This blog is authored weekly by Cathy Ludden, conservationist and native plant educator and Board Member, Greenburgh Nature Center.Plants will be shipped at the proper planting time for your area of the A baby White Pine at the edge of the Nature Center’s Meadow And we also recommend planting Eastern White Pine if you have the chance. We recommend a book, White Pine: American History and the Tree That Made a Nation by Andrew Vietze for more information. The Eastern White Pine is an iconic plant with a fascinating history. It may be tempting to plant rows of young pines for that purpose, but remember - they grow up to be “mast trees!” Beautiful, but not a good privacy screen! It’s also not a good idea to plant White Pines as a property-line screen. Plant it where you can see its whole, unique shape from a window, and enjoy the fuzzy look of its needles. It’s not a good idea to plant a White Pine too close to your house or other structures. An arborist friend says White Pines are “self-pruning” because they drop branches as they mature. Though it is fast-growing, it can live to be hundreds of years old, so it needs some space. White Pine cones are a valuable food source for wildlife White Pine needles are fragrant, soft, and a host plant for butterflies and mothsĪs a landscape plant, Eastern White Pine is a gorgeous evergreen that smells divine and needs no special care. Its soft needles host the larvae of a dozen or more species of moths and butterflies. Song birds, squirrels, and many other animals depend on the seeds in its pinecones. Because of its vast height, it is a favorite nesting tree for bald eagles and hawks. Today, this magnificent tree deserves our admiration for its beauty and its value to the ecosystem. Both before and after the Revolution, White Pine was critical to the economy and development of America. It is thought that this act of rebellion, known as the “Pine Tree Riot,” was inspiration for the Boston Tea Party not long after. Outraged at being fined for cutting trees on their own land, a group of “traitorous rebels,” colonists disguised with ash on their faces, dragged two British enforcement officers out of their beds, beat them with pine branch switches, tied them backwards onto their horses, and drove them out of town. Penalties were assessed for cutting the King’s pines, and fines were collected by surveyors appointed by the Crown - until one night in 1771 in Weare, New Hampshire. The Royal Navy wanted to protect its supply of mast trees, so England declared that all White Pines with a diameter of 24 inches or more were property of the King. White Pines tower over other forest trees White Pines grow tall and straight with few lower branchesĪs colonists expanded settlements in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine, it didn’t take them long to recognize that Eastern White Pine was extremely useful for building everything. Whole forests made of enormous “mast trees” were a shipbuilder’s paradise, and the Eastern White Pine became a major factor in England’s decision to colonize North America. It drops its lower branches as it matures, creating a smooth expanse ready for milling. It is strong, but able to bend without snapping in stormy winds. The Eastern White Pine grows tall and straight, reaching 130 feet or more. Masts had to be pieced together, creating vulnerabilities in bad weather and warfare. The Royal Navy was forced to negotiate with Norway and the Baltics for timber, but the biggest trees available were no more than 27 inches in diameter and not close to the necessary height. England had long since been cleared of trees that size, giving France, Spain, and the Dutch a critical advantage in shipbuilding. Warships needed enormous wooden masts, at least 3 feet in diameter and over 100 feet tall. And towering above the oaks, maples, beech, and birch trees were countless magnificent pines, so tall and straight that the explorers soon started calling them “mast trees.” Forest of Eastern White PineĮngland’s power in the 17 th and 18 th centuries depended largely upon the British Royal Navy. Here, they saw seemingly infinite forests coming right up to the shoreline. In 1605, English explorers sailing along the eastern coast of North America spied a solution to one of England’s most pressing problems: the lack of suitable trees for ships’ masts. This iconic evergreen is profoundly connected to the early history of the United States. Look out almost any window in suburban Westchester County, and chances are you can see an Eastern White Pine ( Pinus strobus). This week on our Around the Grounds blog, we take a look at a towering evergreen with a rich history.
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