How to Grow and Care for Eastern White Pine

While the West Coast has taller trees, the eastern white pine is the biggest conifer native to eastern North America. This fast-growing evergreen with long, soft, blue-green needles is commonly found as far north as Newfoundland and as far south as northern Georgia, a span covering growing zones 3 to 8. This behemoth can grow to be as tall as 80 feet and as wide as 40 feet. The tree has a graceful, rounded pyramidal shape. It makes an excellent windbreak and shade tree and can be clipped into hedges. The branches are also prized for crafts and decorations; the boughs are commonly employed in outdoor Christmas decorations using greenery. The pine cones also come in handy for creating decorations once you learn how to wire the cones.

Eastern White Pine Care

This tree is fairly easy to grow in a medium-moisture, well-drained soil with an acidic pH. In cool climates, it does well in full sun, but it appreciates some shade in warmer environments. Eastern white pine will not survive in compacted clay soils. Nor does it like very hot climates or urban environments where pollutants such as sulfur dioxide and ozone are present.

Unless you are willing to prune regularly to keep this tree shrub-sized, give it lots of space, as it quickly matures into a very large specimen. Individual trees should be planted at least 20 to 30 feet away from any other trees or shrubs.

Light

This tree does well with at least four hours of direct sunlight each day. The hotter the climate, the more it appreciates some shade.

Soil

Eastern white pine likes an acidic soil that is well-drained. A thick bed of pine needle mulch over the root zone will both cool the soil and lower the pH.

Water

Keep the tree well-watered when young, but once established it does fairly well in dryish soil, provided the soil is kept cool. If given about 1 inch of water weekly, it remains a happy specimen.

Temperature and Humidity

This is a tree that prefers cool, humid weather. In the warmer end of its hardiness range, it sometimes struggles.

Fertilizer

Eastern white pine should be fed in spring with a high-acid fertilizer designed for evergreens. For the amount, follow the fertilizer label instructions.

Varieties of Eastern White Pine

The species form is the type that is most often planted, but there are several good cultivars, especially the dwarf varieties:

• 'Nana' and 'Compacta' are two mounded dwarf varieties.
• 'Blue Shag' is a compact form with blue-green needles.
• 'Contorta' is a variety with twisted, curled branches.
• 'Fatigiata' has a tall, columnar form with blue-green needles.
• 'Pendula' is a weeping form of eastern white pine.
• 'Aurea' is a variety with yellow needles.

Pruning

Prune away broken, dead, or diseased branches whenever you see them. When trimming for shape or size, perform the pruning in late fall, winter, or early spring when the tree is dormant.

Propagating Eastern White Pine

This tree is fairly easy to propagate from seeds.

1. Take large, mature cones that are allowed to fully dry out. Once a cone is dry and brittle, shake out the seeds.
2. Plant them about 1/4 inch deep in moist soil in a shady spot. Make sure to mark the location well so you won't accidentally weed them out or mow them down.
3. Keep the soil moist, watering in the absence of rain. Germination and initial growth will take some time, but small trees are then easily transplanted to other locations.
4. Once the trees reach small sapling size, growth becomes quite swift.

Common Pests & Plant Diseases

Unfortunately, eastern white pine is susceptible to many pests and diseases. A variety of blight and rust diseases are possible, one of which—white pine blister rust—often kills the trees. Make sure this disease is not common in your area before planting an eastern white pine.

White pine weevils can attack this tree, especially when it's still under 20 feet tall. Symptoms of the pest feeding on the tree include a curled, dead, or dying terminal leader, and shiny resin oozing from the small holes that the weevils chew into the bark in the spring. The leader should be removed promptly to interrupt the pest's life cycle. The application of pesticides can be difficult with large trees.