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Conifer · Pinaceae Draft — unreviewed

Pinyon pine

Pinus edulis Engelm.

Also called pinyon pine, Colorado pinyon, piñón.

Small, slow, rounded pine of the high desert, producing edible pine nuts. Defines the look of pinyon-juniper country gardens.

Size over time

Typical landscape size 5–10 m (16–33 ft) tall and 4–8 m (13–26 ft) wide; slow growth, about 35 years to maturity. Intermediate sizes use the planner’s growth curve (k = 0.12) from the #15 install size.

0246810mPlanting1.8 × 0.9 mYear 33.5 × 2.4 mYear 105.8 × 4.5 mMature7.5 × 6.0 m

Design notes

  • For high-desert sites (Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Flagstaff), not the low desert.
  • Bark beetles kill drought-stressed trees; water deeply during prolonged drought.

Regions

Native range: Colorado Plateau and mountains of Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Utah.

Native to these OpenLandscape3D pilot regions:

Southwest

Native status describes where the species occurs naturally. It is not a promise that it suits a particular garden; site conditions decide that.

Related plants

Afghan pine
Pinus brutia subsp. eldarica · Conifer · 9–15 m (30–49 ft)
Longleaf pine
Pinus palustris · Conifer · 18–24 m (59–79 ft)
Eastern white pine
Pinus strobus · Conifer · 15–24 m (49–79 ft)
Loblolly pine
Pinus taeda · Conifer · 18–27 m (59–89 ft)
White fir
Abies concolor · Conifer · 9–15 m (30–49 ft)
Arizona cypress
Cupressus arizonica · Conifer · 9–12 m (30–39 ft)

Plan with Pinyon pine

Place it in a design, check it against your zone, light and moisture, and see it at year three and year ten.

Start designing Try a sample garden