Update 2023

Our Alpine Fir has grown maybe 3 feet in 4 years, keeping true to its reported slow growth habit. It still looks lovely, providing an attractive, narrow structure to the driveway circle where I planted it. I have seen reports that these trees can suffer from blight when grown outside at low elevations, but aside from a few branch tips that have died back, it seems to be weathering our garden environment quite well. However, it’s slowly becoming more shaded by a nearby (and quite stunning) Slender Hinoki Cypress, so it will be interesting to see how this change in sun exposure affects its overall health.

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Alpine Fir (or Subalpine Fir) are stately native conifers that grow near the tree line in our Cascade Mountains and beyond. I found a few of them for sale at Sky Nursery while searching for a replacement tree for the two overgrown pine trees we had removed. This species wasn’t on the official list ok’d by the city, so I took a picture and sent it to the arborist for approval. I love the picturesque craggy shape the limbs of these trees take on as they age, similar to a Mountain Hemlock but with rounder needle groupings (I’m sure there’s an official botanist term for that…). And this species prefers partial shade, so I hope it does well in our garden.