How to Grow and Care for Mugo Pines

08.10.2023 - 20:15 / gardenerspath.com / Kristine Lofgren

How to Grow and Care for Mugo Pines Pinus mugo

Mugo pines can’t be beaten if you’re looking for something to add texture and year-round interest to the garden. The long needles are distinctive, even more so when they’re variegated or those that change color.

That’s right, some cultivars have needles that change color from summer to winter. Instead of dropping from the plant like deciduous leaves, the color alters from season to season.

Mugo pines come in a wide range of sizes, from itty-bitty dwarf shrubs to towering trees.

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Also known as creeping pine, mountain pine, or the rather uninspiring monkier of bog pine, part of what makes mugo pine such a stellar garden option is that it only sheds its needles once every four years.

If you’ve ever spent the weekend raking up needles from the lawn or picking them out of your feet when you walk outside barefoot, you appreciate what a treasure a pine that doesn’t shed frequently is.

Thriving in USDA Hardiness Zones 2 to 7, this species is tough as nails when it comes to the cold. It’s not as fond of the sweltering heat, though.

Whether you need something for a rock garden, to fill a pot on your patio, or as a reliable specimen tree in your lawn, you know a mugo will have you covered.

Ready to learn all about this evergreen stalwart? Here’s what we’re going to go over:

Incidentally, mugo pines have a bit of a reputation for not sticking to their advertised size. When you’re planting a dwarf tree, you want it to stay dwarf.

But more than one person I know has found themselves digging up a tree that turned out to be nothing like what they expected.

If you’ve heard the