Digging deeperPlant Library

Other Names:  Eastern White Pine

Description:

A beautiful new evergreen garden shrub with a dense, mounded habit of growth and dusty blue needles; very compact and slow growing, excellent for form, texture and color detail in home gardens or for rock gardens; needs full sun

Ornamental Features

Blue Shag White Pine is a dwarf conifer which is primarily valued in the landscape or garden for its ornamental globe-shaped form. It has attractive bluish-green evergreen foliage. The needles are highly ornamental and remain bluish-green throughout the winter.

Landscape Attributes

Blue Shag White Pine is a dense multi-stemmed evergreen shrub with a more or less rounded form. It lends an extremely fine and delicate texture to the landscape composition which can make it a great accent feature on this basis alone.

This shrub will require occasional maintenance and upkeep. When pruning is necessary, it is recommended to only trim back the new growth of the current season, other than to remove any dieback. Gardeners should be aware of the following characteristic(s) that may warrant special consideration;

• Insects
• Disease

Blue Shag White Pine is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Mass Planting
• General Garden Use

Planting & Growing

Blue Shag White Pine will grow to be about 4 feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 4 feet. It tends to fill out right to the ground and therefore doesn't necessarily require facer plants in front. It grows at a slow rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for 50 years or more.

This shrub should only be grown in full sunlight. It is very adaptable to both dry and moist growing conditions, but will not tolerate any standing water. It is not particular as to soil type, but has a definite preference for acidic soils, and is subject to chlorosis (yellowing) of the foliage in alkaline soils. It is quite intolerant of urban pollution, therefore inner city or urban streetside plantings are best avoided, and will benefit from being planted in a relatively sheltered location. Consider applying a thick mulch around the root zone in winter to protect it in exposed locations or colder microclimates. This is a selection of a native North American species.