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 in a garden setting and half or more as wide (much bigger in the wild), 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.
Geez Louise – I’ve had an Umbrella Pine for about three years now and, though it’s only about 3 feet, I’ve been amazed at how much it has grown as it started out quite small. BUT (isn’t there always?), I just removed a massive maple that, though beautiful, was unfortunately close to the house and looming over it threateningly with each gust of wind. Unfortunately, it provided the pine the protection from the midday sun that you noted. Now it will be full sun mid morning to early afternoon, just outside Boston, MA. What to do? Move the pine to gentler climes or hold fast and hope for the best?
Hi, Eric. Mine (here in the cold zone, too) is fine in full sun, I must say, In Zones 7 (and 8 if you dared grow one there) I’d say shade in the midday heat. But in Boston, like here, you will be fine.
Those are some of the prettiest pine cones I’ve ever seen.
Thank you, Margaret! Now I just have to figure out how to get a Repandens Aurea in the mix as well…
yes i have fond memories of planting fields; a chill place where we could take our daughter in a stroller and meander about; she graduates from college this may; that “conifer” is getting right tall!
Wow, if this conifer series goes on much longer my small city lot will look like Yosemite–I want all of them! What is the lovely light-colored ground cover acting as a skirt at the base of this umbrella pine? My computer screen is so small I can’t make it out–but you do such a great job of anchoring your trees and shrubs to the ground I need to copy it immediately!
If greed is one of the Seven Deadly Sins, I’m in deep trouble but I hear indulgences are coming back so I guess I can get a few more conifers. As always great photos!
So beautiful…I love when they look almost fuzzy – like you can’t see the individual pine needles.
Margaret, what a treat your postings are. This is yet another evergreen to research and put on the “to buy” list if it fits my property’s contiditions.
My very favorite is Abies nordmanniana, Nordman Fir. In ny native Denmark it has become the cadillac of Christmas trees.
@Steve: Bad, bad, bad groundcover, planted 20-plus years ago when I didn’t really know this lesson yet. It is variegated goutweed, Aegopodium. Strangely all these years it has stayed just there, I suppose because I dig out around its perimeter each year and because the lawn is mowed twice-weekly in that area adjacent to it. But ugh. (But beautiful.)
@Salix: I do not know this Nordman fir so maybe now you are going to cause me to go shopping in return for my enticing you. Going to the reference books now…
You know I could live there and be perfectly happy. I’ll earn a living making needle baskets! I got it all planned. ;D
you’re pulling on the heart strings here – i recently had to move from an upstate ny garden to a blank slate in central tx. one of the plants i knew just wouldn’t make it at the new place was the sciadopitys. i hope the new owners realize what a gem they have, but then again, maybe one of my gardening neighbors committed an act of guerilla gardening on its behalf.
Welcome, Andrea. How difficult to leave your garden, but of course also an opportunity. I could go commit the guerilla gardening act for you if I just knew where… :) Really, though, it is nice to see you here and learn about your new adventures. See you again soon, I hope.
I’m curious Margaret, what is the tall lavender/purple flowering plant next to the Japanese Umbrella Pine? It’s beautiful! And what month of the year was that picture taken?
Thanks, Laurie
Welcome, Laurie. It is a very old large-leaved rhododendron, probably more than 75 years old, and now 25 feet across and perhaps 12 or 15 tall. Quite amazing. And most amazing of all: When I moved here, I almost cut it down. Yikes. It was sitting there alone in the middle of nowhere like a big blob…thankfully, I united it with the young umbrella pine and a dwarf white pine instead. Near miss!
What an interesting and beautiful pine! Loving this series!
Good call on the rhododendron. The farmers that owned my property 25 years and years ago neglected the ones I inherited into near oblivion, so I nearly cut the sad, spindly things down. Always a sucker for the underdog, I decided to design sections of the garden around them. To me they embodied Charlie Brown’s Xmas tree and just needed a little love. Mercy is usually rewarding, no?
I just returned home from a delightful trip to Planting Fields to see the Camellias with Mom, only to find your Sciadopitys post! The highlight of our chilly trip was, for her, the little pink cottage. For me, it was the two umbrella pines planted on either side. So far, these are the largest I’ve been able to run up to and, well, pet lovingly. Margaret, can you please confirm the growth rate of yours…roughly 20′ in 20 years? Three cheers for your fantastic blog!
Welcome, Laura. I am jealous that you have been to Planting Fields…I have been away from that incredible place too long. Yes, there is the pair of umbrella pines by the cottage, and one by the camellia house. Mine is taller than my two-story Victorian farmhouse, which is small in proportion but still definitely 20 feet high or more, so yes, 20-plus in 20-plus years. Come again soon (cheerleaders always encouraged). :)
I have to say that I am such a veggie gardener that conifers really don’t take my breath away. But I had a chance to visit Isley Nursery outside Portland this summer and saw a Japanese Umbrella Pine. I fell completely in love with it. I stared at it for about five minutes. It was just so different. Now I need to decide where to plant one in my yard!
Willi, I am glad I happened on one that could even make the heart of a vegetable gardener sing. :)
I have two japanese umbrella pines that I got a a local arboretum – I have to transplant them (they have grown to at least 18 feet I guess). How big & deep is the root ball on these & how can I not make them hate me for the rest of their lives? The current spot gets great sun for my CT wooded lot – I am going to move under a huge Oak & near some dogwoods, azaleas where there is room to stretch out and am hoping that the variable summer sun will be enough for it. In winter, it should get pretty good sun.
Welcome, Steve. 18-foot umbrella pines (or 18-foot anything) sounds like a project for a tree spade (meaning: professional digging equipment) not a hand-digging endeavor. If they are 18 feet tall, the rootball wouldbe so massive and heavy you couldn’t move it/lift it from the hole, even if you could dig around it. Can you leave them put, or hire a local nursery who has this equipment?
We have a 12-13 foot umbrella pine at the corner of our house , as well as a 10 footer in the backyard. The one in the front yard makes THE best outdoor christmas tree every year! I was reading about cuttings made into seedlings , can this be done? We live outside Boston
Welcome, David. Technically you can root it…but it will take 6 to 8 months and success rate even by professionals in greenhouse conditions is not great…a tricky one. Cuttings in spring or midsummer are first soaked in water to reduce the concentration of resin in the cuttings, which can inhibit rooting if high, and various rooting agents are then applied and so on. Doesn’t sound like a home project to me, sorry. It can also be grown from seed, a slow process, too, that starts with three months of “stratification” and so on. WIsh I had an instant answer!
I just bought a beautiful little (4ft) Umbrella Pine that we planted six feet from the front of our house. The tag said it would grow 8 to 10 feet and 6 to 8 feet wide. Now I am hearing that they get MUCH bigger. Even with slow growth, I’m afraid it will soon become too large for the space. Should I move it to our big backyard now? It’s a bit shady back there, but will get some full sun.
Welcome, Brenda. How could the tag say that? Oh, my. this is a big tree in the wild, and even in a garden not small by any means. Mine is perhaps 14 or so feet across at the widest part (the base) and I have shorn it once or twice (meaning it would be wider, even). And height-wise, I am beyond the second story of the house. Don’t believe what you read on tags, yikes! At least move it another few feet out from the house, yes, or to the other spot. It is a plant you will treasure for a lifetime, so worth finding just the right spot.
I do think it has to go in the backyard. Just how much sun does the umbrella pine need? The backyard has morning sun and a shot of afternoon sun, then it goes to dapple sun/shade. I live in Maryland.
I am so glad to have landed on this site. I am looking for a source to purchase an umbrella pine. My husband grew up with one in his front yard and when the family house was gone…so was the tree. We’ve asked about it in our area (West Milford, NJ) and so far we hear…we used to carry them, but they are not popular so we stopped. Sorry I’m going on…but it is so neat…like one of the comments…you think twice before you believe its real. Any suggestions will be welcomed.
Welcome, Maria. This tree is being grown by some top wholesalers now and is available to any nursery that wishes to order it. For many years it wasn’t; now at least it is being propagated more widely, so even if someone doesn’t have it they could get it. How far are you from Bergen County? I have one thought in that area.
Thanks for the reply. Am willing to travel. I work in Ridgewood & my husband works in Paramus (both Bergen County), so if there is a place to start there, we will certainly take the ride.
@Maria: I would start by calling Rohsler’s Allendale Nursery, which has a wonderful selection of things (maybe not as many this late in the selling season, of course, as first thing) and access to a very wide palette of woody plants based on what I have seen there. Ask for their help in getting an umbrella pine, or advice where you can.
Thank you!!!!
I bought my umbrella pine 20 years ago when it was just a foot high for a small fourtune. It just caught my eye and I had to have it. It is now about 12 feet high, gets full sun all day, is lush and full and doing great. It by far has received more attention and care than anything else in my yard. It was not until recently when I started doing research, that I discovered what a prize I have. Thanks for the site, I love reading the stories and advice.
Welcome, Daren. Yes, a prize to be sure; I knew when I got it it was rare, and sought it out and paid dearly as you say, but didn’t realize until tours of expert gardeners started visiting how unusual a large one seems to people. I am glad you enjoy the site…no wonder, since it appears we have a similar eye. :) See you soon I hope.
I’ve had a lovely little Sciadopitys verticillata growing in a pot for the past couple of years. It has thrived with little to no care. I can see from this thread that I’ve been very lucky and that it’s high time I transplanted it. Is autumn a good time, as opposed to waiting until next spring?
Oops, I should have added that I live in Zone 6b, though it’s been feeling more like 7a in recent years. Thanks.
Welcome, Catherine. I’d get it in the ground, yes, and keep a close eye on watering after that for the first year or even longer so it settles in well. Hope to see you soon again and hear more good things about your umbrella pine.
Hi Margaret!
Hope you can give me some advice? I live in Ontario Canada (Toronto) and I bought a umbrella pine at our big garden show in March (still not planted).
My question is does this pine need wind or winter protection. We can get fairly cold and windy hear, somtimes to minus 35 degrees.
It will be planted either in full sun or morning till mid afternoon sun. I prefer to put it in my front yard which faces east rather than hidden in my backyard.
Welcome, Liz. I get to about minus 20 some years (usually minus teens is the worst), and it is very windy here, plus we have a lot of ice. That said, mine is out in the open, and has rarely burned…but on occasion some foliage has a little. So I am thinking that even colder and windy is probably a little bit shaky, and that the wind protection would be appreciated. I find here that many conifers that are totally hardy just don’t like the wind/full exposure in winter, and don’t die but get messy unless I give them a little bit of a protected spot. Additional important note: I was frankly not aware that it can grow colder than Zone 5 (which is my zone). Hmmm….did anyone at the show say it’s growing well in Toronto?
Thanks for the quick reply Margaret! Love the site!
Yes apparently they are grown here although rare.
Minus 35 would be the extreme as we seem to be getting more and more milder winters here. The spot I was thinking of would have some protection from wind etc. I am thinking of starting a new garden around it or incorporating it into an existing. Space is not a problem as I live on an acre of land. Are there any special planting procedures? or do I just follow as I would with any conifer that I have planted? FYI I have rhododendrons, a ginkgo, and a jap. maple in same area that I was thinking of and all thrive very well!
I am zone 5 too
Actually now that I look at the online zone map I live zone 6a.
@Liz: Try this page for the zone info; if you go to minus 35, you are more 3 or 4, best case, in the USDA scale (I think Canada rates it differently). That’s what I was reacting to: the low temp you cited. Toronto may have a microclimate; sorry not to know for sure, but you are definitely not USDA 6. I think you are a USDA 4ish, meaning a Canadian 5 (I believe things are a zone off, nation to nation). Now you will send me to the reference books to be sure…
Thanks Margaret. Looking forwarded to FINALLY getting this beautiful pine into the ground!
I have a +16′ Umbrella Pine planted 10 feet from the front door of my home. I’ve owned the home for 5 years and want to transplant the tree to the corner of the home which currently has a cluster row of 6 Hemlocks which would be removed. I live in CT (Fairfield County) and having a difficult time finding a company with a spade to do the job. Before I invest in transplanting, what’s the survival rate? The new spot get’s 2 hours of sun at the end of the day due to the row of large deciduous trees to the south side. Thoughts?
Welcome, Gus. Lots of obstacles in your proposed plan: Moving a 16-foot tree of any kind; moving it to a place with so little light; the expense of the move if someone will do it; the potential loss of a tree worth thousands (and that cannot be replaced at that size from a nursery). I say no; learn to love it where it is. If you want to spend big bucks to move it, call someone like Rosedale (in Westchester, on the Saw Mill) and ask if they even would consider, as I know them to be experts in working with large dug material. I suspect they, too, would say no dice.
I have purchased a four foot Umbrella Pine recently. I have not planted it yet and would like to know how close to the house would you recommend that I plant it? (I would like to place it as close as possible without having problems with it touching the building). I will be placing it in the front of my home, to the side of my driveway and kitty corner to the edge of our attached garage. I live in zone 7 and this area gets afternoon sun which I know is not ideal. I wanted to fill this spot and HAD to have this tree.
Welcome, Donna. I just went out and “measured” the width of mine with my shoes…about 15 feet across, but I have shorn it once or twice, so I expect it would be wider, like 20, which is what woody plant expert Michael Dirr says. That means you want to put the trunk out 10 feet from any building/driveway/path. Dont’ skimp and put it closer than 8 feet out or it will get one-sided. Definitely keep it well-watered as it acclimates, of course. Thanks for your visit; see you soon again I hope.