Stowe Pillar White Pine

A striking, slender column of vertical branches, the Stowe Pillar White Pine is an improved version of the classic ‘Fastigiata’, with more uniform, denser branching and a narrower mature shape. It grows up to a foot a year into a slender column 20 feet tall and still around 3 feet wide. The long, soft needles are a beautiful pale sea-green, and flutter charmingly in the slightest breeze. It’s a garden form of the eastern white pine, found throughout the northeast and around the Great Lakes, and it is perfect in the garden where you need a narrow plant for a strong vertical accent. Looks great with other unusual conifers among rocks and gravel, or perhaps in a pair flanking your front door. Easy to grow and more tolerant of dense, clay soils that most other pines, and therefore great for city gardens and new plantings.

• Very slender, upright column of tight branches
• Long, soft needles are light sea-green
• Grows about a foot a year, so soon it’s a striking specimen in your garden
• Tight growth makes it resistant to snow damage
• Cold tolerant and will grow in clay soil

Grow the Stowe Pillar White Pine in full sun for the best growth, and plant it in any well-drained soil. Grows well in rocky, sandy soil but is also more tolerant of compacted ground, clay soil and new gardens than many other pines. Cold tolerant and a great choice for zones 3 and 4. Will grow in warm zones but doesn’t enjoy hot, humid summers. Deer ignore it and it normally has no pests or diseases, but promptly remove any branches with dead needles, taking 6 inches of healthy growth as well, to avoid white pine rust. Resistant to verticillium wilt. Needs no trimming or pruning to maintain its dense, narrow form.