Noble Fir

Noble fir (Abies procera, Pinaceae) is a fast-growing native conifer of the Cascade and Coast Range mountains from Washington to northwest California, reaching 50 to 100 feet in cultivation (up to 270 feet in the wild). It develops a strikingly symmetrical pyramidal form with a spread of about 16 feet. Blue-green needles have whitish stomatal lines on both surfaces and a distinctive hockey-stick curve at the base. Cones are massive (14 to 25 centimeters) with prominent reflexed bracts, green when young and purple-brown at maturity.

Noble fir grows in sun to part shade on well-drained soils (pH 6.0 to 7.5) with low water needs and low drought tolerance, hardy in Zones 5a to 8b. It performs best with a short, cool growing season and heavy precipitation (64 to 120 inches annually). It reaches about 25 feet at 20 years. Disease pressure is significant, with 17 documented associations including needle cast, root rot, and broom rust. Pest associations include balsam woolly adelgid and spruce budworm. Cultivars include 'Glauca Prostrata' (spreading dwarf), 'Blaue Hexe,' 'Jeddeloh,' 'Glauca' (bluish needles), and 'Sherwoodi' (yellow needles).

Noble fir is a montane species that does not belong in the Puget Sound lowlands. It requires 64-120 inches of annual precipitation (mostly as snow), cool growing seasons, and well-drained mountain soils at 3,000-5,500 ft elevation. Its native range in Washington starts at Stevens Pass and extends south through the Cascades, with scattered populations in the Willapa Hills. Planted in lowland soils at sea level, it will struggle with drainage, summer heat, and disease pressure from root pathogens that thrive in our warm, wet soils. If you want a native fir for a lowland landscape, plant grand fir instead. Noble fir belongs above 2,000 feet.

— Chris Welch, ISA Certified Arborist