it will take a long time for smargard to reach that height

i will leave it to others to suggest alternatives ...
ken

'Smaragd' it is Ken, instead of 'Smargard'.
When are you going to learn how to write it in the good way?

when my typing fingers do what my brain thinks... while i stare at the keyboard doing my hunting and pecking ...

any alternative suggestions for the OP???

ken

thanks for the feedback Ken.

anyone have any suggestions?

I've tried selecting stronger central leader 'Smargard' and cutting off the biggest really low branches. They look good after a year, makes for a nicer tree. But they still get damaged by heavy snow, but maybe not as badly. They still grow like they grow, which is not like a natural branched tree.
If you prune the lower side branches, it will take longer to get wider, so I suppose you should plant them a little closer.

I have 25 'smaragd' in a row that have been in the ground for about 13 years. If I were to put in a new row and adopt your plan of pruning to a single leader, which is a good one, I would guess that it would take at least 15 years before they reached the height of about 12 feet and maybe 12 years before they started touching. This is based on a planting width of 3 feet and a purchasing height of about 2 feet.

Thanks, Ken ;0)
I also did some hunting for you.
You can see the result at my topic "My spruce babies"...
I'm very sorry to went off topic here...

I also did a row of (22) for screening at the back of the lot. They look nice, but it's taken (4) years for 5 footers to touch when planted four feet apart. They're now 7-8 feet tall in 5b.

I had more depth to use and I wish I would have done something else. Snow damage has only been an issue when I was lazy and didn't brush it off.

I wish I would have instead done a mix of things like Picea omorika "Bruns," pendula "Bruns," Picea glauca "pendula," Picea pungens "pendula," and Picea abies "Cupresina." This would have cost more, taken more time to give me the coverage, but at least I would have enjoyed looking at as more than just a screen.