Pine
Picea pungens (PINACEAE)
Planting and Growing Pine Trees
You’ll find everything you need to know to plant and grow pine trees in the accompanying table’s tabs:
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- Foliage, cones, and seeds or nuts of pine trees
- Growing conditions for pine
- When to plant pine
- How to plant pine
- How to prune pine
- Watering, fertilizing, and care of pine
- Landscape uses of pine
- Pest and disease control for pine
Growing Pine Trees
Over 90 species and many hybrids of fast-growing, short-lived, mostly upright, narrow, and conical, coniferous evergreen trees, to 200 ft. (61 m) tall, with both small, scalelike, deciduous and smooth, green, needlelike, evergreen leaves, 2–9 in. (50–230 mm) long, borne in 2-, 3-, or 5–needle, bundled clusters.
Commonly cultivated landscape species include Pinus aristata, bristle-cone pine; Pinus cembra, Swiss stone pine; Pinus contorta, shore pine; Pinus koraiensis, Korean pine; Pinus mugo, mountain pine; and Pinus peuce, Balkan pine, among many others.
Norfolk island pine, Araucaria heterophylla, are half-hardy trees with pine-like appearance native to the southern hemisphere and related to monkey-puzzle tree, Araucaria araucana, not trees of the Pinus species [see: Norfolk Island Pine].
Pine Planting and Care Guide
Catkins, Cones, and Seeds
Male cone resemble feathery catkins, 1–4 in. (25–100 mm) long; female cones are globular and pointed, 2–6 in. (50–150 mm) long, with woody seed and winged cone scales.
Best Climates
U.S.D.A. Plant Hardiness Zones 2–9. Mostly hardy; some semi-hardy or tender species.
Soil Type and Fertility
Moist to dry, well-drained soil. Fertility: Rich–low. 5.0–6.5 pH.
Where and How to Plant
Full sun. Space as recommended for species or hybrid.
Proper Care
Easy. Allow soil surface to dry between waterings until established. Avoid fertilizing. Prune to shape in spring, removing half of new growth “candles.” Propagate by cuttings, seed.
About This Species
Good choice for accents, shrub borders, containers, fencelines, screens, windbreaks in meadow, woodland gardens, lawns, and open landscapes. Drops needles, requiring maintenance. Susceptible to pine and pine-bark aphid, various beetles and moths, pine sawfly, scale, weevil, webworm and blister rust.
Other Common Species of Pine
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- Pinus albicaulis, white-bark pine
- Pinus attenuata, knob-cone pine
- Pinus balfouriana, foxtail pine
- Pinus banksiana, jack pine
- Pinus bungeana, lace-bark pine
- Pinus canariensis, Canary Island pine
- Pinus cembra, Swiss stone pine
- Pinus cembroides, Mexican piñon pine
- Pinus contorta, shore pine
- Pinus contorta var. murrayana, lodgepole pine
- Pinus coulteri, big-cone pine
- Pinus densiflora, Japanese umbrella pine
- Pinus eduluis, piñon pine
- Pinus eldarica, Afghan pine
- Pinus flexilis, limber pine
- Pinus halepensis, aleppo pine
- Pinus jeffreyi, Jeffrey pine
- Pinus lambertiana, sugar pine
- Pinus monticola, western white pine
- Pinus mugo, mountain pine
- Pinus muricata, Bishop pine
- Pinus nigra, Austrian pine
- Pinus parviflora, Japanese white pine
- Pinus patula, Mexican yellow pine
- Pinus pinea, Italian stone pine
- Pinus pondersosa, ponderosa pine
- Pinus radiata, Monterey pine
- Pinus strobus, white pine
- Pinus sylvestris, Scots pine
- Pinus torreyana, Torrey pine
About Pine Trees
About 90 species of varied, rounded, pyramid-shaped, coniferous trees are included in the Pinus genus. They’re native to the northern hemisphere, from seacoasts to the mountains. They are fast-growing, short-lived trees best used as container plants, temporary fillers, screens, or windbreaks.
Pines include both low and spreading as well as erect, pyramid-shaped, stately trees, from 10–200 ft. (3–61 m) tall. Because of this variation, choose species and cultivars carefully with their growth habits and mature size in mind.
If kept rootbound in a planter, they will grow slowly and are good for use as bonsai and shape training. They are popular subjects for use in Asian gardens.
Pines require frequent raking of their fallen needles. They are susceptible to numerous pests and diseases, including some that may cause weakening of the tree’s makeup. Keep these factors in mind as you plant pines near structures.
Because the Pinus genus is so varied, consider options beyond the popular pine species at left, consulting your garden center for advice on species that thrive in your region.
Planting and Caring for Pines
Pines are important landscape trees prized for their rapid growth and versatility, from erect, conical elements in a landscape garden to plantings of many other purposes. They can have single or branching trunks with nodding branches that begin low on the tree, and easily are recognized by their bundles of mostly long, soft needles.
Plant pine trees in well-drained, acidic soil. Since all landscape trees perform best when they are planted in unamended soil, your site should be tested for acid-alkaline balance before planting.
Pines need soils in the 5.0–6.5 pH range. Choose trees with characteristics that match your climate, usda Plant Hardiness Zone, and local conditions. Carefully match the depth of the planting hole to the soil line of your tree when planting.
Backfill the hole with native soil, and water the tree whenever the soil surface becomes dry until it is well established.
To use pines as indoor holiday decorations, plant them in their containers, then unearth them, clean their containers, and bring them indoors. When use is finished, replant the trees in your garden.