Plant in a a hedge for a tall screen. Fast growing and very drought tolerant.
Pinus sabiniana, Gray Pine, has large cones with tasty pine nuts.
Pinus sabiniana, Gray pines in the snow.
Pinus sabiniana, Gray Pine, and Blue oaks, on a dry December day.
Pinus sabiniana
Pinus sabiniana, digger pine
Description
Gray Pine. Foothill Pine. This conifer grows fast to 45 ft. in 15 years. It can gradually get to 75' in 200 years. The foliage is gray green,lacy, fairly open and it is sometimes called the see-through pine. Native to dry, western slopes of the Sierra Nevada mountains and mostly the inner coast ranges. Gray Pine will grow in full or part sun and it is very drought tolerant. Its open structure gives light shade and if the bottom branches are pruned off, you can garden under it with associated/companion plants. The large seed is edible. Indians used the root fibers for baskets. Understory plants that are companions for Pinus sabiniana are Quercus douglasii, Sanicula crassicaulis, Galium californicum ssp. flaccidum, Galium andrewsii,Quercus agrifolia, Quercus lobata, Achillea millefolium, Rhamnus ilicifolia, Asclepias eriocarpa, Eriodictyon tomentosum, Salvia mellifera, Artemisia douglasiana, Toxicodendron diversilobum, Lotus scoparius, Poa scabrella, Lessingia filaginifolia, Cirsium occidentale var. venustum, Keckiella cordifolia, Rhus trilobata, and Lonicera subspicata. Also, another good companion plant to grow near gray pine is Ceanothus cuneatus.
