Little Pine Is The Best Garden Decoration

2024 Author: Sebastian Paterson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:47

Small pine - nut-bearing plant deserves the attention of summer residents

It is also called dwarf pine, and more often - incorrectly - cedar elfin (sometimes elfin), or cedar elfin, in Latin - Pinus pumila Rqz. (pall.). It grows in the very north-east of our country, most often in very harsh mountain conditions.

The distribution area of undersized pine: the northern border runs from the mouth of the Lena to the middle reaches of the Anadyr, the western one - between the lower reaches of the Lena and the middle reaches of the Olenek River, then through the middle reaches of the Vilyui to the upper reaches of the Lena and Baikal. Southern - runs along the state border of the country, and the southernmost point of distribution is located on the Kuril Islands, south of 36 ° north latitude.

It is closely related to the rest of the nut-bearing pines (the so-called cedars), but outwardly it is very different from them in that it is a low-growing coniferous shrub with a branchy stem, often creeping along the ground. Photophilous. It is characterized by very slow growth; the usual height is 4–5 meters. By one hundred years, it can reach 10-12 meters with a trunk thickness of 20-25 centimeters.

Its wood is clumsy, knotty, has no business value, it is only suitable for firewood. In places of growth, it often forms impassable thickets.

The needles 40–70 mm long are collected in bunches of 5 needles. Cones 3.5–4.5 cm long and 2.5 cm wide are brown in color with non-expanding scales. Seeds (nuts) 6–9 mm long and 4–6 mm wide. They resemble cedar in shape, but much smaller and darker in color. But undersized pine has abundant harvests almost every year. The weight of 1000 seeds is, on average, 97 g (there are 10,000-15,000 in one kilogram). The kernel makes up 42–48% of the total weight of the nut, and the shell makes up 52–58%. The oil content in them (with the shell) is 23–26%, and in the peeled kernels - 52–63%, in addition, after pressing it, about 40% of the tasty and nutritious cake remains, from which “cedar” milk and cream are prepared.

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The root system of small pine is superficial. Trees tolerate any soil, unlike other related species, they can reproduce by layering.

Small pine is suitable for afforestation of sands and rocky places, as well as for snow retention. Its winter hardiness is the highest among all nut-bearing pines. It is very decorative and forms beautiful curtains. Propagated mainly by seeds. In culture, it is still very rare. There are copies of it in the arboretums of the Forestry Academy, in the Botanical Institute. V. L. Komarov, at the Moscow Agricultural Academy. K. A. Timiryazev, at the Voronezh Forestry Institute …

In the garden plot, the undersized pine is good from all points of view: it is a very decorative coniferous plant (this is fashionable now), it is a good nut tree, suitable for creating protective belts from northern winds, and, if necessary, for fixing soils, especially stony dumps and sands.

A seedling planted on the site forms a beautiful drop-shaped or round bush 3-4 m high.

The peculiarity of this culture is that its lower branches grow at the same rate as the central trunk. In winter, the bush is pressed to the ground, the trunks lie down, spread. The snow presses it down even more, and it becomes like a saucer.

In the spring, it rises slightly again, but not completely. A small pine tree looks spectacular on alpine hills, in the middle of the lawn.

Little pine over time should take one of the places of honor in landscape design. And when introduced to the European north of the country, to the Kola Peninsula, the Northern Urals, to Taimyr, it can not only decorate these harsh places, but also provide abundant food for people and animals.

It is problematic to get seedlings and cuttings in the European part of the country, but seeds are quite real. They are often brought by people who come from the regions of Eastern Siberia and the Far East. They are sometimes on sale, usually in the Dary Prirody stores or in the markets.