Pinus mugo ‘Uncinata’

Pinus mugo subsp. uncinata, sometimes listed as Pinus uncinata, is the taller, tree-form of mountain pine. Where the standard Pinus mugo stays a low shrub, this one grows into a single-stemmed evergreen that can reach 15 to 20m on a good site.

The dark green needles are held in pairs and the bark becomes deeply fissured with age. Small cones with distinctive hooked scales follow in autumn, which is where the name ‘uncinata’ (hooked) comes from.

This is a properly tough conifer. It copes with exposed sites, cold winters, poor thin soils and salty coastal winds. Plant in full sun in well-drained soil. Little to no pruning needed.

One for a windswept garden, a coastal plot, or a colder country garden where less tough conifers struggle.