types and other plants. The species has dark to medium green needles, while the glaucus or blue varieties have a blue-gray to bluish-silver cast to them. This species is listed by some as a sub-group of the Lebanese Cedar (C. libani), and indeed there is very little difference morphologically. With the advancements in genetic testing moving forward, we should be able to answer that question in the near future. This tree grows at a moderate to fast rate as a young plant, but slows significantly as it gets into its middle age. Eventual size will reach 50-60 feet in cultivation, though much taller specimens are found especially in Great Britain where one-hundred-footers are not uncommon. As a young plant, it is a narrow pyramidal shape, but the top widens and flattens as it ages. The spread can be almost as much as the height in an older tree. When given enough room to grow and spread, the tree is as good as it gets for evergreen specimens. Atlas Cedars, Cedar of Lebanon and the Deodar Cedar are all closely related, but it is the Atlas Cedar that you find most in cultivation and available from nurseries. This is partly due to the faster growth as a young plant, but also their ability to live in hot and dry locations, on less-than-perfect soils.) The blue or glaucus types are just one of the variations in Atlas Cedars. There are weeping types, varieties with golden-needles, and weeping blue types. My advice is to treat them as specimens, and don’t overplant. I have seen a few lawns with several weeping type trees, and it makes you wonder about the mental outlook of the designer.