Bosnian pine: plants, care & the most beautiful varieties
The Bosnian pine is a stately ornamental shrub from the Balkan Mountains. In your own garden, the pine can develop just as magnificently and display its skirt of needles.
Its beautiful growth and dense needle coat make the Bosnian Pine (Pinus heldreichii) a popular tree in rock gardens, heather gardens and nature gardens today. This article will tell you how to plant and care for the Pinus heldreichii successfully in the garden and which particularly beautiful varieties there are.
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Bosnian pine: origin and properties
The Bosnian pine, also known as Heldreich’s pine, originally comes from the Balkan Mountains. Due to its robustness and low-maintenance properties, the plant is popular in many gardens. Thanks to its origin in a region with dry soils, it is tolerant of drought. As the Bosnian pine is robust and tolerates drought and heat, it is one of the so-called climate trees.
Its striking shape extends to a cone. With a maximum growth of about 40 cm per year, it is one of the rather slow-growing garden shrubs. The Bosnian pine only reaches a height of about 20 m in its native country. In our latitudes it only grows half as tall, with the dwarf forms up to 3 m tall being extremely popular. An evergreen Bosnian pine has dark green and sharply pointed needles that grow close together. The bark of the pine has a snakeskin-like texture. The tree flowers in May – the male flower cones in a light yellow and the female in a purple red. Its ovoid cones first appear violet and later take on a yellowish-brown colour when ripe.
Tip: Another name for Pinus heldreichii is Pinus leucodermis. The Bosnian pine is often referred to as Pinus heldreichii var. leucodermis, as Pinus leucodermis is a variety comprising several populations that differ from the type form only in a few features.
The most beautiful varieties
The many varieties of Bosnian pine differ mainly in size and width. Their needle colour is usually dark green. We present the most beautiful species and varieties:
- Pinus heldreichii ‘Compact Gem’: The ‘Compact Gem’ cultivar grows to about 350 cm tall and 200 cm wide. The small shrub is therefore stocky and compact. Its needles shine dark green to black-green and grow up to 10 cm long.
- Pinus heldreichii ‘Malinki’: With a height of about 120 and a width of 100 cm, this conical dwarf Bosnian pine ‘Malinki’ remains small and is therefore suitable for smaller gardens.
- Pinus heldreichii ‘Schmidtii’: ‘Schmidtii’ remains in a compact dwarf form. It grows to a maximum height of 80 cm and a width of 50 cm. Its needles also shine in dark green.
- Pinus heldreichii ‘Little Dracula’: The dwarf Bosnian pine ‘Little Dracula’ grows stocky and compact. The variety reaches a height of about 2 m and a width of up to 1.5 m.
Planting correctly
If the pine is offered as a container plant, planting is essentially possible all year around. If root-balled, the months from September to the beginning of April are suitable. Before planting the Bosnian pine, you should choose the right location. This is ideally sunny and offers a well-drained, rather dry, nutrient-poor and calcareous soil. Depending on the variety, about 0.5 to 3 m² of space should be planned for outdoors. Use a high quality plant soil for planting, such as our Plantura Organic All Purpose Compost. This substrate is enriched with wood fibres, which allows the fine roots of the Bosnian pine to spread easily. Planting in a tub is also possible. Make sure that the plant pot is large enough, as the Bosnian pine is a deep rooter. A container about 45 cm wide and at least 40 cm deep is best, for example a goblet-shaped planter. Under suitable conditions in the bed, the taproot of the Bosnian pine can root up to 7 m deep.
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Planting Bosnian pine in the bed
- Loosen soil
- Dig a planting hole 1.5 to 2 times as wide and deep as root ball
- If the soil tends to compact, create a drainage layer, e.g. of gravel
- Add about 3 – 5 litres of planting soil into the planting hole
- Immerse the root ball in a water bath before planting
- Remove the pot and lightly score the roots of the Bosnian pine (only if the potted plant is very well rooted) in 3 – 4 places with a knife or secateurs
- Place the woody plant at the correct height (the trunk should reach the ground and be slightly above the surrounding ground level) in the planting hole
- Fill the cavity with a mixture of excavated soil and potting compost and press down
- In the case of root-balled plants, fill the planting hole with loose soil until the root ball is flush with the topsoil, then place the plant straight in the hole and remove the balling cloth
- Apply a mulch layer of about 5 – 15 cm
Planting Bosnian pine in a pot
- Choose a container at least 45 cm wide, 40 cm deep and with a water drainage hole
- Spread a drainage layer of expanded clay on the bottom of the pot
- Plant Bosnian pine in structurally stable potting soil
- Water directly after planting
- Repot every 2 years
Caring for Bosnian pine
The Bosnian pine is a robust ornamental shrub that requires little care. In principle, it copes with extremely little fertilisation. If you want to fertilise the Bosnian pine, it is best to do so between March and August. Fertiliser does not necessarily have to be applied in the bed if the soil offers enough nutrients. In principle, fertilising the bed twice a year is sufficient, while in the container it can be useful to apply fertiliser about every fortnight – because here the nutrient reserves are used up more quickly. Ideally, you should fertilise the Bosnian pine in the pot with a liquid fertiliser such as our Plantura Liquid Houseplant Food. Due to the Bacillus amyloliquefaciens it contains, this fertiliser not only improves soil quality but also makes nutrients more available.
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There is no need to prune the pine, as it achieves its beautiful growth habit all by itself. As the Bosnian pine is hardy down to -30 °C, it does not need frost protection in the bed. In the pot, however, it should be protected from very heavy frosts, because the entire pot can freeze through. In this case, it is best to place the planter against the protected wall of the house and wrap it in fleece or jute, for example. Make sure that the soil always remains moist in winter and never dries out completely.
In the pot as well as in the bed, the Bosnian pine is a beautiful and low-maintenance ornamental shrub. The Alberta spruce (Picea glauca ‘Conica’) with its ornamental needles and pyramidal growth is also excellent for decoration in the garden.
