They usually prefer full or partial sunlight and well-drained sites to thrive. They are an important source of wood fiber used in paper making. This short-needled family of evergreens can also be a major component of windbreaks or shelterbelts. The spruces are adapted to a wide range of conditions. They usually prefer more fertile soils than the pines, but some, like white spruce, can tolerate lighter, more well-drained soils.
Black spruce grows in the bogs that cover a large part of northern Minnesota.
White and Black Hills spruce are often used in windbreaks and shelterbelts. White cedar is native to the northern Minnesota bog country and thrives in wetter, organic soils. Red cedar is an aromatic cedar native to southern Minnesota and will tolerate poor, dry sites. It can provide wildlife cover and food where other trees would have trouble growing. A unique conifer that loses its needles every fall, this Minnesota native can be found growing naturally in bogs or fertile upland sites from the Twin Cities north.