Dwarf white pine
Pinus strobus 'Nana' · Pinaceae
A soft, billowing mound of long, fine, blue-green needles: the eastern white pine in miniature. It is the softest-looking of all dwarf conifers.
- Size
- 5 ft tall, 8 ft wide
- Zones
- 3 to 8
- Light
- Full sun to part sun
- Flowers
- Grown for its leaves
- Pets
- No toxicity recorded
- Job in a bed
- Specimen
A bed built around dwarf white pine
The planner designed this bed around dwarf white pine when this page was made: a 22 × 10 ft (6.7 × 3.0 m) English border in zone 6, full sun. It chose the other plants from the 966 that suit those conditions, and says below why dwarf white pine stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Dwarf white pine × 1, blue-green leaves
- 2 Bloody cranesbill 'Max Frei' × 21, pink
- 3 Verbena 'Homestead Purple' × 6, purple
- 4 Indian grass 'Sioux Blue' × 3, tan
- 5 Tatarian aster 'Jindai' × 4, purple
- 6 Black-eyed Susan × 3, yellow
- 7 Pearly everlasting × 3, white
- 8 Lowbush blueberry × 8, white
- 9 Pincushion flower 'Butterfly Blue' × 13, lavender
- 10 Easter lily × 5, white
- 11 Camassia × 6, blue
- 12 Asiatic lily × 3, yellow
Why this plant
- The only plant grown for its leaves. Leaf lasts all season, where a flower lasts a few weeks.
- A classic partner for lowbush blueberry. Both are on this plan. A pairing gardeners have proved outranks a general rule.
- Part of the bed's structure. Shrubs and grasses keep their shape when the perennials die down. So do Indian grass 'Sioux Blue' and lowbush blueberry.
Why here
- Anchors a back corner. At 5 ft it is one of the taller plants here, and the tallest close the ends of the bed, where they stand in front of nothing.
- A step in the back row. Next to Tatarian aster 'Jindai' (4 ft): no two neighbours there are the same height, so the back steps up and down like a skyline.
- One plant, alone. A shrub is seen as an object, and needs clear ground around it.
Why now
- Here for its leaves, all year. They cover the 13 weeks between early March and late November when nothing on the plan is in flower.
- The only leaves in winter. From November to March it is what there is to look at.
Planned as an English border: 14 of the 15 groups (93%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. The bold leaves of Tatarian aster 'Jindai' are set against the fine leaves of Indian grass 'Sioux Blue', the kind of contrast that keeps a bed from blurring. Verbena 'Homestead Purple' and bloody cranesbill 'Max Frei' finish the front edge.
The planner's own design check: 12 Excellent, 4 Good, 1 Satisfactory.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
Where dwarf white pine goes in a border
At 5 ft it belongs at the back of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is tall (4 to 5 ft).
Its job: specimen. A feature plant with a shape of its own. It stands alone with room around it, and repeats only at a distance.
Its fine, soft needles make a gentle shape that moves in the wind. It needs acid soil and suffers from road salt and air pollution.
- A soft-textured evergreen specimen
- Contrast with stiff or bold plants
- Acid soil
What to plant with dwarf white pine
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Rhododendron 'PJM': adds the flowers, late April to mid May.
- Lowbush blueberry: adds the flowers, early May to late May; low enough (16 in) to stand in front of it.
- Heather: adds the flowers, late July to mid September; spires rising out of its mound; low enough (16 in) to stand in front of it.
Questions about dwarf white pine
Does dwarf white pine need sun or shade?
Dwarf white pine grows in full sun (6 or more hours of direct sun a day) and part sun (4 to 6 hours of sun, including some afternoon sun).
It wants ordinary well-drained soil, of average fertility, and a good soak in dry spells.
What zones does dwarf white pine grow in?
USDA zones 3 to 8. It is hardy to zone 3, which means it survives winter nights down to about −30 °F (−34 °C).
Above zone 8 it struggles: the zones measure winter cold, but a plant's top zone usually means the summers are too hot or the winters too mild for it to rest.
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
How far apart should dwarf white pine be planted?
6½ ft (200 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 8 ft (250 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 5 ft (150 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many dwarf white pine plants do I need?
Usually one. At 6½ ft (200 cm) across, it is a plant you place, not one you mass. For a hedge or screen, set them 6½ ft apart: two plants for a 10 ft run.
In the bed above, the planner used one in one group.
Is dwarf white pine poisonous to dogs and cats?
No toxicity is recorded for dogs, cats, horses or people, according to NC State Extension.
"Not toxic" is not "edible": a pet that eats a lot of any plant can be sick.
Do deer eat dwarf white pine?
Mostly not. NC State lists it as resistant to deer and rabbits. No plant is proof against a hungry deer in a hard winter, but this one is low on the menu.
What does dwarf white pine look like in winter?
Dwarf white pine keeps its blue-green leaves all winter, so it is one of the plants that hold a bed together from November to March, when the perennials have gone.
Is dwarf white pine good for bees and butterflies?
Dwarf white pine is visited by moths and songbirds.
It is a host plant: the caterpillars of imperial moth feed on its leaves. A butterfly can only lay its eggs on its host plants, so these do more for it than any nectar flower.
It is native to the United States and Canada (this is a named variety of the native plant).
More Pinus
- Mugo pine Pinus mugo var. pumilio
- Mugo pine 'Mops' Pinus mugo 'Mops'
In these guides
- Rabbit-resistant plants
- Pet-safe plants for a sunny border
- Garden plants native to Canada
- Plants for butterflies
- Plants that feed garden birds
- Evergreen shrubs for structure
- Host plants for the imperial moth
Zone guides: Zone 3 · Zone 4 · Zone 5 · Zone 6 · Zone 7 · Zone 8
Every fact on record
- Type
- Shrub
- Size
- 5 ft (150 cm) tall, 8 ft (250 cm) wide
- Plant
- 6½ ft (200 cm) apart
- Height class
- Tall (4 to 5 ft)
- Place in the bed
- Back
- Flowers
- None: grown for its foliage
- Leaves
- Fine texture, evergreen; blue-green
- Shape
- Mounding, clumping
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 3 to 8
- Light
- Full sun, part sun
- Soil
- Average, well-drained
- Water
- Moderate
- Feeding
- Light, in spring
- Family
- Pinaceae
- Comes from
- Central and Eastern Canada, Central and Eastern United States
- Attracts
- Moths, songbirds
- Host plant for
- Imperial moth
- Stands up to
- Deer, rabbits
Checked against NC State Extension. Flowering times are for zone 5: later in colder zones, earlier in warmer ones. Toxicity and spread information is a general gardening guide, not veterinary or medical advice, and invasive status varies by region. If a person or pet eats a plant, contact poison control or a vet. Check your local invasive species list before planting anything with a spread warning.