Pinus Sylvestris ‘Lodge Hill’ (Dwarf Scots Pine)

A really beautiful little dwarf form of the classic grey-needled Scots pine. Reddish brown winter buds snuggling fuzzily into the lovely dense needles of last year are a standout feature of this charming little tree. And it is quite little: achieving around 1.5 metres in height and 2.5 metres spread after a good 10 years.

Shape-wise it’s sometimes dome-shaped, and sometimes less so but with a slightly flattened-but-rounded volume. As they mature these trees can also develop a pleasingly irregular shape over time and this keeps them looking cloudlike, relaxed and youthful. Since it’s a true dwarf it will make a well-behaved and valuable addition to a mixed planting of conifers in a dedicated border, and an ideal foil for some pillowy, pin-cushiony alpines in a rockery or scree. There are some mature ones in the Dell Gardens of Bressingham which have been allowed (or encouraged) to form puffly puddings with their trunks bare. There’s no heaviness to them at all but their density remains striking. Visit them in Autumn and see some mauve Asters gathered frothily at their base: a magnificent pairing.

If you’re gardening on a slightly less grand scale, you could grow these in a wide, low planter where the sweeping upright curves of its branches can still soufflé about dreamily among your other courtyard pots and they will look reliably lovely year-round. Valuable on a terrace for evergreen structure, or indeed a balcony if that’s what you’ve got and you’re not keen on Asters.

Happy in any free draining soil so scatter with abandon and let them drift…but do give them a position in full sun. ‘Lodge Hill’ is just as hardy and wind-resistant as the species type. A smashing tree.

N.B. When clipping several plants with the same tool, have a bucket containing a 5% bleach solution and swish your blades around for 30 seconds between plants to sterilise them. This will help avoid the chance of cross contamination of disease.

As with all woody plants, plant high, exposing as much of the taper at the base of the trunk as possible. Allowing soil to accumulate round the base of a tree can be fatal. Keep very well-watered when first planted.