Growing plants in warmer zones can be challenging. Intense summer sunshine means that many plants that grow in full sun in cooler areas need some shade in the hottest zones. Trees with large leaves can throw too much shade on your beds, simply trading one problem for another, but pine trees throw light, open shade – ideal for other plants to grow under, while giving some protection from the full heat of the sun. Of course pine trees are naturally beautiful, and make great additions to your garden. If you live in zone 8 or warmer, enjoy both the beauty of pines and their light shade in your garden, and get it quickly. The Slash Pine is a beautiful native tree that grows rapidly but licwa for 150 years, growing to 30 feet within 10 years, with a high crown, so that other smaller trees, shrubs and plants can thrive beneath it. Plus, you are growing a valuable native tree, balancing the beautiful exotics you certainly are also growing in your garden. Solve shade issues in your garden, and add beauty, all at the same time – plant Slash Pine.

Growing Slash Pine

Size and Appearance

Slash Pine is a slender pine tree, typically with a single, central trunk and a narrow rounded crown. It usually grows tall and narrow, losing lower branches while relatively young, leaving a clear area beneath a high crown. It is fast-growing, averaging around 3 feet a year for the first 15 years. After a period of establishment in your garden, you can expect some peak years where 4 feet a year will be seen. So within 10 years a tree will be more than 30 feet tall, reaching an ultimate size of 70 to 100 feet, but with a high crown typically no more than 40 feet wide. Like some other pines it is naturally self-pruning, which means that lower branches die back naturally as the crown grows, and often fall, unless they are trimmed first. So when planting this tree, don’t place it next to areas with a lot of people walking or sitting, or above vehicles. Over lawns or garden beds is much better. The attractive bark forms large, rugged, flaking plates of red-brown to purple-brown bark, giving an attractive look to the trunk.

The needles of the Slash Pine are long, measuring 6 to 9 inches, in bunches of 2 or 3 clustering along the ends of the branches. They are slightly twisted, and yellow-green to blue-green in color. Needles only last 2 years, so they are usually seen clustering at the ends of the branches, and this short life also means the shade cast is always light and open. After about 10 years tree begin to produce crops of cones. These are 4 to 7 inches long, chocolate to reddish-brown, carried singly or in clusters, hanging down. The seeds they contain are valuable food for wild birds and other wildlife.

Using Slash Pine in Your Garden

If you are faced with an open, treeless garden, then planting Slash Pine will quickly give you light shade that will nurse the development of slower-growing trees and shrubs, or provide permanent light shade for your garden. It also creates a wonderful skyline of rounded crowns – a very attractive look. Plant it on lawns and over flower beds, or at the edges of natural areas.

Hardiness

Only hardy from zone 8, Slash Pine is not suitable for colder regions, and is susceptible to ice damage. It’s a treat for gardeners in the hottest parts of the country.

Sun Exposure and Soil Conditions

Plant the Slash Pine in full sun, in most well-drained soils. It is one of the few pines that will grow in wetter ground, and it areas that are sometimes flooded. It won’t however, grow in places with stagnant water, and needs water movement through the soil to provide air at the roots. It grows in all types of soil, including clays and sands, and prefers acidic or neutral soils, rather than alkaline ones.

Maintenance and Pruning

Although sometimes susceptible to some diseases and pests, trees generally remain problem-free. It is natural to soon see the lower branches weaken and die, at which point they can be pruned from the trunk. Otherwise they will naturally fall at some time, leaving a tall, branchless trunk. Other pruning is not needed, although this tree could be developed a little for a more oriental look, by encouraging multiple stems while young.

History and Origin of Slash Pine

Slash pine, Pinus elliottii, is an American native conifer, also known as yellow slash pine and swamp pine. It is found growing in the southeast, in South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama and Louisiana. It has been widely planted in other areas of the south, as a tree for pulp and lumber, as well as overseas, especially in Brazil and South Africa, and as an ornamental in subtropical regions. It is named after Stephen Elliott, a southern politician, banker and botanist, who wrote an important book in the early 19th century on southern plants. He distinguished it from the closely-related loblolly pine, Pinus taeda.

Buying Slash Pine at the Tree Center

We love to offer our native plants to our clients, as growing native trees has become such an important part of modern gardening. Although not rare in the wild, this tree is not widely grown in gardens, and can be hard to obtain. Plant both a useful and attractive fast growing tree – plant the Slash Pine. But order your plants soon, as we have only limited stock available.