Friday, December 05, 2008

One Of my Favorite Trees - White Pines

Author: B Hirst

Article: Planting White Pine Trees White pines. Whenever I think of white pines, I remember hunting when I was a kid and standing near trees that were giants. Now every pine tree I plant, I can invision those days in the deep woods and those grand trees and hope someone else will have that same enjoyment. These trees will help you too in establish a desired vision to your landscape.

Beyond their size, white pines also fill important ecological niches. They grow across broad ranges of forest and urban conditions, finding much of North America to their liking.

White Pine trees need protection from deer, disease, insects, and competing weeds and shrubs. The better your weed control the better your trees will grow. When seedlings are planted, it best to plant them with large spacings to allow more light to the plant. If these trees are planted in shade, they tend to be more open. White pines are used around new construction because they perform in a wide range of soil conditions. If you have compacted soil from new construction, we suggest smaller trees of 3-5' height.

Growing anything under white pines and spruces is tough and it is not the acid issue. The conifers produce such a fine mass of roots close to the soil surface that anything else trying to grow in that area has to compete for water and nutrients. Thus other plants often tend not to do very well in this envirement. You will need to provide good moisture and fertilizty during the establishment period to get them off to a good start. Root pruning of the white pine can help but don't cut out an area larger than 5% of the root zone at a time.

About the author: Bill has been growing White pines for over 25 years at his Doylestown Pa. Farm His web sites are http://www.seedlingsrus.com and http://www.zone5trees.com

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