Mugo pines ( Pinus mugo ) are n’t tawdry , but these low - maintenance evergreens provide up dependable grain and color in the landscape painting with niggling assistant from the gardener .
In fact , depending on where you live on , you might not even want to vex about tearing or fertilize them at all .
While your rose are flowering and evanesce , your trees are send away their leaves in fall , and your garden is overlay in snow , your mugo true pine are looking as endearing as ever .
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In ourguide to maturate mugo pine tree , we discuss how to cultivate these versatile evergreens in your landscape . And they are available in far more shapes and size than most gardener realize .
So whether you need an evergreen ground cover for a dry spot , or you desire a tall , pyramidal selection to anchor your garden , there ’s a mugo true pine out there that can make it materialize .
All of them grow in a wide range of climates and can exist for decades .
In this scout , we ’ll introduce 23 of the best options whether you want to liven up a smear in your minor backyard garden , accentuate a immense , bare grassy arena , or sate in the hell landing strip in front of a strip promenade .
Here ’s the listing :
Best Mugo Pines
Be cognizant as you head out to shop for these plant that they are sometimes list as “ mugho ” pine .
They might also be sell under a generic coinage name , but the particular of the human body and size might depart , so be certain to read the grower ’s verbal description .
For example , Nature Hills Nurserysells a specimen that grows to five feet magniloquent and 10 infantry full , which is n’t typical of the specie .
Mugo Pine
There ’s nothing wrong with that , you just need to be indisputable you know what you ’re implant .
It also avail to know if the flora you are selecting is aP. mugosubspecies . There are three race ofP. mugo , these aremugo , uncinata , androtunda .
P. mugosubsp.mugoare shrubby and grow to about 20 substructure marvelous over the row of about 10 years , P. mugosubsp.uncinataare more Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree - like and reach up to 60 feet or more over 20 year .
P. mugosubsp.rotundais a natural crossbreed between the two . We ’ll let you make out if any of these fit in those groups .
rightful dwarf eccentric , P. mugovar.pumilioare part of the mugo subspecies .
Unless otherwise specified , these industrial plant thrive in zone 2 to 8 .
Let ’s explore 23 of the salutary varieties to produce in your landscape painting .
1. Alpenglow
A lot of gardeners appreciate the behind - growing nature of mugo pine , but if you ’re a little impatient like I am , ‘ Alpenglow ’ is a moment more vigorous .
This cultivar can gain its mature size of eight foot tall and 10 foot broad in seven or eight years .
The mound shrub is densely covered in half - inch needles and has pile of fine branching .
It hold its cryptic green colourize throughout the wintertime . It ’s one of the more popular option for breeding bonsai thanks to its ok growth .
‘ Alpenglow ’ is also popular because it naturally has a matted top embodiment with rounded side , have it reckon like you spend time of day pruning when you were actually ride on the patio in your favorite lounge chair .
2. Aurea
P. mugovar.pumilio‘Aurea ’ is a semi - dwarf type that features long , light green and chicken needles . In the wintertime , they transition to bright golden - yellowed .
While ‘ Aurea ’ can tolerate a fond sun placement , the colour is skillful in full sun . It grows to about three feet tall and four foot wide .
The dense shrub , sometimes called gilt nanus , maturate over about ten yr and furnish an ongoing display that shifts with the time of year , with an attractive oval shape .
My one eminence is that ‘ Aurea ’ can burn in the winter if it ’s disclose to extreme sun and winding .
If that hap , the plant will set down the burned needles and will put out new emergence . Or you could prune off the damage fate yourself .
3. Blue
‘ low-spirited ’ is a medium - sized shrub that mature to about eight feet grandiloquent and wide of the mark .
The two - inch - tenacious needle are clearly blue - green , showing more blue in the winter and becoming unripened in the summertime months .
The needles are maintain upright and are generally packed , giving the works an undefendable physical body .
4. Carsten’s Wintergold
If you ’re look for a dwarf pick with gold needles , ‘ Carsten ’s Wintergold ’ is the honest choice .
The needle of this var.pumiliocultivar are greenish with a touch of yellow during the summertime before changing to golden - yellow in the fall .
The colder your clime , the more intense the coloration . It can grow gayly in Zones 2 to 8 , but the color in strong regions is n’t quite as stellar .
The needle are comparatively short and grow in dim clump on a plant that is about two foot tall and wide at maturity . It take about 10 year to achieve its full size of it , but it ’s worth the wait .
‘ Carsten ’s Wintergold ’ nab the Royal Horticultural Society ’s Award of Garden Merit in 2012 .
‘ Carsten ’s Wintergold ’
I ca n’t imagine why you would n’t want one . Maple Ridge Nurseryhas plants available in one- and three - congius containers .
5. Corley’s Mat
One of the most prostrate options out there , P. mugovar.pumilio‘Corley ’s Mat ’ can stretch along up to four fundament wide but typically grows only 18 inches or so tall .
It has intermediate green needles that keep their colouring material all year round and it ’s passing compact , with the needle so thick you ca n’t see the priming coat or stem underneath .
It ’s a tough , adaptable option for rock candy garden or anywhere you need a true ground masking .
6. Donna’s Mini
Whoever identify this cultivar was n’t kid when they called it “ mini . ”
This var.pumiliocultivar only grows to about 10 inches tall and 18 in wide at matureness .
It has dark green needles that are extremely short , covering the mounded bush from top to bottom . It calculate like some left inscrutable sea beast hanging out in your garden .
7. Dwarf
Before I sing the praise of dwarf mugo pines , a story . My grandma had a dwarf mugo that was n’t . It grew just as large as the coinage plant , much to her consternation .
From then on , she would never buy a plant that claim to be “ dwarf . ” She believed from that point frontward that any plant labelled “ midget ” was a liar and would finally become full - sized .
Now , she ’s not all wrong when it comes to mugo pine tree .
They often used to be mislabeled and unsuspicious consumers would be look with a massive plant life a few old age afterward that they were n’t at all train for .
These solar day , the labeling is a bit beneficial , but threefold - check that the plant is judge as “ pumilio ” or “ mops . ” If it ’s just labeled as “ dwarf , ” be like my granny and work uttermost skepticism .
The true gnome smorgasbord . P. mugovar.pumiliois a marvel . It grows bit by bit over a decade or so to about five feet tall and ten foot encompassing at most , though unremarkably close to five feet wide .
The true midget variety observe an attractive mound growth substance abuse without any pruning , and dense benighted greenish needles that contribute texture to the garden .
The Royal Horticultural Society agrees , giving it the Award of Garden Merit in 1993 .
Dwarf Mugo Pine
In this guinea pig , nan is wrong . midget plants do subsist and you’re able to find yoursat Nature Hills Nursery .
8. Enci
‘ Enci ’ has soft , long needles that plow the four - foundation - improbable and six - ft - wide of the mark mound shrub .
It has imposingly dense ontogeny , both with tightly clustered needle and the near - growing branches .
You ca n’t even see the structure underneath for all the needles . It ’s not quite as cold - audacious or heating plant tolerant as the mintage plant and is well educate in Zones 3 to 7 .
9. Fastigiata
‘ Fastigiata ’ is the thoroughgoing choice if your trees suffer from break under heavy Charles Percy Snow gobs in the winter .
The erect , blue - green needles are held closely together so the limb do n’t build up up with Charles Percy Snow as well as many other cultivar .
At 20 to 25 foot tall and six to eight foot wide , this large pick has an upright , columnar or pyramidal shape , which is n’t common among mugo pines .
‘ Fastigiata ’
There is also a interlingual rendition with yellow phonograph needle called ‘ Aurea Fastigiata . ’ Find one for your gardenat Fast Growing Trees .
10. Gallica
You are n’t going to find this cultivar at every garden store , but if you want a mugo with an upright , pyramidal shape , this is another of the rarified few .
P. mugosubsp.uncinata‘Gallica ’ has lots of upright branch on a bush that is partly open , growing to 15 foot tall and 10 to 15 feet encompassing .
The dark green needles keep their color throughout the winter and during the summer heat .
11. Gnome
‘ Gnome ’ lives up to its name as a genuine gnome growing just 18 inches tall and three feet encompassing .
It has short needles clustered closely together on a finely ramose mound with a distinctly flat top .
at times , you ’ll get hold it grafted onto a standard to create a topiary - like look with a long luggage compartment and a rounded canopy .
This cultivar need almost no pruning to maintain the configuration , so it ’s perfect if you want that classic topiary tone without the ceaseless pruning .
12. Gold Spire
You almost do n’t need a verbal description to envision this mugo pine tree .
‘ Gold Spire ’ is magniloquent and narrow with a columnlike shape . It reaches 15 feet magniloquent and 10 metrical unit wide with dark green foliage .
In the bound , the young taper of acerate leaf are deeply prosperous before maturing to disconsolate unripe .
13. Golden Mound
‘ Golden Mound ’ has stiff , erect , prosperous - green needles on a works that grow about three foot tall and four feet all-embracing over 10 age .
The needles are fortunate during the winter and greener in the summertime .
While the color is certainly attractive , the beautiful mounding figure make it an extra attractive option for the garden .
14. Green Candle
You make love how I mentioned that mugo pine are n’t the wizard of the garden show ? Well ‘ Green Candle ’ begs to disagree . In the outpouring , the plant is positively smothered in flower .
At the foundation of the tan coloured cd are clump of unripened male pollen cones that finally turn chocolate-brown . It makes for a spectacular accent against the disconsolate unripe leaves .
It has globe - like development drug abuse when young , but as it matures it have on a distinctly wide pyramidic shape , reach about five feet grandiloquent and wide .
15. Humpy
At 18 inches magniloquent and two feet wide , ‘ Humpy ’ is one petiteP. mugovar.pumiliocultivar . It has proportionally brusque needles with boneheaded , slow growth .
The terminal buds take on a ashen tarry coating in the wintertime , which , when combined with the dark green needle , creates a big shock on a small plant life .
‘ Humpty ’ earned the Royal Horticultural Society ’s Award of Garden Merit in 2012 .
16. Mini Mini
This teeny petite plant is so small that it has to have two “ minis ” in its name ! This cultivar originate from a witches’-broom growth on ‘ Valley Cushion ’ in the 1980s .
‘ Mini Mini ’ only grow to about eight column inch grandiloquent and blanket , or slightly wider . The leaves are proportionally low , which throw the plant face like a fuzzy chunk of green velvet .
It ’s perfect in the garden , container , or as a tinybonsai .
17. Mughus
Mughus is a natural variant that was discovered rather than cultivated .
Sometimes list as subspeciesmugoormughus , and sometimes calledP. mugovar.mughusor var.mugothese name refer to the same plant life .
This variety can hit 10 feet marvelous and 15 feet wide when fledged , though they often continue about half that size , with a mounded shape .
It makes an idealistic hedge or can work as a modest background or filler for a dry area .
18. Ophir
While mound anatomy are the most vulgar among mugo pines , there are a few that are really rounded or ball-shaped . P. mugovar.pumilio‘Ophir ’ is one such cultivar .
It has a round shape with a slimly flattened top and pale yellow - green needle that turn deep golden in the wintertime .
It spring up just three foot tall and all-embracing in dirt that range from clay to sandy , and acidic to alkaline . It ’s also extremely drought - tolerant .
It should come as no surprisal , then , that ‘ Ophir ’ was give the Award of Garden Merit in 2012 by the Royal Horticultural Society .
19. Slowmound
As the name suggests , this cultivar has a circular , mound shape .
At four foot improbable and six feet wide-cut at most , it ’s a thick alternative that operate nicely as a specimen or in groups .
The acerate leaf are dark gullible and densely compact , and it will hold its color in warmth or cold .
‘ Slowmound ’ dwell up to its name as a slow cultivator that takes 10 or more years to reach its full size . It ’s also long lived , so you’re able to enjoy it for tenner to come up .
20. Sunshine
‘ Sunshine ’ is n’t super common , but it ’s definitely worth looking out for . It ’s aP. mugovar.pumiliocultivar that grows three base marvelous and wide .
The foresightful needles have discrete bands of green and sensationalistic .
From a distance , the plant looks like it has a green base with jaundiced edge , but up close , it expect like a green and yellow porcupine explode all over the bush .
‘ Sunshine ’
The color is more trenchant in full sun and during the winter months , and it will hold its coloring all year .
You do n’t have to seek in high spirits and low . We ’ve found it for you in a choice of one- or three - gal containersat Maple Ridge Nursery .
21. Tannenbaum
‘ Tannenbaum ’ truly has the unadulterated Christmas tree bod . It grows slowly to about 12 foot tall and 10 feet wide with a pyramidic shape .
It ’s the perfect size of it for putting that whiz or angel on top .
The evergreen blue - greenish phonograph needle are dumbly mob , perfect for hang ornaments or adding grain to the garden landscape painting .
‘ Tannenbaum ’
Purchase thismugosubspecies cultivarat Fast Growing Trees . Then , pull together the friends around to sing the praise of beautiful ‘ Tannenbaum . ’
22. White Bud
I call back ‘ White Bud ’ is exceedingly coolheaded .
It ’s unusual and stands out from otherP. mugovar.pumiliocultivars in that the tips of the farm limb , know as the concluding buds , develop a white , waxy coat during cold weather condition .
This coloration adds a bright stress to the long , dark green needles .
It ’s a true dwarf cultivar that stays under three feet high and four groundwork wide with a rounded to mound habit .
23. Yellow Point
A democratic option for bonsai , ‘ Yellow Point ’ has intermediate green needle tipped in yellow , and the yellowish only intensifies during the wintertime .
The color is gradual rather than precipitous , as it can be on some cultivars , with the yellowed fading into the green at the stand .
It has a rounded shape at three feet improbable and wide-cut with slurred , slow growth .
Make Room for More Mugo Pines
Mugo pines are gloriously long - lived , behind - growing , exceedingly low - maintenance , and tough as can be .
They are n’t just medium to large shrub , either . you’re able to find grandiloquent trees , itty bitty balls , and lovely earth cover version .
And formore information about grow true pine in your landscape , control out these guides next :
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About
Kristine Lofgren
