Green Twist White Pine Tree

The world of dwarf evergreens can seem endless, and with so much choice it can be hard to find the really outstanding, special trees among the crowd of average ones. Here at the Tree Center we pride ourselves on doing that work for you and finding the best and most unusual dwarf trees to bring beauty and interest to your garden. The Green Twist White Pine is a recent introduction that has really excited collectors and ordinary gardeners equally.

This adorable tree has a real personality that makes it something unique and special to have in your garden. It forms a rounded mound of fascinating foliage, but to make it even more special, and to give it real presence in your garden, we had our growers mount this tree on a short trunk, so that it really stands out and can also be used in many more ways around the garden.

Growing Green Twist White Pine Trees

The Green Twist White Pine Tree forms a rounded ball of foliage up to 18 inches or more across on a short trunk, in the popular ‘lollipop’ shape. What makes it very special is the foliage itself. This is a pine, so it has needles about 2 to 3 inches long, but instead of being straight, as they usually are in pine trees, they are twisted into curled shapes, giving a fascinating and unique texture to this tree. They are a lovely blue-green color, adding more interest to this tree.

Uses in Your Garden

Use these plants as taller specimens in a bed of small plants – perhaps other dwarf evergreens, or small flowering shrubs. Place it in a pot or planter box to give height above annual flowers on your patio or terrace. Plant one at each corner of a lawn or bed, to bring a formal touch to your gardening. Whatever you do with it and however you use this unique plant, you will love the charm it brings, with it foliage looking like the tousled hair of a favorite child.

Planting and Initial Care

Plant your tree in a sunny spot in ordinary soil; it will grow well in sandy soil, loam or even clay if the drainage is good. It will grow well even if the winter temperatures fall to minus 30, so this is a great choice for colder areas, where the choices of unusual plants are more limited. It has no significant pests or diseases, and it needs no trimming or special care. Just keep it well watered for the first couple of years, and after that it will survive normal summer dry periods with no extra care.

History and Origins of the Green Twist White Pine

White Pine (Pinus strobus) is a handsome native American tree that grows throughout the northeastern states and up into southern Canada. In the wild it is a tall tree, often only with branches high up, above a tall, rugged trunk. The tallest trees can be almost 200 feet tall, but in gardens they normally grow between 50 and 80 feet. It has soft needles up to five inches long, in a bluish green color, giving this tree a more delicate look and feel than most other evergreens.

There are a number of unusual forms of this tree, including one which grows into a normal tree, but with twisted needles, giving it an exotic look. This form is called ‘Torulosa’, and one day in the 1990s an enthusiast named Randy Dykstra was looking at one of these trees at the Bickelhaupt Arboretum in Clinton, Iowa. He noticed an odd cluster of branches on the tree of a type called a ‘witches broom’ and he collected a piece of it. When he grew this plant it developed into a charming cluster of branches with curled needles, which he named ‘Green Twist’ and he introduced it to gardeners in 1997. Since then it has become a real ‘hot property’ among those in the know who appreciate unusual and attractive plants.

Buying Green Twist White Pines at The Tree Center

A plant like this is clearly something special, and it could never be grown from seed. Cheap, seedling white pines are something completely different, and will grow to be forest trees. To make this unusual plant into something unique, we asked our skilled growers to attach stem pieces to the upright trunks of seedling pines, and they produced these beautiful Green Twist White Pine Trees, with the foliage topping a straight stem. The work and skill involved is substantial, but the result is more than worth it.

If you are looking for a striking and unique plant to give a very personal touch to your garden, then the Green Twist White Pine Tree is just what you are looking for. Clearly such a unique plant is always in short supply, so although our suppliers work hard to keep up with the demand, shortages can occur. Order now for something special, that is not only unique, but easy for anyone to take care of – a true trouble-free beauty.