Pinus Pinea / Stone Pine. Anyone got one?

Hello!

I've got a large stone pine in my front garden. A while back I sought some opinion on gardeners world forum and there was a bit of a mixed bag about what to do next with it. I take it you can't really prune or cut these back?

Love to hear of anyone has knowledge or experience

 

You can't really prune but lopping mostly whole branches must be possible.

 

I had one. The first ornamental tree I planted here. It was beautiful and had just really started producing cones and nuts when I put a land drain across the garden and within a year the tree was 'stone' dead I'd wrongly assumed that they stand drought but it was downwind of the drain and the change in the quantity of water the roots were receiving did for it.
It used to get one or two processionary caterpillar nests each year, which were cut out and burned, then the tree sprayed with BT. Lower branches (twigs really) were cut off as they got bare but no need to prune other than that.

 

You can raise the canopy by taking out lower branches but it's harder to do anything with the top because they grow with a characteristic shape that would be ruined.

 

Thought I'd take a photo. Worth speaking to some tree surgeons?

 

I personally wouldn't touch that. It looks like the lower branches are providing most of the outward growth and any prunning you do, will make it look dreadful.

 

Its nice tree, unless its causing light problems I'd leave it alone, you could remove a lower branch or two perhaps, the next tier up would then take over but you would need to be careful you dont ruin it.

 

Totally agree...what you (or any reputable tree-surgeon) can't do is to trim it all over to reduce the overall size. Have a good, hard look at how much growth is at the ends of the lower branches, take photos from all angles and try to visualise what it would look like with those branches removed at trunk level.

 

It is a nice tree, and it's not causing light problems. In fact, it provides a very welcome shade from the afternoon sun in the house. Even the garden doesn't suffer too badly. Some nice shady spots with ferns and camelias. I think 'lifting' it a bit may be the answer. Just no idea where it will be in 5 years. Maybe that's a problem for then! Id hate to lose it

 

Another pic

 

I’d leave it as it is, it’s a lovely tree. The previous time you posted about this on GW forum I don’t think it had been identified as a Stone Pine. Now that it’s been identified, they do grow very big, eventually! There’s quite a few videos on YouTube about their size. I suggest that you take photos every year at the same time so that you can monitor its growth rate and shape and enjoy it until it needs an important decision!

 

As the main side branches are thick and form most of the width, the only way I'd consider lifting the canopy would be to individually remove some of the growth along them. You could basically strip the foliage underneath up to a certain height, which would make the main side branches more of a feature but it would be a lot of work for a little extra canopy height and I don't personally think I'd do anything to the tree at all.

In Japan they would maintain the height of the tree by cutting back the candles every year but it takes a lot of patience and ladder time to do so (they have teams of gardeners).

 

Sadly I don't have a team.of gardeners on hand!

I'm in two minds. If I removed it this year, at least I can get going with something more size appropriate sooner rather than later, as if still like a tree feature.

It's a nice tree, I just wish the previous occupants hadn't planted it there. As I think someone said on the other forum - nice tree, wrong location.

Added a picture from inside. Why am I so indecisive. Probably because the garden would look barren without it

 

Your stone pine is much more mature than the one I have growing but I have not noticed mine to be particularly fast growing. Not sure I can judge it from the photos but this website gives the full grown size for this species of tree as about 10metres so maybe it is not likely to grow a whole lot more and may not be as size inappropriate as you think it could be. From what I can see it would be a tree I would keep as it seems to form a nice feature in your garden. I have trimmed a few lower branches on my own one to keep a pathway open and it has still grown away without a problem but the bits I've cut back don't look great on close inspection so cutting back closer to the trunk would probably be aesthetically better.

Happy gardening!

 

I've had a few reputable tree surgeons round so far. All love the tree and wouldn't advise removing it out of necessity. They both offered to remove the growth candles, life some of the lower down growth and remove some of the dead wood inside. Suggested doing every three years or so should keep it in check.

So pretty much what the conclusion of this thread seemed to be, too!