Slash Pine Tree 10 Live Plants Pinus Elliottii Fast Growing Stately Shade Tree

Slash Pine grows well on a variety of acidic soils in full sun or partial shade. It does poorly in basic soil high pH and so is not recommended for soils with high pH, or where irrigation water has a high pH. Once established, it is more tolerant of wet sites than most other Pines and is moderately salt-tolerant. It is not highly drought-tolerant but more so than most other Pines. The horizontal branches break easily in ice storms. Since shaded lower branches die and drop as the tree grows taller be careful not to plant them too close to high traffic areas where branches could fall on people or vehicles, unless there is a regular maintenance plan to remove them. Slash pine seeds are important food for wild turkeys, and slash pine woodlands provide habitat for both wild turkeys and white-tailed deer. Gray and fox squirrels will cut open cones to get at the pine seeds. The slash pine continues to serve as an important timber tree, producing heavy, strong wood for many types of construction. The species elliottii is a large, stately, heavily-branched, long-needled conifer has a rapid growth rate and is capable of reaching 100 feet in height with a three to four-foot-diameter trunk. The six-inch-long cones appear among the dark green, six to twelve-inch-long needles, and are favored by wildlife. Squirrels are particularly fond of the seeds, as they chew open the cones and litter your sidewalk or driveway with debris. The red-brown bark is deeply furrowed and scaly. Slash pine is self-pruning of its lower branches, is somewhat pyramidal when young and forms an open, rounded canopy creating a light, dappled shade beneath. This allows just enough sun to filter through for maintenance of a lawn beneath this tall, evergreen tree or for underplanting's of dogwoods, azaleas, camellias and other plants which thrive in this high, shifting shade.