Tag: mugo pine

Slow enough to win the race

Published on by edremsrolaLeave a comment

Recently, I had a conversation with one of my old conifer-loving buddies from the Midwest. It didn’t take us very long, after solving most of the world’s problems, to begin discussing our favorite plants. Because he resides in a region known for its bitterly cold winters, our conversation naturally became focused on the garden conifers that are very hardy and reliable.

In my last post, I reintroduced the TRUdwarf® line of dwarf mugo pines, which are grown by my old pals at Iseli Nursery. During this conversation with my friend, we focused on ‘Slowmound’, the cultivar that introduced this collection.   

Pinus Mugo ‘Slowmound’ grows 4’H x 6’W at a rate of 3-6″/year, and is hardy to zone 2.

Pinus mugo ‘Slowmound’ has attributes that not only make it a winner in the frigid, arctic winters often experienced throughout the Midwest, but also in more temperate regions, like the Pacific Northwest, where I garden.

As I was talking with my friend, I thought it was very interesting that the first word he used to describe ‘Slowmound’ was “tough.” As we talked, he emphasized that it is “nearly indestructible,” and that it was almost a “plant it and forget it” kind of pine for the lazy or very busy gardener. ‘Slowmound’ has proven to be very drought resistant as well once established in the garden. All the TRUdwarf® mugo pines are drought resistant, and they may only need a deep soaking of water every two weeks during a summer hot spell or even if there is an occasional rain shower.

The deep green color of ‘Slowmound’ lasts throughout the year and persists despite heat, cold, and drought.

Another observation he has made over the past twenty years or so is that the TRUdwarf® pines are very deer resistant. He’s never experienced any deer damage with ‘Slowmound’. Of course, one must consider that during the harsh winter conditions in which deer may enter the garden to search for food, the low-growing forms are likely covered in snow, making them less of a food-source target.

Overall, the dwarf mugo pine cultivars within the TRUdwarf® collection by Iseli Nursery, have proven over time to be extremely reliable in their growth rate and habit, as well as being “tough as nails.”

Stay tuned. Next time I will take us on a journey to the valley….

Ed-
Conifer Lover

“That’s one big tuna!”

Published on by edremsrola7 Comments

I am frequently reminded by my friends, living in much more harsh climates than we enjoy in the Pacific Northwest, that they have a much more limited pallet of dwarf conifers to choose from for their gardens. Those folks must endure hotter and more humid summers and far more colder winters with sub-freezing temperatures, that I can only imagine. Here in my corner of the world, I am able to grow almost any but the most tropical conifers. When a friend from Plentywood, MT asked me for advice for their new landscape, I must admit it was a real challenge to find an assortment of plants that would create a pleasing garden, with year-round interest, in their very harsh climate.

This young specimen of ‘Big Tuna’ is six to eight years old and stands nearly 36 inches tall.

One of the most hardy conifer “families” that I know of are the mugo pines. These tough plants are native to the high elevation mountains of Europe and have endured cold temperatures and freezing winds for thousands of years. There are many wonderful dwarf selections of these extremely hardy pines available to local gardeners through independent garden centers.

Many of the quality cultivars of mugo pine, which are commonly available, grow as low, mounding plants with dark green foliage. There are some whose color changes to shades of gold through the winter months, and they all have different growth rates from the tiniest miniatures to larger, more open growers. One in particular stands out from the crowd due to its upright, oval shape.

I remember hearing Jean Iseli and Don Howse talking about the day they were walking through a field of Pinus mugo seedlings. This field was probably 10-12 years old and there were thousands in a wild assortment of shapes and sizes of these young conifers. The two men were looking for special characteristics – extraordinary form, shape, growth rate, needle size, color — anything that they believed would make the plant worthy of reproducing and bringing into production at the nursery. As they were walking along, Jean came across one small tree and exclaimed, “That’s one big tuna!” They tagged the plant and continued on their way. That following winter the plant began to be propagated and was given the name, Pinus mugo ‘Big Tuna’. Personally, at the time, I was very skeptical about the name, but the plant is extraordinary! It is definitely one of my favorite mugos, and if I had a top-ten list of conifers, it might even be on that list.

This brilliant old specimen is the mother of all ‘Big Tuna’s. Standing nearly 15 feet tall and close to 40 years old, this ‘Big Tuna’ is showing the added value of seasonal color. Sprinkled in among the foliage are pinkish-orange pollen cones. Later, dark burgundy seed cones will become visible to the discerning eye.

Pinus mugo ‘Big Tuna’ is a dwarf, but it might be considered to be within the intermediate growth rate as designed by the American Conifer Society. When young, it shows great vigor and will advance with 6-8 inches of new growth per year. As the tree matures, that rate seems to moderate and the tree will form a large oval shape, somewhat taller than wide. The original mother of all ‘Big Tuna’s was planted in the Iseli Nursery main office landscape back in the mid-1980s and is a beautiful specimen today. I estimate that the tree is close to 15 feet tall and nearly 12 feet wide at its broadest point, about midway up the tree. Discovered in a group of seedlings planted in (or prior to) 1976, this excellent specimen is nearly forty years old!

‘Big Tuna’ is a great specimen, not only for those folks living in our colder climates, but also for those of us gardening in more temperate areas of the world. I can image a row of ‘Big Tuna’s making a formidable hedge in time. Its uniform shape and compact habit would make it useful in a formal landscape in place of plants that may require annual shearing to maintain their tidy form.

Versatile, compact, unique shape, reliable and extremely cold hardy. I suggest that you go out and catch a ‘Big Tuna’ for your garden!

Ed-
Conifer Lover