Just purchased home with beautiful 80'pines in back lot. Was told tornado came through appx. 1 yr. ago. A few pines were snapped at mid trunk (45' or so up-these trees are clearly dead). Others stood but no branches remain say 60' and below. Upper foliage is still green, but nothing down lower. Will these trees eventually die or can they sustain life and eventually thrive?

-- Matt (mchdtw@ameritech.net), March 06, 2002

Answers

I dont know where you live but my experience with tall pines ,such as these, is this: If they are planted or grew in a "grove " or row, they tend to keep the branches toward the top. The taller they get the less branches near the ground. This is their nature. Just be glad you dont have to prune them.

-- Kristean Thompson (pigalena_babe@yahoo.com), March 06, 2002.

Hi - - I have a large stand of white pine. Probably about 6-7 acres total, mature trees around 40-50 years old. There are only branches near the top of the trees. They shed lower branches. ? ? ?

What does one do with white pine?

-- J McFerrin (JMcFerrin@aol.com), March 06, 2002.

The area where I live was once totally covered with virgin timber - white pine. The white pine was what brought settlement to this area. It was all logged out in the late 1800's. Timber. Lumber. Also, if they are healthy and no brown tips on the ends, flower shops are interested in cut branches for use in funeral baskets. Christmas time white pine boughs are used for making wreaths.

And Matt, I think Kristean is right - they were probably just growing in a large stand and competing for sunlight. I have to prune all the lower brances off mine. As long as your foliage is green, you should be OK.

-- Bernie from Northern Ontario (bernadette_kerr@hotmail.com), March 06, 2002.

Hi everyone, In response to the question, "what does one do with white pine?" there are many answers depending on your situation. I work as a forester and traditional carpenter in New England and can tell you that eastern white pine is the premier species for timber frame construction. Very strong in comparison to other softwoods and does not tend to twist as large green timbers dry. White pine also makes beautiful flooring or interior paneling. These days it's easy to have someone mill some of your timber onsite. However, at 40-50 years old, your trees have a long way to go before they truly reach maturity. Also there is certainly no need to do anything with them at all. White pine stands are a natural component of many eastern forests. As for the shedding of the lower branches: Trees that are crowded or have poor exposure will tend to concentrate their energy into producing new branch growth near the crown where sunlight is best available. This is healthy and normal. Look at pines growing on the North shore of lakes or ponds, the trees directly on the shoreline receive strong southern exposure and keep their lower branches. Hope this helps.

-- jeff (jeffcantara@hotmail.com), March 06, 2002.

When Pines are grown in a grove they lose the lower branches because they don't get enough sunlight. If the trees that are broken off still have some living branches below the break, one or more of them will take over as a central leader and continue to grow upright.

-- Paul (treewizard@buffalo.com), March 07, 2002.

white pine makes the best cough syrup. now is the time to do it. the sap has just started running.

-- cody (urbusted@alltel.net), March 07, 2002.

I don't know what kind of pines that you have on your property Matt, but most seem to think they are white pines, and by their height, I'd guess they are right. Around where I live, we have lodgepole pine. This is a smaller tree in all regards to the white pine, but it does have the similar characteristic of growing green at the top. The lower branches die out, and it does just fine getting sun in the upper canopy. If your foliage turns reddish, then you can worry about your trees all dying; green is good. Do not import any currents to your property as this has been responsible for the decimation of the local white pine population in B.C., via the introduction of a symbiotic rust-mold, from a current from France. Sounds like a nice piece of property.

-- roberto pokachinni in B.C. (pokachinni@yahoo.com), March 09, 2002.