Pine trees with a crown, making a wind break

[DWM II]

I am wanting to plant some some pines on the west side of my property. I've got a 900ft row on that side and want to provide a wind break and some shade on the property for the evening sun. The problem is I am pine stupid, I know there is long leaf and short leaf (duh) but cant tell the differences between the different long leaf species and such. I know I would like a tree that crowns but can that be manipulated during growth with any species or is there a certain kind I need to target for this? I think its loblolly that gives the look I'm after, just not sure.

[Tom]

Most pines have the same shape.  It varies according to their proximity to other trees.  Pines grown in the open will be short, stocky and limby.  Trees grown in a crowd will be tall, skinny and have a puff of crown on the top.

There is only one Long Leaf pine.  It is fairly slow growing.  The other two SYPs, Slash and Loblolly have longish needles but not like the Long Leaf.  Loblolly grows the fastest with Slash falling between it and the Long Leaf.  If you want a pine windbreak, Loblolly would be the quickest with slash followng behind. I would not consider Long leaf for a windbreak.  Start out planting seedlings about 6 feet apart to get them to grow "up" and prune some.  Then thin after about 5 years to 10 or 20 feet to develop limbs and crown.  If you are looking for saw timber down the road, don't thin until 10 or 12 years.

[DWM II]

Thanks again Tom.

[WDH]

Slash will grow in your country, but loblolly grows faster.  It is getting toward the end of the planting season, so you might be able to get trees at a discount from the State nursery.  Check with the state to see if they have a nursery near you.  I just planted 32,000 loblollys and they cost $52/thousand.  You should be able to buy a bag at a tree seedling nursery (not a local landscape nursery) for about that price.

[Gary_C]

Are any of the pines a good choice for a narrow windbreak or down the road will they be prone to being uprooted in the wind?

[WDH]

Down here they are a good choice.  A better choice would be leyland cypress, but they cost many many times more than loblolly since they are grown for the landscape market rather than the forestry market. 

Loblolly will do well on the sites there in Livingston Parish, leyland cypress might not do so well, I am just not sure.

[DanG]

I haven't thought too much about windbreaks, but I was cogitatin' about a sightbreak before my crappy neighbors left.  What I came up with was a couple of rows of loblollies, fronted by a row or two of Eastern Red Cedar.  I was figgerin' that by the time the pines started self pruning, the cedars would be big enough to fill in the gap at the bottom.

[WDH]

DanG, that is a sound plan with the pine and cedar. 

[DWM II]

Do the leyland cypress give out knees like the bald cypress do? If so they arent an option for me because I want to be able to mow under them.

[Riles]

Leyland cypress don't put out the knees, but they have been overplanted in the south. High humidity causes fungal problems, especially when people plant them close together for the screen effect. Look around your neighborhood to see what other people have done and if you might have a problem with mass plantings.

[DWM II]

I dont see too many leylands here in our area, but i do like DanG's idea of a few rows of erc mixed in there. One question regarding erc, most of them grown down here seem to get really punky at a young age. Is that due to bad growing conditions or is there a blight or parasite I need to know about?

[SwampDonkey]

Spruce makes a nice thick crown for wind break and for privacy. Don't think they do too well down that far south though. I've seen lone white spruce up on high ground in open field that would withstand a lot of wind. They can put down a tap root like a pine if need be. One of them species you can't "pigeon hole" neatly  into a taproot or sinker root form. ;D

[DWM II]

I dont believe ive ever seen a spruce tree, least not one planted. ;) All the spruce down here came from up there for Christmas trees. ;D

[SwampDonkey]

Them's balsam fir. ;D