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    How to plant an Arbour Day tree – A Colorado Blue Spruce Seedling

    The Colorado blue spruce is a beautiful tree from North American native selection. It’s very slow growing but has an excellent pyramidal shape. It reaches 15-20 feet maturity in ten years. They were first discovered in 1862, growing in the Rocky Mountains.

    But nowadays, they’re widely planted as landscape trees. If you live in the right climate and have good soil, this tree will thrive, but only if you plant it the right way.

    Colorado Blue Sprue Seedling
    Colorado Blue Sprue Seedling
    • Plant your Arbour Day tree in your garden right away. Please provide assistance to children who might be planting.
    • Give your tree enough room to grow. Colorado Blue Spruce trees can grow to be 75 metres tall
    • Plant your tree at leas 4 metres away from other trees, shrubs or buildings
    • Don’t plant your tree under power lines
    • Keep your tree cool and moist. Handle your tree gently, since the roots break easily.

    When you plant your tree, remember:

    1. Remove the plastic bag.
    2. Spread the roots in the hole and cover them quickly
    3. Press the soil firmly around the roots and water the tree.
    4. Please protect the tree with a small fence while it is still small.
    5. Please take care of your tree by watering regularly when the soil the dry. Remember, not too much, you don’t want to drown your tree.
    15 yr old Colorado Blue Spruce tree

    The Colorado Blue Spruce Landscape Uses

    This plant makes an exceptional accent tree. You cannot also go wrong with this tree if you’re looking for a windbreak or privacy screen. And if you’re living in areas with a large wildlife population, these ornamental trees resist deer, thanks to their strong smell and prickly texture. This also makes it a perfect habitat for local rabbits and birds.

    Other special features that come with this plant include bird-friendly, dramatic foliage color, easy-care, North American Native Selection, Tolerates Road Salt, and year-round interest. And the companion plants include spirea, Butterfly Bush and Blanket Flower, Weigela, and Stonecrop.

    Colorado Blue Spruce Tree Care

    Position

    It is essential to plant blue spruce trees in moist soil locations with full sun and light shade. However, blue spruce is also drought-tolerant, but growing it in heavily polluted areas can affect the blue color coating of the needle.

    Soil

    It is not fussy about the soil type as long as it is well-drained. Colorado blue spruce trees require moist soil to grow healthy and well. Spruce prefers acidic, boggy soils which are sandy or loamy with low levels of organic material. 

    Light

    Plant Colorado blue spruce trees in full sun and ensure they get at least six hours of unfiltered sun per day. The Colorado blue spruce thrives in full to partial sun. It also tolerates partial shade but does better in spots with plenty of sunshine.

    Water

    Blue Spruce Picea punjens require an ample supply of water and also good drainage. Although blue spruce tolerates drought, it does best when watered consistently throughout the entire year. Water your blue spruce about once every two weeks if rainfall is less than 1 inch per week during the first growing season to keep the soil moist.

    Once it’s established, water it only during dry spells and avoid water logging or creating muddy soil. The Colorado blue spruce can tolerate dry soil as long as the plant is watered regularly during its first growing season. At that point, it develops a deep root system and requires less frequent watering.

    Fertilizer

    Blue spruce does not require frequent fertilization to thrive. If you want to fertilize your Colorado blue spruce, do so in early spring or late summer using a balanced 10-10-10 formula. This will give the tree an added nutrition boost. It will increase the length of the needles and improve the needle color. 

    The fertilizers will also give full nutrients and help the plant to grow vigorously with a nice look and denser foliage.

    A Mature Colorado Blue Spruce


    Feb 5th, 2022 Wood Shed Axe Throwing Youth Axe Tournament Winners

    Tournament Side A Winners: 1st place Cole, 2nd place Nolan, and 3rd place Isaak
    Tournament Side B winners: 1st place Kaede, 2nd place Joey, and 3rd place Iliana

    Saturday February 5th, 2022 and 24 young axe throwers gathered to compete in a tournament for the ages. It was no coincidence the event was held on Coach Trevor’s Grandmother’s Birthday. The day would be remembered for years to come. It was almost a normal feeling as the restrictions from two long years of COVID were in the process of being lifted.

    Wood Shed Axe Throwing in Sylvan Lake was the host. The stage was set. Boards were wet, axes were sharpened, projector lenses polished, and AC DC was blaring the warm up music. All were ready to let the steel fly and challenge their opponents in the friendly game of axe throwing.

    The day was off to a great start, and youth were getting their practice throws in. Many experiencing the generosity of end grain block targets for the very first time. The digital scoring and moving bullseye had a mystic feeling, almost as if you were one with not only the axe, but also the lane and target. Steel meets wood and crowd cheers, the perfect combination for the day.

    A brief review of the rules for all the competitors and all that was left was to say as Bruce Buffer “It’s Tiiiiiiiiiiime!”

    Qualifying Rounds

    The qualifying consisted of each of the 24 athletes throwing 4 games of 10, and their individual scores being tallied, creating the seeding for the knockout. Everyone was equal, same boards, same bullseye, holding an axe, 40 throws. The only thing that was different was the skill of the thrower, and each had a chance to prove their accuracy.

    Qualifying completed, and we had ordered lunch from one of our lane sponsors, Dominos Pizza, which was devoured by the hungry steel chuckers. At this point, the scores were tabulated, the top 12 would compete on the A side and the other 12 on the B side. Just like a great 80’s mix tape, 12 pieces of art on both sides.

    Double Elimination Tournament

    The double elimination format has the top players from each side playing a lower ranked player. Similar to the 2006 Stanley Cup run of the Edmonton Oilers, where they were ranked 8th and played the first place Red Wings. Reminder, the Oilers beat the Wings, then the Sharks, and Ducks, before losing in game 7 to the Hurricanes, but just like Bruno, we don’t talk about that. As the players progress, they are still in the tournament and have a chance to move on until they have lost two matches. Each match consisted of the first to win two games, with a lane switch in each game. I, as a lifetime Oilers fan was hoping that there were a few examples of the 2006 team that could create an upset or two.

    There are two ways to get to the final, one you never lose, and two, you lose, then have to compete against many others who have lost and win each match. The person who does lose early, may have to play 7 matches to win, that is a lot of throwing, a possibility of 21 games in a short period of time. Hydration is of vital importance.

    The Results

    Our finals featured both ways. Keade lost his first match on the B side and was bumped down to the loser bracket, where he needed to win to stay alive. Joey won all his games, and made it to the final after 4 wins. Keade needed to play 5 matches, all facing elimination before being able to challenge for the final. The throw down was epic. Nobel steed vs steed. Close games, and Kaede took the first match. Now they both had one loss, the next match would determine the winner. With pipes burning, adrenaline pumping and eyes laser focused, Kaede was able to conquer and be declared the champion.

    The A side had Cole who was successful in every match verses Nolan, who made the trip from Airdrie to compete. Both worked hard to get to the finals, but in the end, Cole was too accurate on this day and took the championship 2-0, to remain undefeated the whole tournament.

    It was a great day and seeing the youth smile, compete, and work for success has us excited for the next event on April 9th.


    Youth Axe Tournament

    On Saturday February 5th, 2022 Wood Shed Axe Throwing will be hosting its first ever Youth Tournament! There is a maximum of 24 spots and 2 divisions A & B (depending on the youth’s 4 sets of qualifying games). Start time is 10:00am – 2:00pm. Tons of prizes for competing, and the cost is only $40/youth (Ages 10-17 years old).

    Register Here: https://www.vantora.com/e/tws/registration/default.asp?id2=1600836#!/


    Winner of the Sylvan Lake Chamber of Commerce Visitor Friendly Award 2020

    https://www.facebook.com/SylvanLakeChamberofCommerce/videos/1151997385195915/

    28 years ago I was a weekend visitor to Sylvan Lake for the very first time, I was 15. That weekend I spent the day at the waterslides, camped and just hung out by the lake. I distinctly remembers telling my friend, “I’m going to live here someday.”

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    Celebrating 4 Year in Business

    friends holding each other

    September 2020 was another milestone achievement, as we celebrated our 4th year in business as a member of Central Alberta small businesses.

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