Your experience with Pinus- strobus, Kotobuki & densiflora

[Rare plant Pat]

Evening all,

looking at a few new pines and wondered what experiences people had had with the following:

Pinus strobus 'Merrimack' - parvifolia like foliage, but a little longer - do they needle shorten?
Pinus thunbergii 'Kotobuki' - any good in terms of shortening needles?
Pinus densiflora 'Low Glow' - as above - do they shorten?

Thanks for any input from your experiences.

[AGarcia]

Kotobuki has short needles. Mine never get longer than an inch. It is a slow grower though and usually grafted to standard black pine stock.

[treeman]

Evening all,

looking at a few new pines and wondered what experiences people had had with the following:

Pinus strobus 'Merrimack' - parvifolia like foliage, but a little longer - do they needle shorten?
Pinus thunbergii 'Kotobuki' - any good in terms of shortening needles?
Pinus densiflora 'Low Glow' - as above - do they shorten?

.

# 1 no good, drops dead easily, bleeds, no bark.
# 2 good, upright growth.
# 3 no good too course, thick shoots. May be possible but not as good as the species.

[Rare plant Pat]

Thanks Mike. Didn't like the loose look of the Merrimack needles that much anyway, just saw one with a nice trunk. Happy to walk on by.