Is there a 'Dwarf' Pine Nut Tree?

Is there a 'Dwarf' Pine Nut Tree? (post #11756)

Poinsettia on Sat, 09/27/2008 - 12:12

References and Resources

This is my first time posting to the fine Gardening site. I hope that someone might be able to help me. My daughter has a normal size Chicago suburb home and is interested in edible landscaping. I was excited to find out that P. koraiensis, which produces pine nuts, can be grown zones 4-7 in clay soil, but was dismayed at its size of 100 feet! I started to research smaller trees (they even come in bonsai size!) but none of them mention producing the pine nuts. Do any of you know of a resource to get the right mix of large cones on a smaller tree? I wish we could grow the italian pine nut tree here.

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by Astrid in reply to Poinsettia [original] on Sat, 09/27/2008 - 23:52

I have a New Mexico backyard with many native pinon trees. The birds have already made off with all the nuts for this year, they have been sparse for a few years, this year the drought broke, but not many nuts were produced.
The native pinons here grow pretty slowly, this year we had a lot of rain and I would guess they put on 1 to 1-1/2 ft. woody growth at the most, which is a lot. Lots of rain all summer. So, they seem to grow slowly as trees do. Fall may be a good time to plant.

New Mexico home organic gardener

Adopt the pace of nature; her secret is patience. Emerson

Edited 9/27/2008 7:54 pm by Astrid

New Mexico home organic gardener Adopt the pace of nature; her secret is patience. Emerson

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by Poinsettia in reply to Anonymous [original] on Mon, 09/29/2008 - 07:02

Thank you. I hadn't thought about rate of growth, or birds either.

Isn't New Mexico a lot warmer than zone 5, though?

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by Astrid in reply to Anonymous [original] on Mon, 09/29/2008 - 19:58

Hi! I'm in an area which is bordered by National Forest, plains and open country. My highest temps this summer were in the high 80's, in the winter it rarely gets colder than 20 degrees.
You could call it between zone 6 and zone 7 and be safe. We have heavy snows, but it melts fast, and a rainy season with flash floods in creeks and gully washers when the monsoon season is on.

New Mexico home organic gardener

Adopt the pace of nature; her secret is patience. Emerson

New Mexico home organic gardener Adopt the pace of nature; her secret is patience. Emerson

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by Poinsettia in reply to Anonymous [original] on Mon, 09/29/2008 - 21:27

Hi,

Sounds amazing. Our nearest National Forest is 1/2 the state away, but at least the rains are fairly regular. Our winters sometimes go -20, not too often though. The worst part is our lots are described in feet not acres, which is even more limiting than the weather.

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by kitty123 in reply to Poinsettia [original] on Wed, 10/01/2008 - 01:16

Keep in mind also that p. Koraisnsis will grow naturally (wild) in zones 6-7. It is a very drought tolerant, heat seeking tree. You see them alot in the western united states in the high desert areas. When taking a plant that is out of its zone will change the outcome of the plant. That is how the zones are established. As far as I know, there is no trees in the Pinus family that will actually bear fruit in your area. As for dwarf evergreens I would recommend considering going with a evergreen shrub. I went to itrees.com and they listed many trees that grow well in that area. Hopefully that will point here in the right direction.

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by Poinsettia in reply to Anonymous [original] on Wed, 10/01/2008 - 13:12

Thank you for the suggestion of itrees.com. They only show trees based on what is available locally, and there weren't any pine trees/shrubs when I looked. Unfortunately, we don't have room for their 3 tree minimum anyway.

My original question was prompted by the "Edible Gardening" newsletter I received from the National Gardening Association. I'm most intrested in a source of pine nuts, and the pine cones which aren't mentioned in most tree descriptions.

"Pinenuts (Pinus spp.)
If you love pesto, you know pine nuts well. Two of the most popular pines to collect nuts from are the Korean and Italian stone pines. The Korean pine (P. koreaiensis) is hardy to USDA zones 4 to 7. This tree has a slow to medium growth rate and is tolerant of clay soil and blister rust disease. Italian stone pine (P. pinea) is more heat- and drought-tolerant than the Korean pine, but less hardy (USDA zones 7 to 9) and less tolerant of clay soils. These trees can grow up to 100 feet tall and start producing nuts about 5 years after planting."

Is there a 'Dwarf' Pine Nut Tree?