Care Guide For Cloud Shaped Pines

We recommend the use of Empathy Rootgrow in preparation for planting trees and shrubs. It is a mycorrhizal fungi powder which is sprinkled into the planting hole to encourage strong growth and resistance to drought.

Watering: Ensure the plants are watered regularly over the growing season, from April/May until Sept/Oct depending on the weather conditions.
The cloud pines in our nursery are in containers. We water them three times a week during the summer, but the amount of water should be judged along with the climate conditions.

Feeding: Feed the plants over the summer months with Empathy Evergreen food sprinkled onto the ground surrounding the plant. 
With topiary any flower growth can take energy away from the leaves and they become yellow and tired. On Pines the product of the flower is a Pine cone and these should be removed as soon as you see them.

Clipping: Trimming should be done at the beginning of the season, (the beginning of June). Just trim lightly at this point with clean sharp shears, re-shaping the clouds and removing any obvious pieces that don’t look right.

Trim again at the end of the season (late August) again re-shaping the clouds.

It is natural for the plant to get brown needles; this encourages the new growth. Shake the plant vigorously to remove these or just trim them off.
When you trim the plant it will ooze resin, which is incredibly sticky. We have found that white spirit or WD40 is the best thing to remove the resin from your hands and shears.