Thunderhead Pine

The Thunderhead Black Pine grows slower than its Pinecousins and once established gains more than 1.5 feet of height every year. However, the tree more commonly reaches mature heights of 10 to 12 feet with a spread of up to 12 to 14 feet. The Thunderhead Black Pine is a versatile tree that thrives in bright sunlight. In its natural environment, the tree grows in mountainous regions. Although the tree grows in nearly any moist, well-drained soil, it doesn't tolerate soggy, poorly drained areas.

The Thunderhead Black Pine is hardy to Zone 5. It is a spreading tree, which can reach up to 12 feet tall and up to 14 feet wide which makes it good for mid-sized screen. Give The Thunderhead Black Pine ample room, to allow for symmetry of growth. It grows well in a variety of soils, but prefers good drainage.

We recommend when planting your The Thunderhead Black Pine to use Bio-tone starter fertilizer by Espoma. We have tried many so called “starter fertilizers” over the years and have come to rely on Bio-tone exclusively for our own use. Simply mix the recommended amount of Bio-tone into the back-fill soil and water in generously when back-filled. Bio-tone® Starter Plus is an all-natural plant food that is combined with a stronger concentration of our beneficial bacteria along with both endo and ecto mycorrhizae. Basically the “good” fungus in Bio-tone colonizes on the growing roots of your newly planted plant and does not allow disease causing fungus to attack the new roots. It has also shown promise in stimulating the growth of the new roots which means quicker establishment for you plant. After establishment and during the following years we recommend Holly-tone used at the recommended rates. It is also organic and slow release which will feed your trees the proper amount of nutrients over a period of time rather than all at once which can burn the root tips and actually have the opposite effect of slowing down plant growth. It also will help to maintain the acid level in the soil that The Thunderhead Black Pine need to thrive.

The Thunderhead Black Pine take on a tall, broad-based, pyramidal shape if left un-pruned. However, a young tree can be trained and its growth restrained if pruning is done on a regular basis. Thunderhead Japanese Black Pine does best when grown with a single leader and extra main stems should be removed at planting. The tree's overall growth can be controlled by pruning its side branches annually, cutting back each branch back by about one-third, and by topping the tree slightly during each pruning session. The Thunderhead Black Pine also respond well to light pruning or shearing later in the growing season, at any time between spring and early-to-mid summer. However, avoid pruning a tree in late summer or fall, since pruning stimulates new growth, which is tender and easily damaged by dropping temperatures in fall and winter.

We highly recommend that you mulch Thunderhead Black Pine with either a ground hardwood mulch or a ground cypress mulch depending on your local availability. Any type of mulch will do but cypress or hardwood mulch will be of a higher quality and provide better nutrition overall as they breakdown. Mulching helps to keep weeds away which will compete with your new investment for water and nutrients. A 2 to 3 inch layer of mulch is sufficient but remember to take care not to cover any part of the stem of the plant with mulch. Its better to leave a one inch gap of space between the mulch and the stem or trunk of the plant. as the tree begins to mature you'll find it will start to produce its own mulch in the form of fallen needles or "Pine Straw". In September and October, this pine “sheds “all of its needles that grew out the previous year. This is normal and is actually a sign of a healthy Vanderwolfs Pyramid Limber Pine. These needles make excellent mulch and can be either left in place or raked up and used to mulch other acid loving plants.