Melinda Myers

Limber Pine

Botanical Name

Pinus flexilis

Min Zone

4

Max Zone

7

Height

30 to 50 feet

Width

15 to 35 feet

Flowers

Monoecious, male flowers are clustered, female flowers solitary or in 2's or 3's

Fruit

Cone: heavily scaled, sap covered, 3 to 5 inches

Light

Full sun to part shade

Soil

Moist, well-drained, adaptable

Planting & Care

• Adaptable to dry soil and wind once established
• Better tolerance of salt spray than other 5-needled pines
• Less troubled by pests than other pines
• Branches are flexible and less prone to storm damage
• Needles are held up to 6 years on tree

Problems

Cankers, needle blights, scale, webworm, spittlebug, shoot borer

Varieties

• Vanderwolf's Pyramid - bright blue-green needles on a pyramidal tree, good specimen
• Glauca Pendula - prostrate spreading habit, blue-green needles, grown as a groundcover or small tree
• Extra Blue - very good blue color, pyramidal habit, 25 feet tall by 15 feet wide