Swiss Stone Pine

[Norman]

Today I saw a Swiss Stone Pine at a nursery in the northern suburbs of Chicago. The latin name is Pinus Cembra. It is currently 6 ft. How tall do they get? How wide? Are they fairly hardy? Are they prone to disease?

Thanks.

 

[Jay Banks]

About 30' x 20', there's more info at:

http://www.hort.uconn.edu/plants/p/pincem/pincem1.html

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

This plant is becoming very popular in the midwest. It is rather urban tolerant and is being recomended for comercial plantings here in MKE,WI.

Studies have shown that smaller plants will recover faster and are less likely to have transplant shock then bigger trees. If you find a smaller one, make sure it is not "container grown", they have lousey root systems.

 

[Jay Banks]

It's not that plants have lousy root systems it is the fact the the container trade does not do all that it can to produce good rooting systems.

I'll take a container plant from a reputable grower anyday. And then I'll still take it out of the pot to inspect it.

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

"Container grown" plants will have a pot bound root system.

"containerized" plantsd that were potted this season will have a good root system because they were feild grown the potted.

I'll take a container grown spirea ot pottentilla, but not a tree. I've seen some studies and talked to researchers that say that butterflying or slicing will not prevent girdling roots.

 

[Jay Banks]

True pot bound plants have poor rooting systems so why would you buy a root bound plant?

Take it out of the container and examime the roots.

Do you think all B&B material started out in the ground. Heck no their the ones that were root bound in the nusery before they were planted out in the field.

Rule number one-Buyer Beware!!!

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

Which is why I've started to use the Milaukee method of tree planting developed by Ron Zilmer now at MidState Tech in WI Rapids.

 

[Treeman14]

OK, JPS. Now you have to explain it to us.

 

[Jay Banks]

Hopefully it is green side up!

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

Posted it in august.

http://www.ArboristSite.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1063

It is about mid-thread.

I did leav out the part about filling the hole in.

What it amounts to is excavating the ball and correcting any encircling roots so that the first order roots are at grade.

If an encircling root is left in the zone of tunk expantion, then it is potentialy girdling during the life of the tree.