Golden Acre Home & Garden Centre's Plant Library

Other Names:  Mugho Pine, Swiss Mountain Pine

Description:

This unusual, narrowly conical to columnar variety features stiff, upright branches that are held closely to the trunk, resisting damage from snow load; slow growing, with rich green foliage; an ideal choice for smaller spaces

Ornamental Features

Fastigiate Mugo Pine is primarily valued in the landscape for its distinctively pyramidal habit of growth. It has dark green evergreen foliage. The needles remain dark green throughout the winter.

Landscape Attributes

Fastigiate Mugo Pine is a dense evergreen tree with a strong central leader and a distinctive and refined pyramidal form. Its relatively fine texture sets it apart from other landscape plants with less refined foliage.

This is a relatively low maintenance tree. When pruning is necessary, it is recommended to only trim back the new growth of the current season, other than to remove any dieback. It has no significant negative characteristics.

Fastigiate Mugo Pine is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Accent
• Vertical Accent
• Hedges/Screening

Planting & Growing

Fastigiate Mugo Pine will grow to be about 15 feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 6 feet. It has a low canopy, and is suitable for planting under power lines. It grows at a slow rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for 50 years or more.

This tree does best in full sun to partial shade. It prefers dry to average moisture levels with very well-drained soil, and will often die in standing water. It is considered to be drought-tolerant, and thus makes an ideal choice for xeriscaping or the moisture-conserving landscape. It is not particular as to soil type or pH, and is able to handle environmental salt. It is highly tolerant of urban pollution and will even thrive in inner city environments. This is a selected variety of a species not originally from North America.