Please help me decide on a pine tree variety

13 years ago

Before I bought this house there was a huge Aleppo pine tree in front of it, but the people who owned it before decided to dig for a pond near its root zone. By the time we purchassed the house, the tree was dead. I would like to replace it with another pine tree, but I can't make up my mind on what kind.

I pretty much had my heart set on another aleppo pine, but I saw that they also sell Italian Stone pine trees at Home depot and they look pretty nice with a slight silvery color. Although I don't know where I'd find one to buy, I also saw the Afghan pine on the list of trees for here.

What are the pros and cons of each? I know that the allepo pine will put up with the heat in the summer. Can the italian stone pine do just as good? How fast does each one grow?

I guess the stone pine is also tempting because of the pine nuts. I don't think the aleppo pine has edible ones. Basically I want a to maximize the amount of shade I can get and I'm hoping for a fairly fast grower. Thanks.

Comments (3)

neilaz
13 years ago
The higher night temps we have been getting in the summer have been taking a toll on pine tress in the valley. If the trend continues pine trees will go from looking bad to dying. They need cooler nights to move sugar from root zone to leaves and back again. This process does not occur when nights temps stay as high as they have the past few summers. Global warming is real just not caused by man. Increased CME's from the sun is. Nothing we can do about it.
agility_mom
13 years ago
I had an Aleppo Pine at my other house years ago and it grew fairly fast and looked good when I had it. We had bought it as a live Christmas Tree and planted it.
Some friends really liked our tree and the next year we bought another to use as our Christmas Tree and then gave it to them for their yard after Christmas.
The tree did well for a couple of years and then started turning brown and died. At that time there was something going around affecting Aleppo Pines. I think it was a blight. They had a tree Dr come out and look at it and it was diseased. I'm not sure if that is still a problem or not but it is something that you may want to check on before buying one.
Sorry that I can't be of more help.
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aztreelvr
13 years ago
Both Aleppo (Pinus halepensis) and Afghan (Pinus eldarica) are large trees that do well in our desert climate. The Italian Stone Pine is also well adapted but grows at a slower rate than the other two and develops a rounded, spreading crown at maturity.

Another choice would be the Canary Island Pine (Pinus canariensis) which has a very vertical growth habit.

You can search for more information on these pines and others at the link below. Just click on the "Plants" button at the top of the screen. This site also has great photos of many landsapes as well as a comprehensive reference section.

Good luck.

Here is a link that might be useful: Water Wise Landscaping in Chandler (Arizona)