Pinus cembra or koraiensis seem to do better in my alkaline clay but I do have one strobus. Just don’t amend the planting hole and use only your native soil.

tj

And plant the tree on top of a mound.

Clay is not necessarily alkaline -- it can be acidic. The sandstone-based clay on my lot is acidic.

plant the tree on top of a mound

White pines are prone to breakage in ice storms and/or heavy snow around here. White pines growing on a berm near my home would keep me awake on stormy nights.

I've found that white pines will grow just fine in clay as long as there is decent drainage. And as already noted by another, not all clay is alkaline. My clay fields nearly all tested between 6.2 and 6.8 pH.

Having your soil tested could alleviate your concerns. Here homeowners can send or drop off soil samples to the University for only $17 a sample. If you are close enough to Chicago, there's probably something similar available. Or find yourself a soil pH tester online. Some are pretty cheap so I'd definitely read the reviews first. You will want an accurate test.

Or just roll the dice. Plant smaller, less expensive trees as white pine can really grow like weeds compared to other evergreens. Less work and less money spent if the trees were by chance to fail. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?

White pine is my favorite evergreen too.

If you are concerned, definitely get a soil test done. pH tests alone are usually very inexpensive since they don't require fancy equipment - indicator solutions do a good enough job.

My soil pH is about 7.2. While you can tell where the pH goes down about 5 miles south of me because wild red cedar is replaced by wild white pines, domesticated white pines do very well here. Well enough that I often have a few volunteer babies running around. Do heed Cecily's warning that they are very brittle trees. One of mine killed the mailbox this December, and we always have large limbs to clear out in the spring. Planted high, I'd also worry about windthrow. About 25 years ago, we had a very nasty April Fool's Day blizzard. For a few weeks aftewards, the well-dressed house was unquestionably wearing a white pine. Our neighbors across the street had one come up by the roots and just clip their garage. The neighbors behind us had a couple uproot and topple into the street.

Plenty of limestone in this area of the Great Lakes so soils tend to be alkaline (my pH is 7.5) but there are pocket less so. Always handy to get a soil test.

tj

Not necessarily a mound , but DO plant shallow

ron

White pine grows on nearly all the soils within its range (71), but generally competes best on well drained sandy soils of low to medium site quality. These soils permit fair growth of white pine but not hardwoods. On these sandy sites, white pine regenerates naturally, competes easily, and can be managed most effectively and economically (40,47). On medium-textured soils (sandy loams), it will outproduce most other native commercial species in both volume and value (47). White pine also grows on fine sandy loams and silt-loam soils with either good or impeded drainage when there is no hardwood competition during the establishment period-as on old fields and pastures, bums, and blowdowns. It has been found on clay soils and on poorly drained or very poorly drained soils with surface mounds. It can be very productive on these sites but usually occurs only as individual trees or in small groups (47). This pine should not be planted in heavy clay soils. Poorly drained bottom land sites and upland depressions are also poor choices for planting (6).

Pinus strobus L (usda.gov)