Pinus Strobus ‘Tiny Kurls’ (Eastern White Pine)

I get really quite carried away when referring to Pinus strobus ‘Tiny Kurls’. The interesting twisted form of their short needles was encountered originally on a single specimen of Pinus strobus ‘Contorta’ in Iowa, and thus ‘Tiny Kurls’ was born. However, certain members of our team refer to this as the Truffula Tree. If you have children of a certain age you might well be familiar with the film ‘The Lorax’ based on the book by Dr Seuss where trees and shrubs not dissimilar in look to a mature topiarised version of this white pine are the subject of dispute between the Barbaloots and Once-Lers of Truffula Valley. Bemused? Quite possibly - 'Google' any of the aforementioned key words or lose no sleep. This dynamically formed coniferous wonder approaches life with a sedate attitude towards growth. Of course it can, the focus of its energy is on producing whirls and twists of eye catching blue-green needles and drawing you magnetically towards it. Think Catherine Wheel rather than rocket managing a height of 1.8m and a spread of 3m after 10 years or so. (Although, contradictorily, while you should keep a safe distance from fireworks, that is definitely not the natural inclination with this pine).

So deploy it as part of a blobbery or border design in your garden. We plant it to hover in a dreamily cloud-like manner against the broader leaves and deeper greens of other trees and shrubs as a point of contrast in our garden designs. You could apply the warp drive and choose a more mature specimen and perhaps one which has been elevated from beguiling shrub to a thing of substantial architectural wonder. With cleared sections of the stems wispish crisp cloud shapes can be trained from the heads which look superb - particularly when dusted with a light frost. Since it is so very strokeable, we might also suggest planting it along a pathway or elevating a few in raised borders or containers to bring those whorled swirling needles closer to your fingers.

It does need full sun and is best in moist well drained soils. Takes any aspect and is good in windy spots.

N.B. When clipping several plants with the same tool, have a bucket containing a 5% bleach solution and swish your blades around for 30 seconds between plants to sterilise them. This will help avoid the chance of cross contamination of disease.

As with all woody plants, plant high, exposing as much of the taper at the base of the trunk as possible. Allowing soil to accumulate round the base of a tree can be fatal. Keep very well watered when first planted.