What to do with a pine sapling

Delzhand

Over the past few weeks, a pine sapling sprouted in my backyard, right along a fence where my lawnmower couldn't reach. It's about 6 feet tall and very green. I uprooted it because the neighbor thought it was a weed, but when I showed it to him, he realized it wasn't. I live in a rented house, so I don't think the owner would be cool with me just planting in in the lawn, but I feel a weird sort of attachment to this plant. Right now it's a in a little 1 foot planter with some potting soil. Is it possible to keep a pine as an indoor plant? If not, I'd like to try to find a spot where it can grow on its own.

There's a park nearby, and I was thinking I should look for a spot where it won't be messed with by kids, has room to grow, and won't be run over with a mower. Is there anything else I should look for, or anything I can do to protect or help it grow?

Enc

Parks are designed with specific greenery placed in specific places, and pine trees can get very large root systems which can disrupt buried items. If you don't own the property, don't add or remove greenery.

In national parks and wildlife swales some forms of greenery, even things as common as pine, can throw off the balance of the local ecosystem as well. It's not a simple "well lets just move it." If that tree has any number of diseases or fungal spores you could be doing more harm to existing plants than good for the one you want to save.

Delzhand

Well the park isn't a maintained park, just a wooded area with some paths through it, and it's less than a block away from the tree whose pinecone it came from. But those are still good points that I hadn't thought about.

Xaquin

Honestly, I'd either toss it or plant it as far away from the house as you can. It won't survive in potting soil for long nor will it survive indoors.

When you replant it, (which I hope you do!), dig a hole roughly twice as wide and twice as deep as the root bulb and make sure the soil is loose (but firm) around it. Add some fertilizer in the bottom of the hole and water it well for the first week!

davidsdurions

Bonsai time.

Or what xaquin said.

Delzhand

I did basically what Xaquin suggested. It's only a few yards from where it was originally, but it's no longer a concern for the neighbor, it's a spot the lawnmower doesn't reach, it's near the greenwall enough that it won't be a big deal if it does thrive, and I can see it from my kitchen.

Bliss 101

A bit late to the party, but you could definitely keep one as an indoor plant, although it would do better if you move it to a cool place during winter.

Although it wouldn't be out of the question to discuss this with the owner as well. Maybe they like the idea of having a tree growing in the yard, as long as they agree with the spot it's planted in.

Deathwing

Delzhand wrote: »

I did basically what Xaquin suggested. It's only a few yards from where it was originally, but it's no longer a concern for the neighbor, it's a spot the lawnmower doesn't reach, it's near the greenwall enough that it won't be a big deal if it does thrive, and I can see it from my kitchen.

You know your area better than I do, but if you only moved it a few yards then I would think it could still be a problem for somebody eventually - my wife & I just moved into a house that has a couple pines/firs in the front yard...they started as Christmas trees about 15-20 years ago, now they're easily 50+ feet tall with a spread of branches to match.

mts

also keep in mind that a conifer will kill any other plants in a general radius around it since it releases allelochemicals to inhibit competition

schuss

Yeah, Pines are sort of everywhere. We actually just had a bunch of 60+ footers cut on our property as they were dropping branches and could potentially fall on the house. Pines can only get so big before they're a bit of a liability.

Enc

You really should ask your landlord. If there are any buried elements in your yard (irrigation, electrical, plumbing) those roots will eventually disrupt it. Since you are renting this sounds like a huge headache for a landlord to deal with, especially if they are not frequently at the property for inspection. Finding out you have a 20 foot, half a ton tree with a 12ft root radius to remove is generally a $500-$1200 job for removal, without stump removal.

schuss

Enc wrote: »

You really should ask your landlord. If there are any buried elements in your yard (irrigation, electrical, plumbing) those roots will eventually disrupt it. Since you are renting this sounds like a huge headache for a landlord to deal with, especially if they are not frequently at the property for inspection. Finding out you have a 20 foot, half a ton tree with a 12ft root radius to remove is generally a $500-$1200 job for removal, without stump removal.

Really? We paid 2-250 a tree for ours.

Deathwing

Yeah, same here, I must be getting a bargain if that's normal - we just got a quote of $1200 to have a crew do as much as they can squeeze into 8 hours, which will include taking down at least 5 or 6 multi-trunked silver maples (about 10-30 ft each), hopefully also a couple dying spruces, and cleanup. Not going to grind most of the stumps though, granted.

Enc

schuss wrote: »

Enc wrote: »

You really should ask your landlord. If there are any buried elements in your yard (irrigation, electrical, plumbing) those roots will eventually disrupt it. Since you are renting this sounds like a huge headache for a landlord to deal with, especially if they are not frequently at the property for inspection. Finding out you have a 20 foot, half a ton tree with a 12ft root radius to remove is generally a $500-$1200 job for removal, without stump removal.

Really? We paid 2-250 a tree for ours.

Depends on the location (city/county permitting rates for tree removal can add 200-400 per job) along with waste costs in your area. My county is really expensive for waste product removal, while 10 miles across town my sister paid about $500 for a similar removal.

Stump removal is easily +$2-300 per tree, doubly so if the root system is entwined with piping or electrical.

And regardless of $250 or $2,500, that's money your landlord would have to pay for something they didn't authorize which is a really crappy thing to do to someone when all you have to do is pick up the phone and ask what they think about the property.

Delzhand

Aaaaaand it's dead.

Xaquin

Delzhand wrote: »

Aaaaaand it's dead.

doh!

probably shock from being dug up and replanted

(I swear I gave you sound planting advice!)

mts

Xaquin wrote: »

Delzhand wrote: »

Aaaaaand it's dead.

doh!

probably shock from being dug up replanted

(I swear I gave you sound planting advice!)

i bet he heard that tree scream murderer.