sure why not... give it 50 to 100 years ...

the usual problem with these type of mass produced xmas decorations ... is how large the plant is.. in relation to the tiny pot its usually in ...

at the proper time of year... you will need to un-pot it ... and do some significant untangling of the roots and probably some serious root pruning ....

and then either repot or even better... into mother earth ...

any tree.. with a mature high canopy is pruned into that form ... in nature.. of course... it does it naturally ... by itself ...

when this thing gets 3 or 4 feet tall ... you will simply start taking lower branches.. if you wish ... and after not to many pruings.. what you see now.. will be gone ... and it will have its natural .. YOUNG ... form ....

also ... its probably been grown super fast.. in a greenhouse... when the time comes.. it will need hardening off to real sunshine .... stark humidity changes... [though the house is probably going to take care of that shock] ... wind..etc ... it wont be as simple as throwing it out the back door.. though maybe you will get away with that in z7????

many variables to consider.. other than what it might look like in 50 to 100 years ...

merry christmas ...

ken

Hi Vlad,
I made a post about Pinus pinea about a year ago. It seems that California growers are really cranking these out and they are being sold in grocery stores and big boxes. I am also in Z 7 and look at these as disposable Christmas trees. I've never seen one either established in the residential landscape or at any of the local pinetums. Have you?
{{gwi:492189}}

I un-potted a small one like these once and the roots were terrible. Of course, ignoring root structure of small specimens in bands and liners etc. seems to be standard practice among growers servicing the general market, regardless of what kind of tree or shrub it is.

Colder winters here burn the leaves of this species - long term success in (true) USDA 7 seems highly doubtful.

OTOH the notes of JC Raulston said the old one at the NC visitor's center, which I saw and frankly at that point though about 25' tall it looked more like a broad P. taeda (as did the picture someone from Georgia posted - of a tree Resin confirmed to be P. pinea!) survived -10F. But I agree generally we'd expect to know of at least one north of NCSU if they were really zn 7 hardy. A lot of things survive certain low-sounding temps in that area and prove not to be hardy much north of there. I'm not seeing Callistemon 'Woodlander's Hardy' lining the streets of DC & Baltimore, yet LOL.
I like them and I like trying experimental plants, but pines take up a lot of room, cast dense shade, and I have limited land. They aren't rare at all in climates that work for them...although are oddly rare in the SE US. Years ago someone posted pics of some really impressive ones in San Antonio, TX. So they can survive the region's variable summer rainfall and high dewpoints. As the old NCSU tree demonstrates, they take a long time to develop "the look". It was cut down for the new visitor center after the 1990s.

Small ones are peppered about in this area. But few here are big, with two Seattle locations (the Seattle arboretum and the Broadmoor golf club, next door) being exceptional for having stone pines 50' tall (~2005). And the arboretum example lost a big branch awhile back, which makes me think this Mediterranean tree can have trouble firming up in our cool summers.

This post was edited by bboy on Sat, Dec 27, 14 at 22:44

Lots of big ones here. Rather ungainly in suburban spaces, which are generally too small for them. Relatively fast-growing, short-lived trees.

I have one planted in the backyard. It was once a tiny Christmas specimen....but it matured quickly into the more typical Stone Pine habit. It's a great tree. We have multiple 40 - 60 foot Stone Pines in the area.

Josh

I planted one of the Christmas Tree stock outdoors in NJ long ago. It would be a beautiful tree if it was in a space suitable for it, though it does suffer some winter-kill. Unfortunately I did not have the space so have been forced to either kill it (I hate that) or force smallness on it. Last winter it took quite a beating but it managed to survive.

There's a row of tiny ones near here that have apparently tolerated close shearing for years.

In the back yard....