Gardening Basics - Monthly Tips

Monthly Tips

March- Plant of the Month

Dwarf Pine'

LAGNIAPPE, Mark Twain

"We picked up one excellent word--a word worth traveling to New Orleans to get; a nice limber, expressive, handy word--'lagniappe.' They pronounce it lanny-yap. It is Spanish--so they said. We discovered it at the head of a column of odds and ends in the Picayune, the first day; heard twenty people use it the second; inquired what it meant the third; adopted it and got facility in swinging it the fourth. It has a restricted meaning, but I think the people spread it out a little when they choose. It is the equivalent of the thirteenth roll in a 'baker's dozen.' It is something thrown in, gratis, for good measure."

Pinus thunbergii candle

Pines are plants that provide good looks and year-round structure to the garden. They vary little throughout the year but come spring-time, they throw you a little lagniappe - candles.

The new growth of pines occurs in candles which are charming to look at and a pleasure to prune but truthfully are the least of the delights that a dwarf pine brings to the garden. The primary allure of dwarf pines are their divine texture. Think about it, what other plant gives you the delightful pointy, layered look of a pine? Pretty much any kind of leaf looks better up against a pine's needles. Furthermore, the dwarf pines I know are a very satisfying mid-deep green, think of the pine green in a box of crayons, that seems to go with just about any colored foliage. Add a rounded bun shape to contrast with the needles and it really doesn't seem fair to ask more of a pine, but come spring time - up come the candles - a little something extra thrown in by those hard-working pines.

Pinus thunbergii has particularly large, white and distinctive candles. The cultivar 'Thunderhead' isn't exactly dwarf (5-10' x 5-10' in 10 years), but isn't overwhelming either. Other smaller cultivars to look at include Pinus mugo 'Slowmound' (3'x3', slowly) or for really tiny Pinus mugo var. pumilio (12"x 2-3'). Another to look for is Pinus nigra 'Black Prince' to 4'x4' in 10 years.

Give dwarf pines sun, good drainage and don't let anything flop on them; they hate that (the flopped on parts die).

Plant a dwarf pine, team it up with a red-leaf barberry and pretty much anything else you want and you're on your way to that holy grail of gardening - a low maintenance, low water planting with year round good looks - all that and a little springtime lagniappe to boot, who could ask for more?

March - Tip of the Month

Soils - the very short course

"Understanding the physical characteristics of soil is of particular importance to farm managers." (Baver et al., 1972)