Eastern White
Pine - Pinus strobus
General information:
Eastern White Pine has soft blue-green 3 to 5 inches
long needles borne in groups of five although foliage
color varies greatly from one tree to the next. It is
the only five-needle pine native to the eastern part of
North America and is the state tree of Maine and
Missouri. Some specimens keep the bluish color
throughout
the winter, others loose it. Although it can grow 100 to
120 feet tall with a three to five-foot-diameter trunk
and spread 50 to 60 feet, it is typically seen from 50
to 80 feet tall in landscapes. Growth is very rapid at
first but slows down with age. Several branches on young
trees normally originate from the same point on the
trunk forming a
tree appearing to be built of layers of foliage.
Although young trees are pyramidal and usually grow with
one central leader, the layers (or whorls) of horizontal
branches give White Pine a distinctive appearance in
middle and old age. The gray bark on the trunk and large
branches remains unusually smooth through middle age,
breaking up into
elongated blocks in old age. The flowers, male and
female, occur separately as small cones on the same
tree. The cones are slender and thornless, 4 to 8 inches
long, and tapering.
Family: Pinaceae
Lighting: Full sun.
Temperature: Zone 3B
through 7.
Watering: Regular
thorough watering
Feeding: Simon and
Schuster's recommends feeding 5-needle pines once a
month from early to late spring and from end of summer
to late autumn with a slow-acting organic fertilizer,
and applying chelated iron 2-3 times per year. If you
prefer to use chemical fertilizers, feed every other
week during the same times with a half-strength solution
of a fertilizer for acid-loving plants, such as Miracid.
You may wish to alternate
with a balanced fertilizer such as Peter's 20-20-20
depending on the acidity of your soil mix. Pruning and
wiring The root system should be pruned gradually in the
coarse of repotting, so as to always leave a strong root
system. Branch pruning and wiring should be done in late
autumn, and the wire left on the tree for 6-8 months at
most. Pinch new shoots in spring to 1/3 of their length.
Conventional wisdom indicates that the needles of Pinus
strobus do not reduce well, making it suitable mainly
for larger bonsai. Every 1-2 years it is possible to
remove all of the new shoots in late spring, if the tree
is healthy and well-fed. This will result in buds
forming in the fall at the sites where the shoots were
removed. The reason this might be done is to form very
short internodes on the branches.
Propagation: Seed.
Repotting: Repot
every 2 or 3 years for young trees (up to 10 years) or
every 3 to 5 years for older trees. Repotting can be
done in spring before the candles open or in late summer
or early autumn, after the heat of summer has passed.
These are the two periods of greatest root growth in
pines. Because of the rugged quality of the five-needle
pine, a strong rectangular pot should be used. Pines
need a deep root system, and five-needle pines
especially need a deep pot to avoid uprooting by wind,
due to their dense foliage. Simon and Schuster's
recommends 50% soil, 10% peat, and 40% coarse sand. Rémy
Samson recommends 1 part leaf mould, 1 part loam, and 1
part coarse sand. Peter Chan recommends 3 parts coarse
sand, 1 part peat, and 1 part loam.
Pines and other conifers grow in association with a
symbiotic fungus which grows in the root ball of the
tree. If this fungus is not present, the tree may die.
For this reason, pines and other conifers should never
be bare-rooted, unless steps are taken to re-introduce
the fungus to the repotted plant, such as making a
slurry (thin mud)
of the old soil and pouring it over the newly potted
soil. Some experts feel that it is more important to be
sure that the tree always has a healthy root system with
sufficient feeder roots than to worry about symbiotic
fungi. They feel that trees are more likely to die from
having their root systems reduced too much at once than
from
not having the fungus present. Certainly it is good
advice in any case
to be sure the tree has sufficient roots.
Pests and diseases:
Pests: White Pine weevil is probably the biggest
problem. The larvae of White Pine weevils feed on the
sapwood of the leaders and this is devastating to the
tree. The leader is killed and the many shoots replacing
it form a bushy head. First symptoms are pearl white
drops of resin on the leaders. The leaders die when the
shoot is girdled as adults emerge in summer. Some
adelgids will appear as white cottony growths on the
bark. All types produce honeydew which may support sooty
mold. European Pine shoot moth causes young shoots to
fall over. Infested shoots may exude
resin. The insects can be found in the shoots during
spring. Bark beetles bore into trunks making small holes
scattered up and down the trunk. Stressed trees are more
susceptible to attack. The holes look like shotholes.
Keep trees healthy. Sawfly larvae caterpillars are
variously colored but generally feed in groups on the
needles. Some sawfly larvae will flex or rear back in
unison when disturbed. Sawflies can cause rapid
defoliation of branches if left unchecked. Pine needle
miner larvae feed inside needles causing them to turn
yellow and dry up. Pine needle scale is a white,
elongated scale found on the needles. Pine tortoise
scale is brown and found on twigs.
Depending on the scale, horticultural oil may control
overwintering stages.
Pine spittle bug lives and hides in a foamy mass. Spruce
mites cause damage to older needles, and are usually
active in the spring and fall. Mites cause older needles
to become yellowed or stippled. Zimmerman Pine moth
larvae bore into the trunk. The only outward symptoms
may be death of parts of the tree or masses of hardened
pitch
on the branches.
Diseases: Procerva
root rot kills many White Pines planted off site. Avoid
planting in dry sites and clay or alkaline soil. White
Pine blister rust attacks White Pine and uses currant as
an alternate host. European Black Currant, the favored
alternate host,
may be banned from certain areas. Other Currants,
particularly Red Currant should not be grown within 300
feet of Pines. Infected branches may be pruned off. Be
sure to select White Pine trees certified to be
rust-resistant. Canker diseases may rarely cause dieback
of landscape Pines. Keep trees healthy and prune out the
infected branches.
Needle cast is common on small trees and plantation or
forest trees. Infected needles yellow and fall off.
White Pine decline is used to describe the slow decline
of trees
planted in dry, clay soils low in organic matter. Plants
with this disorder have only a small cluster of needles
at the ends of the branches.
|