" There are quite a few diseases and pests associated with lodgepole pine, which is perhaps why its rarely planted as a landscape tree. "

Lodgepole pine: (caution, not a secure site).

Also elevation comes into play.

" Lodgepole pine is adapted to high mountain slopes at elevations usually above 6,000 feet. "

Lodgepole pine: (secure site).

Used a lot in Alberta cities for landscapes but even in those locations, it’s not the most attractive of the ~7 Pinus species that are commonly planted in landscapes there.

While the species is widespread across most of the western half of the US, each of the 4 subspecies has a rather limited range of adaptability with "plain old lodgepole", Pinus contorta ssp. latifolia, preferring the more extreme climates of the high mountain areas.

Yes, but the “plain old lodgepole” has produced one of the most coveted conifer clones. I’m waiting for a unique — and beautiful — P. banksiana to be found. It’s out there somewhere!

I have lots of great P. banksiana! Cultivars...

And I assume that you are talking about the Chief. After having three die on me in succession I have placed that one on my restricted list. Too many beautiful golden conifers out there to keep torturing myself!

If you visit Yellowstone, one might get tired of Lodgepole 'cause it's by far the most common tree:

Yes, I was referring to Chief Joseph. Mine doesn't look so great either, but doing well enough to give it some time. I placed it in a prominent spot near the entrance, but so far is not holding up its end of the bargain. It was a gamble on my part, and I shouldn't be too surprised it is not living up to the hype. I was hoping for something like the Iseli Garden specimen, but it looks like I'll get something quite different.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but I've yet to see a P. banksiana clone that I'd describe as beautiful. Schoodic, Uncle Fogy, Al Johnson, etc. are interesting and perhaps unique, but I just can't get to beautiful with any of them.

Lane, sorry for straying off topic, but I meant to compare it to Jack Pine, which is very common where I live. It is generally regarded as scrubby and ornamentally inferior to other pines that do quite well in our well-drained and acid soils. But like you mentioned in your OP with Lodgepole, I've run across some nice specimens that occupy an open spot with decent soil.

In order to get CJ to look like the Iseli Garden specimen, I think it has to be in Oregon. It sure hates it here. I love my P. banksiana cultivars and have multiples of the ones you mention. My ranch environment works perfectly for the hard pines and I love the kooky shapes. Maybe not beautiful but they have great personalities! ;-)

Sara, it doesn't much like here in western WA either :-) Nor does its cousin 'Taylor's Sunburst' - tried and failed with both. But shore pine - Pinus contorta ssp. contorta - thrives here. Go figure!!

TS does fine here except that the sequoia moth loves it. Doesn't really harm the tree, just makes it look mangy.

Chief Joseph doing well here in a peat based potting mix for 2 and a half years.

Nice. Thanks all for the great discussion.

Smivies - what are the common pines in AB? For a medium-large tree how would you rank them personally?

i need three evergreens for a property I bought

Lane, in case you haven't explored it, here's a link to recommended trees for your area. The conifers are listed on pages 5 and 6.

Recommended trees for Wyoming

I'd suggest you pick and plant 2 from the list and experiment with the third selection. I've learned the hard way to plant what grows well here and to dabble in the "pretties" as I gain knowledge and experience with my yard.

Wow, the above recommended WY trees doesn't recommend Lodgepole pine? And they are everywhere in the Yellowstone Park. Granted, it's not a desert tree but few of the trees they recommend are. Not sure what they're thinking there....

What's odd to me (but maybe I don't understand the typical home landscape in WY) is that these conifers, if the straight species are planted, will very soon get way too big for almost any yard or garden. Most if not all of those species have multiple cultivars that are much more garden-friendly.

Interestingly, P. contorta is not on the recommended list from the Cheyenne Botanic Garden, either.

HI Barb!

They are probably not included on the list of recommended landscape species for the same reason that species Douglas fir and western red cedars are not recommended here. While they ARE native species and are seen growing everywhere, they just get too darn big for most residential landscapes, just as Sara noted. Most homeowners do not want trees that will easily to grow to 100+ feet but prefer something a bit more human scaled :-)

I was thinking the same thing.. Lodgepole grow wild 10 min from my house and I've seen this list before and I noted their absence (I've never seen them on any list for WY) so I wasn't sure if they have some horrible characteristic or fatal flaw that keeps them from being a landscape tree.

Smivies- what do you like about Swiss stone pine? I googled and it indeed looks handsome. I was surprised to see no mugo on your list. In May, I planted a Tannenbaum mugo to go along with my two Oregon Green austrians in the space between the sidewalk and road at my personal residence

Not Smivies, but I hope you don't mind some input. Cembra has cold tolerance, is not particular to soil type, has some drought tolerance although they'll want about 20" of precip. a year and with cultivars, a smaller footprint. I have a potted 'Chalet' and 'Silver Whispers' ready to plant once things cool down here a bit.

Hi Sara!

Agree with that P. cembra assessment. It is also quite unlike the hard pines in appearance with soft silvery green foliage that remains fairly dense even in old large specimens.

I thought we were talking about trees so I left Mugo off the list. Every Mugo I've seen (regardless of cultivar) eventually becomes a large shrub/small tree that is wider then tall. Too short to look good when limbed up and so wide that 1/2 the front yard is taken up by it...the Jubba the Hut of pines. Mugo's have their place but a 45 year old Mugo on a suburban lot probably isn't one of them...at least for the ones I've seen.

Mugos come in all sizes :-) It is hard to imagine something like 'Teeny' or 'Slowmound' or even 'Jakobsen' "taking over" a smaller suburban garden!

I was under the impression 'Tannenbaum' mugo is more upright and tree-like. At least that's what I'm hoping.

If I just plant the straight species of Pinus Cembra, from say a 15 gal pot, about how tall/wide would it be after 20 years?

'Tannenbaum' (and 'Columnaris') have a narrow, upright form that looks nothing like most other cultivars of mugo pine. Very much a dense, pyramidal, Christmas tree shape.

"Mugos come in all sizes :-) It is hard to imagine something like 'Teeny' or 'Slowmound' or even 'Jakobsen' "taking over" a smaller suburban garden!"

...again, thought we were talking about trees? I am not a fan of the larger growing mugo's that are allowed to do their thing...they are squat space hogs. Even Tannenbaum looks like it would do that after 40+ years. I'll concede that Columnaris looks like it will stay fairly compact through it's 4-5th decade.

P. cembra that I've seen grow at a steady 6-12"/yr.

The most attractive pine IMO in WY was Pinyon pine, but of course it's very slow and needs dry soil. Part of the attraction of course was its incredible toughness out in the deserts along w/the junipers.

Here’s a Jack Pine growing nearby. It’s a bit unusual to see one growing all alone like this.

The Jack Pines are the first tree to pop up on abandoned fields out in my old country. The sandier the soil, the better they like it, or so it seems.

Unless they grow where competition keeps them going up, they rarely make a good tree for lumber.