Description
Pinus strobus
CT DR
Habit: Pyramidal when young, broadly oval with an uneven crown when mature
Mature Height: 50 to 80 feet
Mature Width: 20 to 40 feet
Soil: Acidic, Well-drained
Light: Full to Part Sun
Growth rate: Fast, about 24″/year
Landscape Value: Excellent specimen tree, and also makes a good Christmas tree and windbreak. Can be planted as a hedge and sheared regularly to control growth. Needs adequate space to accommodate future growth. Provides important habitat and food for wildlife.
Large evergreen with bundles of 5 thin, soft, blue-green needles that remain on the tree for 2 to 3 years before dropping in the fall. Produces male pollen cones in whorled clusters at the tips of branches, and paired cylindrical female cones that grow to 8 inches and have scales with white resin tips. Cones are produced when trees reach 5-10 years of age; female cones remain on the tree for 2 years. Smooth gray to gray-green bark, becomes furrowed with age. Intolerant of clay soils, compacted soils, alkaline soils, many air pollutants, and salt. Provides shelter for songbirds and small mammals; food for a wide variety of birds and mammals; and its bark, buds, foliage, and cones are also consumed by a number of insects.
Note: This year we are offering potted conifer seedlings rather than plugs or bare-root seedlings. Potted seedlings have a larger root mass than plugs and do not require immediate planting.
Potted conifer seedling: pots are 3.5″ x 3.5″ x 5″ deep, seedlings are 5-8″ tall
Photo credits:
Arbor Day Foundation
Brandeis University
Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center (photo by Julie Makin)
