How to Grow Pine Trees in Mississippi
- 1). Select a site for planting pine that gets full sun for at least six to eight hours per day. Test the soil with your hands before planting. If the soil holds together when you squeeze it in your fist, you have too much clay.
- 2). Amend clay soils with equal parts peat and sand for a loose, well-draining mix. Loblolly and short leaf pine need deep, sandy or silty soil to do well. A cubic yard of amended soil for each seedling should be sufficient.
- 3). Plunge a spade straight down into the soil, then push the blade forward, creating a wedge-shaped hole. Set the pine seedling in the hole so that the root crown is even with the soil line. If it sits too high or too low, the seedling will not survive. Close the wedge-shaped hole by stepping firmly on both sides of the seedling's trunk. Pour a healthy splash from a bucket of water to finish the planting process.
- 4). Continue watering every other day for three weeks after planting to help the roots establish and begin to grow. In the spring, look for fresh, green growth, called "candles," to appear at branch tips. The length of the candle at midsummer will tell you how much you can expect the pine to grow each year.
- 5). Prune out deadwood as you see it, using pruning shears. Prune the lowest rung of branches from the trunk each fall to encourage vertical growth and raise the skirt of the pine. Other than that, little maintenance is needed for pine to grow in Mississippi's naturally humid, warm environment.
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