Eastern White Pine

On Feb 28, 2015, PatYates from Ogden, UT wrote:

I've read that this pine is hard if not impossible to grow in Utah due to high PH content in the soil. Mine is thriving however. It was planted in April 2008 at less than a foot tall. I measured it in early spring of '14 and it was 143". By the end of growing season it was 15' even.

It's growing in a former vegetable garden that was heavily composted and tilled from 1960 through 2007. Perhaps that's why its doing so well.

On Mar 12, 2014, coriaceous from ROSLINDALE, MA wrote:

A superb, fast-growing evergreen tree. A grove can have the majesty of a cathedral. The blue-green foliage looks and feels soft, and the needles that are shed in the fall make an excellent mulch.

Young trees are pyramidal, and are often planted for short-term screening. As they begin to mature, they shade out their own lowest branches, and eventually lose their screening capacity. If you want a long-term screen, there are better trees.

Seedlings growing in the open here commonly grow up into deformed "cabbage pines" after having their leaders destroyed by white pine weevil. It's important for owners of susceptible trees to watch for trouble signs in late spring and to act promptly.

Trees between 3 and 20 feet grown in full sun are most susceptib... read morele. Afflicted trees develop a curled, dead, or dying terminal leader in late spring. Cut and burn the leader before mid-July to remove the infestation, and then prune all the laterals but one just below the damaged terminal, to help the tree develop a new leader.

This is a native tree here, and much more common now than it was in precolumbian times.

On May 2, 2007, tropicsofohio from Hilliard, OH (Zone 6b) wrote:

these get HUGE!!!!. most can expect hights of over 100' and may even brake the record of 216'. wonderful bonsai. lives well over 300 years. beautiful. make sure you have lots of room for these. good for screening, fast growth, wonderful specimen.

On Mar 19, 2006, TBGDN from (Zone 5a) wrote:

Being a naturalist at heart, I've always had a deep appreciation of this tree. I am trying to remember the year I planted this Eastern White Pine, and the best I can remember is about 1983-84. I collected it in the 'wild' as a very small sapling about 20-24" in height. A spare five-gallon bucket and shovel are always in the back of the truck whenever I go on plant scouting excursions (aka "rescue missions"). In this case there was a lot of construction work going on, and I saw the need to save this tree with the permission of the property owner. Today, it stands at 40-45' in height, and the base covers a diameter of about 20-25 feet. It is a 'soft' feeling tree with the needles very pliable and easily handled. Robins nest in the middle and upper branches: I'm sure they appreciate its sec... read morelusion as a spring and summer home. The cones are rather large at 6-8", elongated and open-scaled. I allow them to stay where they fall on the shade garden beneath the tree to add interest. The needles are raked and used as a natural mulch on perennial beds. I was only 28-29 when I started collecting conifers, and now all these years later I am seeing them mature (like me).

On Nov 9, 2005, juliotamu from Oxford, MS (Zone 7a) wrote:

Northern Mississippi may not be the best location for this tree. It is zone 7a here so it does get cold in the winter. I started with about 600 bareroot seedling trees in 1994. There are only about 200 still alive. They seem to be much less drought tolerant than the native short leaf and loblolly, as they start to droop when there is no rain for 2 months and temperatures aproach 100 degrees. I've been cutting off lower branches as high as I can reach by hand without a ladder as they seem to tolerate cutting branches well. I do not water any of them and hope to see how many survive to be 50 years old, There are a few larger trees around town, but they probably get watered.

Seeing the lack of drought resistance, I won't plant any more but will see how the existing trees do, T... read morehey look good and didn't have any problems with heat this year with temps in mid/upper 90s and 3 days over 100.

Champion white pine in MS is about 30 miles west of here and is only 57 ft tall but 5'8" in circumference. I think I can beat this height as mine are 11 years old and some are 25 or 30 ft tall.

On Aug 17, 2004, jaoakley from Toronto, ON (Zone 5b) wrote:

This is an excellent tree. The mature form of Eastern White Pine is very beautiful; tall and graceful with wispy, picturesque crowns. I saw one specimen in Northern Ontario more than 100 feet tall. When these trees are young, they have a conical 'Christmas tree' form that is also quite nice. The needles of Eastern White Pine have an excellent soft texture. (like all 5-needled pines)

These trees grow quickly, are easily transplanted when young, and they make good specimen trees. The cones are noticeably large, between 4 and 8 inches, which makes them good for Christmas decorations. Eastern White Pine has a lifespan of more than 200 years and is the provincial tree of Ontario. Also known as Weymouth Pine.

I've included a photograph of mature Eastern White Pines... read more above. Using my mother for scale, I have determined that the tallest tree in the photo is 84 feet tall. The photograph clearly shows the excellent form of the pines mentioned earlier.

I have also included an image of the aforementioned large pine-cones. Collecting it was a royal pine. (pain) All the cones on the ground were either relatively small or somewhat damaged. I had to jump up really high to grab this one, only to find it covered in pine resin that got stuck all over my hands.

On Jul 8, 2004, melody from Benton, KY (Zone 7a) wrote:

A tall upland tree with few large limbs arranged in horizontal whorls around the tree.

Needles are 2 to 4 inches long and occuring in bundles of 5. This is the only eastern pine tree with needles in bundles of 5. There are a few western pines that have these, but no other eastern tree.

Bark is not as scaly as other pines, but dark with deep furrows. Height 80' to 110' for mature trees.

This is one of the tallest and important trees in the Northeast, but it has been so extensively logged that few virgin trees are left.It once grew to heights of 200' to 220', but few of these trees remain.