Wood: Wood is light, soft, and weak but it is easy to work and resistant to decay. It is valued for canoes, canoe frames, boats, docks, fishing lures, floats, poles, posts, fences and shingles.
Wildlife: This species is of limited value to wildlife. White-tail deer, snowshoe hares and moose feed on the foliage in winter. A small finch of the evergreen forests (the pine siskin) eats the seeds, and porcupines feed on the bark. Red squirrels eat the buds in spring and store cone-laden branchlets for winter use.
Horticulture: This species has a shallow
root system, transplants easily, grows easily from cuttings and is widely
cultivated for use as an ornamental. It is a good accent plant for use in
landscaping. It responds well to pruning and is often used as a hedge or
foundation planting. In northeast Iowa it is sometimes used as a windbreak.
There are over 100 cultivars, and 3 stand out as being suited to colder
regions: 'Techny' is a popular form with a pyramidal shape, growing to 15
feet tall, with good green winter foliage; 'Nigra' has a pyramidal shape
to 30 feet tall, with good green winter foliage; and 'Emerald' retains its
emerald foliage in winter, is a narrow, pyramidal tree to 15 feet tall and
is cold hardy to minus 40 degrees F.
