Loblolly Pine Seedlings

Our loblolly pine seedlings are Pinus taeda, the fastest-growing of the southern pines and a standard for timber, screens and reforestation across the Southeast. They ship bare-root at 6-12 inches, 12-18 inches and as a row run of mixed 6 to 24 inch seedlings, in packs of 100, 500 and 1000.

Loblolly Pine Size, Zones and Sun

A mature loblolly runs 60 to 90 feet tall and 20 to 40 feet wide. It's hardy in zones 6 to 9, wants full sun (six hours or more) and outgrows every other pine. Clay, loam and sand all work. It prefers moist, acidic soil (below pH 6) but tolerates alkaline ground, and it handles wet, poorly drained sites better than most pines.

Loblolly Pine Needles, Cones and Bark

Count the needles in a bundle. Three means loblolly (white pine has five). They're long, 6 to 10 inches, and dark yellow-green, and each one stays on for about three years before it drops. The cones run 3 to 6 inches and hang on the tree for about a year, opening from fall into winter to let the seed out. Bark on a young tree is scaly and reddish gray-brown. As the tree ages it grows into big, flat, red-brown plates.

Loblolly Pine and Wildlife

Squirrels and birds eat the seeds, the evergreen needles give winter cover, and imperial moth and eastern pine elfin caterpillars feed on the foliage. Deer don't favor it much. For year-round color beside it, our list of evergreens that give year-round privacy has good companions.

Loblolly Pine for Screens, Timber and Reforestation

Young loblolly puts on height fast, which makes it a quick screen and a workhorse for reforestation blocks. It's also a major timber tree, grown for pulp, plywood and construction lumber. Our rundown of ways to put pines and other conifers to work on a property covers screens, timber income and habitat.

Good to Know About Loblolly Pine

Like most pines, loblolly is flammable, and extension guidance is to keep it out of the defensible space around a house, so plant it back from buildings. Wind can damage limbs, and southern pine beetle is the pest foresters watch for. Give each tree room and airflow.

Planting Loblolly Pine Seedlings

Keep the roots wet from the time the bundle arrives until the seedling is in the ground, and never let them sit in sun or wind. Open a slot or hole deep enough that the roots hang straight down, set the root collar just below the surface, and pack the soil firmly so no air pockets remain. On heavy clay or wet ground, plant on a slight mound. Loblolly tolerates tough sites, but a good planting job is what gets a seedling through its first summer.

Spacing and Acreage

Timber and reforestation plantings commonly run about 8 by 10 feet, or around 540 trees to the acre, so a pack of 500 plants close to an acre and a pack of 1000 about two. Screens go wider because each tree ends up 20 to 40 feet across.

Loblolly Pine Seedling Sizes, Packs and Shipping

Loblolly pine seedlings ship bare-root in November, in 6-12 inch and 12-18 inch sizes or a 6 to 24 inch row run, in packs of 100, 500 and 1000. Keep the roots damp until planting day. Volume pricing available. See the rest of our wholesale seedling collection.