Woody > Pinus > Pinus banksiana > Pinus banksiana 'Uncle Fogy'
Pinus banksiana
'Uncle Fogy'
Uncle Fogy Jack Pine
Origin: Discovered in the 1960’s by A.G. Johnson as a wild- collected seedling and later planted in the home garden of Mrs. Wylder of Richfild, Minnesota (American Conifer Society, 2021).
Mike's
Opinion
"
This cultivar offers a different and unique look, depending on how you choose to grow it. When grafted it offers an upright, pendulous aspect and without grafting the appearance changes to look like it is crawling along the landscape, covering the ground. Along with the different growing appearances, it has a dark rich green colour and would make an excellent accent or specimen tree in any garden. - Sarah Tuer-Sipos
Michael Pascoe, NDP., ODH., CLT., MSc. (Plant Conservation)
"
| Family |
| Pinaceae |
| Genus |
| Pinus |
| Species |
| banksiana |
| Cultivar |
| 'Uncle Fogy' |
| Category |
| Woody |
| Type |
| Tree (evergreen), Shrub (evergreen) |
| USDA Hardiness Zone |
| 2a -7b |
| Canadian Hardiness Zone |
| 1b- 6a |
| RHS Hardiness Zone |
| H6 |
| Temperature (°C) |
| -45 |
| Temperature (°F) |
| -51 – 48 |
| Height |
| 1 - 2 m |
| Spread |
| 2 - 3 m |
Photographs
Description and Growing Information
Flowering Period
| General Description |
| As a multi-stemmed evergreen shrub, it can either be grown along the ground or grafted and grown as a weeping tree. The tree is dark green with a height of 1-2 m and a spread of 2-3 m, it almost never looks identical to one another. (Pinus Banksiana 'Uncle Fogy - The Site Gardener, 2021) |
| Landscape |
| Added to any property or evergreen garden, it would make an excellent accent or specimen plant. Depending how you choose to grow the plant will determine the best placement of it on the landscape. |
| Cultivation |
| Uncle Fogy Jack Pine grows best in an environment with access to full sun, cool summers, and cold winters. It can tolerate a variety of soils but does best with medium-moisture in soil that is well drained. |
| Shape |
| Depending on how it is grown, the shape will vary. When grafted the tree takes its own unique pendulous form, with curved branches. When grown as a ground cover, the branches will spread along the landscape, almost giving it a sprawling look along the ground. If planted properly the branches can grow and spread over rocks or retaining walls. It will need to be pruned back to give it a neater look. |
| ID Characteristic |
| No matter how it is grown the tree will have curved pendulous branches, and short, stiff, medium green needles in pairs of two. This cultivar will grow upright for about 1 m before it curves down and starts to sprawl along the ground. Younger trees will not produce cones and the winter buds will be covered in resin. |
| Pests |
| It is possible for it to suffer from needle cast and Jack pine budworm. |
| Habitat |
| Horticultural Origin. |
| Bark/Stem Description |
| Branches are low hanging close to the ground, with a light brown almost grey bark that has a rough texture to the surface. If grafted the branches will hang down in a weeping form. |
| Leaf Description |
| Olive green coloured needles that are short, stiff and in bundles of two. |
| Flower Description |
| Fruit Description |
| It takes two years for the cones to ripen. They will either open at maturity or remain closed for as much as 10 years on the tree. These cones are sealed by resin but will open after forest fire. (Pinus banksiana 'Uncle Fogy' - Plant Finder, 2021) |
| Colour Description |
| The branches are a light brown, almost grey, with olive or medium green colour needles attached. The fruit will be a yellowy-brown colour and the cones will be a similar brown to other jack pines. |
| Texture Description |
| The texture of the bark is very coarse to the touch. |
| Notable Specimens |
| The Dawes Arboretum in Newark, Ohio, United States of America, has two currently on their grounds. |
| Ethnobotanical Uses (Disclaimer) |
| Just like the straight species this cultivar has the potential to be trained and used as a Bonsai. |
References
American Conifer Society. 2021. Pinus banksiana 'Uncle Fogy' / Uncle Fogy Jack pine | Conifer Trinomial | American Conifer Society. [online] Available at: [Accessed 19 March 2021].
Missouribotanicalgarden.org. 2021. Pinus banksiana 'Uncle Fogy' - Plant Finder. [online] Available at: [Accessed 21 March 2021].
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