The name 'Nidiformis' is Latin for nest-shaped, and the cultivar earns it honestly: its branches spread outward from a central depression that genuinely resembles a broad, shallow nest, a form produced not by pruning but by the shrub's own horizontal growth habit. Credited to the Rulemann Grisson Nursery in Sasselheide, Germany, and in nursery trade since the early 1900s, this cultivar of Norway spruce grows with unhurried purpose — typically 1 to 2 feet tall and 3 to 4 feet wide in the first decade, though in 30 years it may reach 8 feet in height and 10 to 12 feet across. The gray-green to light green foliage is dense and fine-textured, and the spreading, nearly horizontal branches create a clean layered silhouette through all four seasons.

Bird's Nest spruce asks for full sun and moderately moist, well-drained, acidic soil, and it does best where summers stay cool. In North Carolina that means the mountains; in warmer zones it will struggle with heat and humidity. Water regularly during extreme heat, especially in containers, where its small stature and slow growth make it an excellent long-term subject. Space plants 3 to 6 feet apart for massed plantings, or use a single specimen as a low focal point in a rock garden or winter border.