reminds me of strobus.. with its strong 2 to 3 foot leader growth between whorls ... obviously cant see how many needles are in a bundle ....

but other than that.. i am no ID expert ...

what makes it interesting... is that its missing half of its branches on the right side ... notice those two whorls.. just above the fence.. are missing some ...

this is what i would call.. a FOREST tree ... aka a telephone pole tree.. give 40 to 60 years ...

with that growth rate.. it wont be long.. before the homeowner will be paying big bucks to have it removed ... its way to aggressive for most suburban backyards ....

if for no other reason.. that some wet snow or ice storm ... breaks off the top... and then you will have multiple leaders at height ... which i am surprised it doesnt have from the last storm.. that probably bent in in half ....

and if you mean interesting.. in being so ... AIRY ... yeah.. i am with you on that ..

i think we have enabled you sufficiently.. to start really looking at trees and conifers around you ... have the spouse hide the credit cards and checkbook.. or you will soon be spending money.. lol .. but dont buy a common pine

ken

ps: most of these forest trees.. found in suburban gardens... are forced on us by schools on arbor day/earth day/whatever .. or carp plants sent by arbor day ... somehow.. all the ones my kids brought home .. died.... mysteriously ... lol ... so i took them to a good nursery.. and had them pick out a real treasure ... and then those died.. oh never mind....

I'll try to take a picture on a less windy day, maybe it is missing some branches or maybe they are just bent. Yes I like its airyness. It's individual branches are very prominent against the sky when I drive by.

Can't say for sure, but given where you are I'd guess Pinus flexilis.

tj

Yup, flexilis, that's flexing.

Dax

ok.. i will agree with flexilis ...

but its still missing branches in the second and third whorls above the fence ... i see 6 branches in all other whorls ... but only 3 in those two ...

there are some incredible blue cultivars ... like 'Extra Blue' and 'Cesarini Blue'

ken

The "hardwood" on the right is causing the malformed profile of the pine. "chop down" the angiosperm and enlighten the neighborhood!

Johnny

I'd tend to go with Pinus strobus - the fast growth with sparse, short-lived (2-3 years) foliage doesn't fit Pinus flexilis (4-7 years foliage retention). With the ease of long-distance mail order within the USA, location doesn't mean a lot with obvious planted trees, and Pinus strobus is cheap and widely sold.

Resin

Out of curiosity, what counts as a real treasure, ken_adrien?

resin ... i agree ... i have been looking out the window at my various flex.. and they dont have this shape in any sense.. drat.. should have gone with my first answer.. darn peer pressure ..

ed ... see the fence.. see the house... i would bet that backyard is barely 50 feet deep..

a well grown strobus could be 40 feet tall .. and near 20 wide ... inside a decade.. the ones i had.. grew .. easily.. 3 to 5 feet per year upwards .... lesser outwards ... not to mention that a telephone pole type tree.. is planted what looks like a foot or two from the fence ....

there is nothing inherently wrong with them.. given the right space ... and i suggested that this suburban yard might be the wrong space ... as compared to your parents plantation plantings ...

strobus are commonly given out as school plants.. two year old seedlings.. on earth day.. or whatever .. tree day ... save da earth day ... etc ... you see them wrongly planted everywhere a child used to live ...

ken

Here's another pic. I wonder which is growing faster, the pine or the deciduous trees next to it?

This post was edited by olreader on Tue, Mar 4, 14 at 10:24

No, I totally understand your core point. (And my parents don't exactly have a plantation...basically a larger then normal suburban yard, a couple house lots.)

I was just curious about your off-hand comment about picking out a "real treasure". Everyone defines that differently. Wondering what trees *you* would put in that category. Whatever names you mention would at least be worth googling.

Personally, I find the trees they usually give out free are either Norway Spruce, maples, apples trees, or something that flowers.

As far as White Pine, I've always found old White Pine quite pretty, but I don't like the look of younger ones that much. Too irregular and leggy for my taste.

This post was edited by edlincoln on Tue, Mar 4, 14 at 11:23

"I wonder which is growing faster, the pine or the deciduous trees next to it?"

If the housing is fairly new, chances are they were planted at the same time; in which case the deciduous tree is growing faster.

Resin

Mewonders if perhaps a bout of defoliation occurred a year or so back, leaving that sparse presentation?

BTW, drive through your favorite vacation wonderland: Now think back to that time.....did the general "common" vegetation of the area give it that flavor, or was it some obscure, rare, and probably stunted little garden plant that warms your memories? Not really starting an argument here, but I have long believed it is the ubiquitous trees of any given area that gives that area its flavor and atmosphere, not the rare and hardly seen. So, if I'm driving through northern Wisconsin, I am in awe of giant Pinus strobus and Pinus resinosa, not the flowering crab in that guy's yard, heehee. Now suitability of any given yard situation is another issue all together.

+oM