Plant Type

Tree, Conifer

 

Height Range

12-25', 25-40'

 

Flower Color

n/a

 

Flower Season

n/a

 

Leaf Color

Blue Green

 

Bark Color

Grey

 

Fruit Color

Brown, Green

 

Fruit Season

Fall, Persistent

Sun

Full

 

Water

Low, Medium

 

Growth Rate

Moderate, Slow

 

Soil Type

Sandy, Clay, Loam, Rocky, Unparticular

 

Soil Condition

Average, Poor, Well-drained, Dry

 

Soil pH

Neutral, Basic

 

Adverse Factors

n/a

Design Styles

Meadow, Mediterranean, Ranch, Seascape, Spanish, Woodland

 

Accenting Features

Silhouette

 

Seasonal Interest

Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall

 

Location Uses

Background, Shrub Border, Park, Walls / Fences

 

Special Uses

Screen, Mass Planting, Wind Break

 

Attracts Wildlife

Birds

Limber pine is a high-elevation Utah native that gets its common name from its flexible branches that bend under the weight of snow rather than breaking. It has an upright, rounded pyramidal form, and grows about 25 to 35 feet tall and wide. It has stiff needles that curve upwards and green cones that ripen to brown. Its width makes it tough to use in an urban setting, but there are several cultivars in trade that are well suited to city-scapes, including 'Vanderwolf's Pyramid.' There are some limber pines in the Greater Avenues Water Conservation Demonstration Garden.

An adaptable pine, and well sized for an urban landscape. Shows good adaptability and disease and pest resistence. Pines do not take well to pruning, shearing, hedging, or topping. If you must control branch growth, break off candle as it is forming in spring; see the how-to's.