WHEN I CAME TO THIS GARDEN more than 20 years ago, I brought just two plants, tucked into the back of the moving van last-minute by movers who looked at me as if to say, “Really, lady?” One was a clump of dark purple Siberian iris tossed into a recycled produce-store bushel basket; the other a young Japanese umbrella pine I’d had for only a few years and just couldn’t seem to leave behind. Thank goodness I didn’t. Sciadopitys verticillata is the fourth in my series on beloved conifers.
That transplanting of the young umbrella pine will be 23 years ago this fall. At that time, I had never seen another except in botanical-garden collections; unusual or rare was the word. Now they’re at nurseries, but usually quite small and always quite expensive, and they’re pretty easy to kill, at least at first. But what did I know when I uprooted the tree and had it put in that truck?
I was just getting really serious about plants, and was a beginning garden writer, meaning I had the privilege of getting paid to visit gardens and nurseries and interview experts for stories. Those years formed my advanced education in horticulture—and also my downfall in self-control. Everybody showed me or told me about something I simply had to have. Or two or three.
An umbrella pine first spoke to me in a come-hither voice at Planting Fields Arboretum in Oyster Bay, Long Island, a place I’d visited a lot as a teenager that happily became part of my “beat” as garden editor of Long Island-based Newsday newspaper.
Its needles are arranged in whorls, like the spokes in an umbrella, hence the name (see detail photo). And there’s something else attention-grabbing about the foliage: Visitors to the garden often come to find me to ask about the “tree over there with the plastic-looking needles,” since they’re so thick and lustrous. (Technically, it also has another kind of leaf, the tiny scale leaves on the stems, but nobody notices those, at least not at first.)
That’s the umbrella pine, I say, and it’s not actually a pine at all.
It’s an ancient thing, and like Ginkgo has been around since dinosaur times, also forming the solitary species in its genus and family. Other odd bits: The umbrella pine’s cones take nearly two years to size up after pollination. When experts come here and see how many my tree bears, they always tell me that last fact, to make sure I am properly impressed.
The tree, whose foliage is much darker green and sometimes even bronzy in winter (bottom photo), grows to perhaps 30 feet tall and half as wide, and has beautiful reddish bark you never see unless you crawl around beneath. (Which I just did 10 minutes ago to scavenge a couple of cones for that photo, since I cannot reach the ones way up in its topmost section with arm or even lens.)
One year, after very heavy snowfall threatened to disfigure the tree or even break off limbs, friends suggested shearing it one spring, just as the new growth or candles emerged. This gentle tipping back seems to have reduced the umbrella pine’s inclination to get more lax with age, at least for the moment. It also made it more pyramidal in shape.
Umbrella pines hail from cloud forests in Japan, where rainfall and humidity are both high, so don’t expect Sciadopitys to cooperate with drought. Baby it in the first year or two after transplanting, in particular. If you want to grow one in the warmer end of its range (Zones 5 to 7 or 8), protection from the midday sun would be appreciated. Oh, and one more “expert” tip: Skip the stupid moving-van caper I somehow got away with.
best ‘pine’ cones, ever 
slideshow: beloved conifers 
beloved conifers: recap of coziest woody plants 
You’re not going to believe this. Last night the Nor’easter blew through Long Island and snapped my speciman Japanese umbrella pine at the BASE of the tree. I love this tree and I’m sick about it. I bought it in August of 2003, it was about 3.5 feet tall … I spent $350 on it (on sale!) … the tree had to be at least 12′. The JUP loved the spot. It really was the best outdoor Christmas tree in the neighborhood. I’m going to try to find some of the cones and see if I can get a new one to grow in the house. How do you think it would stay if I cut it down to about 6′ and used it as our Christmas tree this year?
Welcome, Mark. Yes, I can believe this. I have watched my very most precious plants at times over the last 25 years be cut down in freakish weather. Horrible. I am so sorry. I’d keep it very very cold or put it in a bucket of water and cross your fingers. As for growing from seed, ultra-slow (and then slower, even) so not for the home grower, I fear. That’s why they are so expensive I believe…slow. We need to find you a well-priced baby.
I was investigating which pine trees bear eatable pine seeds and if I might find them in my Maryland neighborhood. What I found was the Pinyon and the (Italian) Stone Pine AKA Umbrella Pine and was led to your site. I suppose the seeds are located in little pockets of the cone. Can you add anything to my findings? THANK YOU. Paul
Welcome, Paul. Yes, pine seeds are edible, but most are so small that they are more appealing to birds and animals (squirrels, for instance) than to us. And yes, the seeds are in the little pockets, exactly. The key is getting them out, since you don’t want to wait till the cone opens all the way (which would start to disperse the seeds)…timing is everything, catching them when they are still closed but ripe inside. I have never done this, and only see this one first-hand account of pine-seed harvesting online in a brief look.
I just heard about the Japanese Umbrella Pine today in my Master Gardener training. I took the cutting home to show its beauty and explain why I need one – I thought an example would help. I heard they were expensive but $350 is crazy! Maybe I’ll see if I can root my cutting and grow my own – think it’ll work?
Welcome, Angela. I think you are better off with a small one, which I am seeing more nowadays (not for $350, though larger plants are that much, yes). Try Broken Arrow Nursery for an inexpensive young plant by mail, like $30ish (they have various cultivars).
They can be propagated from cuttings in the dormant season, but I don’t think it’s easy (and I know it’s not fast). I have not tried and don’t readily find any details information anywhere that is very helpful, sorry to say.
I lost a 30′ high japanese umbrella pine in the storm that hit Long Island at the end of March(2010) It was a most important specimen. I have a 12′ JUP in an unfortunate site in the garden. Does anyone know about the odds of success in transplanting a JUP of this size ?
Welcome, Sue, and may I express my deep regrets? Oh, dear. I worry about my big one all the time in winter. I think if you want to tackle this it’s time to call in the experts with a tree spade (or at least a crew that can ball and burlap professionally and create a large, solid rootball, causing the least disturbance. There are nurseries that specialize in such procedures; not sure how far out on LI you are. Seems like it would be worth it (and that a DIY attempt would be a very bad idea). I think that only a firm who has tried it will have the first-hand experience to report that you are in need of; I have never moved one. You can email me at awaytogarden [at] gmail [dot] com if you want to ask about specific nurseries who might be able to answer this question better.
Hi
Im very happy to have found this thread. I bought a home in CT 6 years ago with a JUP planted almost against the house and about 12 ft tall. Every visitor to my home comments on it. I had never seen or heard of one and wasnt too concerned about it.The past six years it has grown a bit, added at least an additional 4-5 feet in height. As it is so close to my house, I worry about its survival as well as my foundation. The side against my house is stunted, so I am wondering if it is movable in its location, and will it survive? I have had one landscaper tell me to cut my losses and remove it. It is encroaching on my front entry and cannot stay where it is much longer. I appreciate any input!
Welcome, Christine. I’d get a professional company with substantial tree-moving experience to come assess and hopefully give it a try if it really cannot stay where it is. There is a house not far from here with one right against the corner of their house and it is well past the roofline and both house and tree seem happy. Yes, it’s missing a side…but where it’s positioned, it doesn’t matter.
Sounds like your tree is happy where it is (growing strongly), but also that it’s not in a place you are comfortable with leaving it. So the question wlll be the cost to move it versus your attachment to it I suspect.
I have a big JUP on Long Island (Long Beach). It came from the 1938 NY Worlds
Fair after it closed, so is over 70 years old and about 20′ tall. Not bad considering it is in about two feet of top soil over beach sand. Unfortunately, the heavy wet snow storm last winter ripped off two major branches. This was the most recent of many storm damages it has suffered and it no longer looks attractive so we are considering its removal. Not being in a rush to remove it, and being an avid do it yourself type and sentimental, I would like to try growing one from seed even though you have implied it is not easy. About 20 years ago a friend of a friend was successful and showed me several seedlings in pots which he had started from my JUP seeds taken the previous year. They were about 8″ tall.
What I need is step by step instructions. Any suggestions?
Welcome, Bob. Seems like the information on growing them from seed is usually in scientific articles, but this PDF from the USDA Forestry Service gives the basics. Worth a try.
Hello!!! I recently saw my first JUP in Beverly Ma at the Endicot College campus. I emailed the school and hey told me what it was. It’s great!!!! And then searched the internet and found this site. I would love to try growing a couple of these as Bonsai in my front yard but wonder how small you think I could really keep them. I was thinking hopefully about 3 feet tall. Maybe I should try a Gruene Kugel instead? Thanks!!!
I set a small umbrella pine in the center of a garden well around 8 yrs ago. It is now a beauty at around 6 ft tall. I would like to control the growth on one side of the tree and push it on the oppisite side. I’ve been told to cut the new growth by 1/2 on the side I’m trying to control the spread on. My concern is that if I only cut off half, the the remaining growth will only be be the branch, I’ll be cutting off the future swirl. My thought would be to remove all the new growth on the side that I want to retard the growth on until the symmetry of the tree is restored. Any suggestions??
Welcome, Diane. I can’t imagine keeping it tiny myself, but I am no bonsai master. :) Your question got me looking it up, and in fact there are old umbrella pine bonsais for sale online, so it must be possible. How easy is another matter.
Welcome, Ross. I have never done anything beyond pinching the so-called candles (the soft new growth, before the needles really lengthen) partway back, as you mention, on this tree, so I do not know. I would not cut them back all the way, but half to two-thirds…but again, this is based on personal practice, not specific expertise correcting the size to the degree you are suggesting.
Hello Margaret,
We just purchased a small (approx. 24″) umbrella pine and would like to use it as part of our foundation planting at the corner of the house. How far from the house would you recomend? What type of soil amenments if any? We are in NJ zone 7a.
Thank you!
Welcome, Nancy. When they grow up (as in someday) it can be 15 or maybe even more feet across at the base…meaning the trunk needs to be half that eventual distance from the house (or better yet, farther for good measure and to keep things alongside the house airy and so on). So 8-10 feet away?
That said, I understand what a strange notion that must seem like with this little creature. You will have to build a temporary landscape around it of things that will get moved to make it work visually while you wait for it to grow over the years.
As the story about it says, keep it from blazing, baking sun especially in a windy, exposed spot — but generally speaking, I think it will be fine (if slow).
I just bough one from a quantity nursery hear in Roswell GA on sale for $85; about 24″ tall to put in a container. It was a mark down and looks to have been around for a while and I was surprised to find it not root bound at all. I simply loosened the soil a little when I repotted it into the container. Any advice on container growing? Also the receipt identifies it as a Mitsch cultivar. Thank you
ps they have another on in stock at the same price!
Richard
Welcome, Richard. I have never seen a “Mitsch Select’ umbrella pine in person all grown up (which is to say not as big as the plain species, since it’s a dwarf of maybe 4 feet high and a bit wider). Lucky you. I’d be sure not to bake it in that pot — remember that the roots are more vulnerable to extremes of weather because they’re not benefiting from the insulation of being in the ground. I’d probably give it some shade as well in your hotter climate.
hi margaret – thank you for the article. I’ve been hoping to add an umbrella pine to my yard for the longest time. I found one today for $450, about 7′ tall. I thought it was a pretty decent price and may go back tomorrow to pull the trigger. Would you suggest waiting for the fall to plant? Or can I put it in the ground in 90+ heat in zone 5b? Thanks again!
Welcome, Dan. I am not planting right now, though of course you can — it’s just so much easier to carefully and consistently water a pot for another few weeks and then (as temps cool hopefully and rain increases) do the planting. Hot here, too. Yikes, what a summer. See you soon, and congrats on the great plant.
Hi Margaret,
I bought two Japanese umbrella pines this spring and planted them in my garden on the west side of the house. One is very happy there and the other is droopy and clearly not doing well. Since I planted them in the same area and handled them very much the same way I am not sure what happened or if my “droopy guy” can be saved. Any suggestions????
Welcome, Mary. Transplants (especially in midsummer) often show signs of stress. Keep them well watered; you might want to erect some kind of shade cloth as well (not sure how big they are) for more relief for the thing. But all you can really do is water and shade — definitely no food.