Hmm, a 7ft tall longleaf pine is way too big to be in a pot, I'm guessing it was severely root bound. I have also found that pines hate fertilizer, especially with high nitrogen. They naturally grow in nutrient deficient soil.

My advice is to buy a small one that is still in the "grass stage". Inspect the rootball and pull apart or slice any circling roots before planting. No fertilizer.

Do you think there is any hope for this tree with time?

That *cannot* be a longleaf pine @ 7' tall in 3 gal container.
It's probably a slash pine. Notoriously difficult to transplant. Both are. Post a photo and we can get to the bottom of this. FYI not a good idea to use fertilizer on new transplants. You want establishment under the ground not to overdo it on top growth.

7 ft in 3 gal isn't a good buy. Not quite illegal, but should be.

1 month may not be enough to show results. For 10.00 you can wait. Hopefully you unbound the roots and gave it a good hole. Now do another project and leave it alone.

Dan

It's the one in the middle, to the right. The other 2 have been in the ground for six months or so:
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Those look like slash pines to me. And they look like they were staked for a long time.
It occured to me that you are in a drought, yes? Seasonal drought of course. They really don't look bad to me but they should be watered deeply and infrequently during drought until established.
One thing I highly recommend that will look great is to remove all the grass around that grouping in sort of a peanut shape and mulch the area with pine needles. It will look great and keep the root zone of the planting moist and mulched as it would be in the pine flatwoods of florida.

i am not sure you can re-green a brown or yellow pine needle ...

its survival is all in this springs buds.. if they grow.. you are on your way ...

if the others have elongated the buds.. and this one hasnt.. i dont foresee much hope ... but i wouldnt give up hope until it totally browns.. or you just cant stand to look at it anymore ....

as noted above.. smaller plants.. get established faster.. and grow faster over a 5 year period.. and would probably outgrow a larger plant in the given time ... bigger is not better ...

pines only hold their needles for 1 to 3 years ... once damaged ... they usually remain so.. until they fall off ... in my experience ...

and we have all learned... that a bargain isnt always a bargain ...

good luck

ken

Yup. They didn't like the abuse they tolerated in their pots. Maybe they'll make it.

Second on the take the grass away as recommended above. Mulch. Wait. If they die, you got what you paid for. If they live, you might have decent trees if they recover.

Dan

Jobe Tree Spikes for pine did the trick taking our pines from yellow/brown to lush green in a matter of weeks!

I think they're longleaf pines, they're just so skinny they don't look like it. Even if the trees did live, I'd be worried they would eventually topple over because of the lack of a good root system.

Next time buy a small one like this...
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And after a few years you'll have lush looking trees like these..
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Better yet see if you can find loblolly pine. They are much easier to transplant and are pretter. They don't have a 2-3 year grass stage, rather they rocket towards the moon at 4' a year. They also don't look like utility poles in maturity.

I disagree, Loblolly pine is weak wooded and likely to snap in half in a hurricane, they are also pine beetle magnets during a drought. Longleaf pine and Slash are the two better choices for the lower south, with Longleaf being best.

But they're ugly once they grow out of their cute grass stage. Trust me I used to live in florida those trees are uuuuug-lee. They look like those cell towers disguised to look like trees. Slash pine looks ok. Hard to xplant!

I live near Pensacola so they're plentiful here too. I like them, beauty is in the eye of the beholder I guess.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder but mature longleaf pines are ugly and their use in the landscape should be tempered. Even when they are in grass stage, they look rediculous. Use for timber plantations, wildlife or reclaimation but not for looks. Plus have I mentioned they are hard to transplant?

jayinflorida - when longleaf pines are in the grass stage, they put their energy into growing a long taproot, often several feet long. If you bought a 7 ft longleaf in a 3 gallon pot, what happened to the taproot? I've checked longleafs in pots at local nurseries - when you pull the tree out of the pot, you see that the taproot was cut so the tree will fit into the pot. Or the roots are circling. In either case, the trees have gotten off to a poor start and will never be healthy.

I agree with Alabama - I've planted longleaf pine seedlings for two years. Some of last year's seedlings are ready to leave the grass stage and grow up. Last summer, I watered the LLP seedlings during dry spells and did NOT fertilize (advice from our forester and experienced forum members).

Keep the weeds down so the seedlings (in the grass stage) get enough sunlight. Last year, I weeded. This year, I'll mulch. Water when needed. Fertilizing most pines is not a good idea, especially young transplants.

Loblolly pines are beautiful trees, especially when they are young. The wood is not very strong. As they get older, they look like telephone poles too -- until they snap in the middle or blow over during a storm. After they fall, you will see that their roots are usually no more than 12-18" deep. They do not have a strong root system to anchor them in high winds, especially when the ground is wet.

Longleaf pines used to be the dominant pine in the southeastern US. Loblollies became the dominant pine because they grow faster initially. Longleaf pines depended on fire to keep down vegetative competition until they became established. People put fires out. As a result, loblollies crowded out longleafs.

Forestry departments in several states are working to reestablish the longleaf pine. If you are interested in this lovely tree, buy a few seedlings in the grass stage and care for them. You won't be sorry.

"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder but mature longleaf pines are ugly and their use in the landscape should be tempered. Even when they are in grass stage, they look rediculous. Use for timber plantations, wildlife or reclaimation but not for looks. Plus have I mentioned they are hard to transplant?"

They're not hard to transplant if you know what you're doing. Like I said, find one in the grass stage, it's that simple. They don't always stay in the grass stage for 3 years, sometimes it may only be 1 year. Planting loblolly pine near the gulf coast is asking for a problem, they will eventually be destroyed by drought, beetles, fusiform rust, or wind. Longleaf pines are one the few pines that is resistant to all of those problems (as well as fire).

Well I can't think of too many nice looking pines that will grow in florida. Loblolly would be on the top of my list for florida except for sandy conditions in which case sand pine would be my first choice. I think sand pines are the most beautiful pines you can have in florida.
I wouldn't rush to plant loblolly pines where I live because we have many more beautiful conifers at our disposal that won't grow in florida.
I agree, I would plant something else for sure in a hurricane prone area except for wildlife, timber production, reclaimation, like I said use should be tempered.

As for utility poles, longleaf pines make great posts for antennas and microwave feed horns. Not so great for shade or privacy and not much by way of color or seasonal interest in the garden though. Aside from their long tap root which makes them more windfirm, and aside from their relative resistance to pests, can you at least agree with me that in a residential garden, longleaf pine is a waste of space?

"Aside from their long tap root which makes them more windfirm, and aside from their relative resistance to pests, can you at least agree with me that in a residential garden, longleaf pine is a waste of space?"

Well, not really, LOL. They make great high shifting shade, and plants like azaleas, camellias, hollies, hydrangeas, and ornamental grasses grow great under those conditions. The long needles also make a great mulch. The only bad part about having longleaf pine as a yard tree is the big pine cones, they do litter the ground heavily. They will also draw lightning, but that's true with any tall tree.

As far as the industry goes, longleaf is usually used for flooring and sometimes poles, Slash pine is used for lumber and poles, and loblolly is usually used for pulp in making paper. One of the first uses for longleaf was making masts on old ships.

Alabama: I'll never forget a road trip from the SC coast to Columbia. I'd never seen such beautiful pines, lush and green. In places they created an arch over the interstate. We stopped several times, it was an incredible experience.

They couldn't have been longleafs, they don't arch over the interstate.

The mulch is nice, they sell longleaf needles here for $3.50 a bale. The fact they can be harvested for flooring or masts for ships is yet another wonderful use. But in the home garden, longleaf pine detracts.

The "attracts lightning" part a bit on a liability in florida where during the dry season (now) it is this lightning that starts out of control brush fires that rage out of control for days and threaten lives and property.
This fire is essential for these pine habitats but you don't want your house or entire neighborhood to burn down as a result.

Lots of interesting replies, folks. First off, I don't live in a neighborhood. I live out on acreage! second, there are thousand, and I do mean thousands of pines growing around me, just not on my property since someone cut them all, but we did find their old stumps under the surface when we dug our footer to build. I want some to fit the local scenery and for no other reason. These that I have planted are not even on the acre in which my house sits on. There are a few other homes in my area, but they are none too close and many have large, old pines already growing. Thanks for all the interesting info and ideas!

Good for and and thank you for restoring native habitat.
More of this needs to be taking place down there.

iforgotitsonevermind,

Thanks for noticing that. That's exactly what I am trying to do... restore the area close to it's natural habitat. I have also put in Saw Palmettos, Sabal Palmettos, Sabal Minors, Needle palms, Flatwoods plums, high bush & little blueberries, etc... I want it to look natural for the wildlife. We have Fox Squirrels, Bobcats, Turkey, Quail, Fox, Whippoorwill, humming birds, ETC... Hopefully the pines will make it ok... they are really putting on new growth right now and I'm going to give them their chance to make it and go from there.

If you want mother nature to do a lot of the work for you, remove the grass and see what comes up. Despite what I said before about them being ugly, longleaf pines are an excellent choice for how you're using them.

What's your land like? Is it wet or does it stay high and dry? Periodic flooding?

Well, no plans on removing acres of grass...there are a lot of wild flowers and so forth that grow out in the fields on their own anyway. The land is dry but part of it is in a 100 yr flood zone. It used to be a cow pasture. Last week the Ladies' tresses were blooming (a type of native wild orchid).
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