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Banks Pine, Princess Pine, Black Jack, Hudson’s Bay Pine, Labrador Pine, Northern Scotch Pine, Canadian Horn Pine, and Dapper Pine are all names for the same plant that reflect its qualities. This beautiful coniferous tree with an unusual crown, which lives up to 150 and sometimes 300 years, has recently become popular in landscape organization.
Description of the Banks pine
This coniferous breed got its name in honor of the famous breeder Joseph Banks, who studied botany at the turn of the 1785th and XNUMXth centuries. The culture is distributed from the northwest to the south in Canada and the northeastern United States. In the USA, it is the northernmost American pine, but often Black Jack pine can also be found in the southern state of America – Indiana. In Europe, the plant has been cultivated since XNUMX. In Our Country, the plant is well adapted to the middle lane.
Canadian Horn Pine Banks reaches a height of up to 20 meters. The thickness of the trunk is about 25 cm, in an especially rare case it grows up to 60 cm wide. In the forests of Canada, rare specimens of Banks pine were found about 30 meters high – real forest giants.
The crown of the plant is rounded, branched. The needles are short and twisted. In one bundle there are two needles, up to 4 cm long. The color of the needles changes: young needles are yellow, but eventually become dark green. The tree blooms in May.
In addition to the beautiful coniferous crown, the Banks pine has a red-purple bark. Cones are unusual: short, strongly arched and pointed downwards. The scales of young cones glisten in the sun, and eventually become a matte gray color.
The tree is quite resistant to low temperatures and an abundance of snow.
Pine Banks in landscape design
Pine is planted in gardens to decorate the landscape and as a hedge. Thanks to the beautiful crown, Banks pine looks great both as a single plant and in a group. In compositions with deciduous plants, shrubs, as well as with other coniferous trees, this variety looks impressive. In addition to the appearance, the coniferous tree has a noble aroma. Shoots exude a pleasant smell of resin.
As a hedge, Banks pine will not only protect from prying eyes, but also delight with its amazing palette of colors.
Landscape designers use not only the majestic Banks pines, but also their smaller copies.
For example, dwarf varieties of Canadian Banks pine transform the garden without focusing on themselves. The miniature needles of the Arktis variety grow up to 2 – 2,5 m in a lifetime, and the dwarf pine variety Manomet – up to 60 cm. In addition to vertically growing trees, there is a unique variety of Canadian pines Schoodic’, which spreads a green carpet over the surface of the flower bed.
Planting and caring for Banks pine
It is recommended to plant coniferous plants in the warm season. The optimal planting time is from early March to mid-May, when the sun’s rays begin to warm the frozen ground.
Plant care is minimal:
- moderate watering as the soil dries out;
- top dressing with mineral fertilizers of young seedlings;
- protection from snow and rodents in winter.
Cutting branches is not required, since the crown is formed in the correct shape. If desired, you can create the desired geometric shape or shorten too long shoots.
Beginners and inexperienced gardeners will appreciate this unpretentious evergreen plant.
Seedling and planting preparation
Strengthened young seedlings of Branks pine are planted in spring. Before planting, it is important to carefully remove the plant from the container along with its earthy clod, without violating the integrity of the root system. To do this, a pot with a seedling is abundantly watered with water and carefully removed, holding it by the trunk.
Some ornamental and horticultural nurseries offer seedlings for sale in organic, decaying material. After buying in such material, you can immediately plant it in the ground on the site. Over time, the packaging will rot naturally.
The plant takes root well in sandy and peaty soils. It also performs well on loamy soils.
Rules of landing
During planting, it is important to follow a simple rule: a coniferous seedling must be planted in a hole along with an earthen clod. A fragile root system without a protective shell can die even with the slightest injury.
The planting hole should be larger than the diameter of the earthen clod in which the roots are grouped. A palm should freely enter between the wall of the pit and a clod of earth: this distance is enough for the root system to adapt to new conditions.
The root neck of a pine should not hide under a layer of earth. For proper air drainage, the transition from the stem to the roots must remain on the soil surface.
Mature Canada Pine Banks tolerates frequent transplants well.
Watering and top dressing
For normal development, young Banks pines need moderate regular watering. Adult plants develop without spraying and top dressing. In dry times, Banks pines are able to withstand without water for a long time.
In early spring, it is recommended to feed young trees with a complex of mineral fertilizers.
Mulching and loosening
In order for the young seedlings of Banks to take root better, it is necessary to maintain moisture in the soil. Mulch is a material that is laid out around plantings on the surface of the earth. This gives a decorative look and helps control weeds. Gardeners mulch with bark, gravel, sawdust, fallen needles, etc. Landscape designers recommend not decorating the ground, but first laying a special material – spandbond.
In addition to beauty, it is important to take care of the oxygen exchange of the plant. To do this, it is necessary to loosen the stony soil, especially in young plants.
Trimming
Coniferous trees are so unpretentious that they do not require pruning, trimming or shaping.
For decorative purposes, it is possible to form a crown to the taste of the gardener. To do this, cut and shorten the branches in the spring.
Preparation for winter
The tree withstands the winter season steadfastly. Even in the harsh Canadian winters, Banks pines do not die. However, during heavy snowfalls, the spreading branches of the Banks pine are not able to withstand the snow mass. In the natural environment, after winter, many branches break.
To help the tree survive the winter in the garden, you must:
- in late autumn, carefully fix the branches at the top without damaging them;
- before frost, cover with cotton cloth or special covering material;
- wrap the tree trunk with material from mice and hares.
A plant insulated in this way will endure even the snowiest winter. You need to remove the protective material in the spring with the first rays of the sun.
Reproduction
Banks pine is propagated by seeds. Small, inconspicuous seeds up to 2 cm long are transformed into a luxurious coniferous tree with mighty branches.
Seeds can germinate without human intervention. In the aggregate of favorable conditions (moderate humidity and positive temperatures), seeds germinate on the 30th day after sowing.
Diseases and pests
Trees from the Pine family are susceptible to diseases typical of this species:
- Seryanka – from rust fungi;
- Hermes pine – from aphid larvae.
Pine scale insect is one of the hard-to-remove insects that spoil coniferous trees. Butterflies lay millions of eggs on coniferous needles, from which caterpillars emerge in the future. These larvae eat the crown of needles, and the plant affected by pests inevitably dies.
The most dangerous pest for conifers is the pine silkworm. Its caterpillars are capable of destroying entire forest plantations if the trees are not processed in time. Silkworm larvae penetrate the bark, young shoots, buds and feed from the inside. A damaged tree eventually dries out and dies.
Timely processing will ensure the normal development of trees and protect against insects and pests.
Conclusion
Banks Pine is an evergreen large tree from the Pine family with a beautiful rounded branched crown. In nature, it grows in the northeastern region of North America, but it is also well adapted to the climate conditions of central Our Country. The coniferous plant is frost-resistant and undemanding in care. It is planted for landscaping the garden and as a green hedge in landscape design. Banks pine grows very fast, but after 30 years the growth rate slows down significantly.
