# Jack Pine (Pinus banksiana)

> The hardy pine of the far North, with short, twisted needles and curved cones sealed shut for years, for the poorest, driest sand.

Also called gray pine, Banksian pine, Hudson Bay pine. Category: Uncommon Yard Trees. Grown from seed by Blue Whale Trees. Web version: https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/jack-pine/

![Jack pine (Pinus banksiana) two curved, sealed cones on a branch of short, twisted needles](https://bluewhaletrees.com/img/plants/jack-pine-h1610-800.jpg)
*Photo: Doug McGrady, CC BY 2.0, cropped · [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3APinus_banksiana_%28Jack_Pine%29%2C_Acadia_NP%2C_Maine_1.jpg)*

## Facts

- Type: Medium tree
- Mature height: 35 to 65 ft
- USDA hardiness zones: 2 to 7
- Grows wild in: Sandy barrens, dry uplands and rocky ground
- Native range: 9 states, north and west to [Minnesota](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MN) and south to [Indiana](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=IN) ([Illinois](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=IL), [Indiana](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=IN), [Maine](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=ME), [Michigan](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MI), [Minnesota](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MN), [New Hampshire](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NH), [New York](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NY), [Vermont](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=VT) and [Wisconsin](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=WI)). Also recorded, not native, in [Massachusetts](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MA), [Missouri](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MO), [North Dakota](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=ND), [Ohio](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=OH), [Pennsylvania](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=PA), [Rhode Island](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=RI) and [West Virginia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=WV)
- Sun: Full
- Soil moisture: Dry, Average
- Growth rate: Fast
- Flowers: May to June
- Fruit: Cones, September
- First crop: 5 to 10 years (open-grown trees; later in closed stands)
- Mature spread: 30 ft
- Traits: Evergreen, Drought tolerant, Wildlife value, Salt tolerant
- Sold as: Saplings, Seed

Heights and zones are typical ranges for the species in cultivation; local conditions and seed source shift them.

## Availability

Saplings ship [bare-root](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/planting-bare-root-trees-on-arrival/index.html.md) or [in a pot](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/a-sapling-in-a-pot/index.html.md), [usually 12 to 18 inches tall](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/small-sapling-or-big-transplant/index.html.md), in the dormant season, and their height and age are stated with the price, once available. Live plants ship February to May and October to November. Not priced yet: leave an email on the web page for one email when it is priced, with a code for 10% off the plants in that order, not shipping or tax, or write to captain@bluewhaletrees.com.

## Notes

Jack pine is the scrubby pine of the far North, at home on dry, burned-over sand plains where few other trees will grow. It is a pioneer after fire, one of the first trees to cover bare ground, and it grows farther north than any other American pine. Illinois lists it as endangered, and Indiana, New Hampshire and Vermont list it as threatened. Grow it as a windbreak or a fast evergreen cover on poor, dry sand where summers stay cool.

## Size, growth and what to expect

Jack pine grows fast, about 2.75 feet a year in our growth estimator. In its first 20 years it outgrows every other conifer of its range but tamarack. It matures at 35 to 65 feet with a crown 20 to 30 feet wide. Stands break up after 60 to 80 years, though trees have reached 230, and the oldest dated by its rings reached 246.

Trees in the open begin to bear cones at 5 to 10 years. Pollen is shed in May and June, and the curved cones, 1.5 to 2 inches long, ripen in September of their second year. Over most of its range they stay sealed for years until fire or great heat opens them. The Kirtland's warbler nests only in large stands of young jack pine 5 to 20 feet tall, and red squirrels and snowshoe hares feed on it.

It grows wild across Canada from the Northwest Territories to Nova Scotia. In the United States it grows in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and northern New York, and from Michigan, northwestern Indiana and northeastern Illinois west through Wisconsin to Minnesota.

## How to grow Jack Pine

Jack pine needs full sun and takes the poorest, driest sand or gravel. It grows best on a well-drained, acid, loamy sand and does poorly on wet ground. It takes drought and road salt but not heat, and it thrives where summers are cool. Plant it 15 feet from a wall, and set trees 20 feet apart. Keep it more than 50 feet from overhead wires.

Saplings ship bare-root or potted. Plant in early spring or fall, in a hole wider than the roots and no deeper, with the root collar at the soil line. Firm the soil around the roots and water it in. The seed needs no chilling. Sow it a quarter inch deep in spring, or outdoors in fall, and keep the bed moist. Spring-sown seedlings come up within two to eight weeks.

Water every week or two through the first summer, since drought kills many young seedlings on coarse soil. Keep grass and brush back for the first few years, because young jack pines need full sun. Deer and snowshoe hares browse young trees, and where deer are many they can kill trees up to 7 feet tall, so fence young plantings. It needs no pruning.

Each tree carries both male and female cones, and the wind carries the pollen between trees. Seedlings from a tree's own pollen seldom survive in the wild, so trees in a group bear better seed. The jack pine budworm and several sawflies strip the needles, and the sawflies can kill trees. Pine-oak gall rust can infect half of young seedlings and kills many of those with galls on the main stem. Ice storms break it badly.

## Sources

- [USDA Forest Service, Silvics of North America: Jack Pine, Rudolph and Laidly 1990](https://research.fs.usda.gov/silvics/jack-pine)
- [USDA Forest Service, Fire Effects Information System: Pinus banksiana, Carey 1993](https://research.fs.usda.gov/feis/species-reviews/pinban)
- [USDA Forest Service, Woody Plant Seed Manual: Pinus chapter, Krugman and Jenkinson](https://research.fs.usda.gov/download/treesearch/32626.pdf)
- [Flora of North America, vol. 2: Pinus banksiana](http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=200005326)
- [NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox: Pinus banksiana](https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/pinus-banksiana/)
- [The Morton Arboretum: Jack pine](https://mortonarb.org/plant-and-protect/trees-and-plants/jack-pine/)
- [Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder: Pinus banksiana](https://plantfinder.mobot.org/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?taxonid=284994)
- [Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center: Pinus banksiana](https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=PIBA2)
- [USDA NRCS Plant Guide: Jack pine](https://plants.sc.egov.usda.gov/DocumentLibrary/plantguide/pdf/pg_piba2.pdf)
- [Virginia Tech Dendrology: jack pine](https://dendro.cnre.vt.edu/dendrology/syllabus/factsheet.cfm?ID=100)
- [NatureServe Explorer: Pinus banksiana](https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.137380/Pinus_banksiana)
- [Illinois Endangered Species Protection Board: Checklist of Endangered and Threatened Animals and Plants of Illinois, revised 10/31/2025](https://dnr.illinois.gov/content/dam/soi/en/web/dnr/espb/documents/et-list-review-and-revision/2025-illinois-list-revision/2025-e-t-checklist.pdf)
- [Indiana Department of Natural Resources: Endangered, Threatened, and Extirpated Plants of Indiana, 10/29/2025](https://www.in.gov/dnr/nature-preserves/files/np-etrplants.pdf)
- [New Hampshire Natural Heritage Bureau: New Hampshire Official Rare Plants List, effective 01/01/2020](https://www.nhdfl.dncr.nh.gov/sites/g/files/ehbemt866/files/inline-documents/rare-plant-list.pdf)
- [Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department: Endangered and Threatened Plants of Vermont, 10 February 2022](https://vtfishandwildlife.com/sites/fishandwildlife/files/documents/Learn%20More/Library/REPORTS%20AND%20DOCUMENTS/NONGAME%20AND%20NATURAL%20HERITAGE/ENDANGERED,%20THREATENED%20AND%20RARE%20SPECIES%20LISTS/Endangered%20and%20Threatened%20Plants%20of%20Vermont.pdf)
- [New York Natural Heritage Program: New York Rare Plant Status Lists, December 2024](https://www.nynhp.org/documents/321/rare-plant-status-list-2024.pdf)
- [Virginia Tech, Eastern OLDLIST of maximum tree ages: Pinus banksiana](https://dendro.cnre.vt.edu/olds/detail.cfm?genus=Pinus&species=banksiana)

## Read before planting

- [Ten planting mistakes that quietly kill trees](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/ten-planting-mistakes/index.html.md)
- [Transplanting young trees: timing, water and protection](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/transplanting-young-trees/index.html.md)
- [Protecting young trees from voles, rabbits, deer and squirrels](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/protecting-trees-from-animals/index.html.md)
- [How fast every tree and shrub we grow gets tall: growth rate, A to Z](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/growth-rates/index.html.md)
- [Multistem or single stem? Sometimes the trunk is hiding the answer](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/multistem-or-single-stem/index.html.md)
- [Leaf litter, not wood chips, under the canopy](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/leaf-litter-not-wood-chips/index.html.md)

## Related

- Other pines (Pinus) we grow: [Longleaf Pine](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/longleaf-pine/index.html.md), [Pond Pine](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/pond-pine/index.html.md), [Red Pine](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/red-pine/index.html.md), [Sand Pine](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/sand-pine/index.html.md), [Spruce Pine](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/spruce-pine/index.html.md), [Table Mountain Pine](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/table-mountain-pine/index.html.md)
- Under its canopy: [Black Huckleberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/black-huckleberry/index.html.md), [Deerberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/deerberry/index.html.md) and [Mapleleaf Viburnum](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/mapleleaf-viburnum/index.html.md)
- [Planting-site check](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/site-check/index.html.md): for a thrive, struggle or fail verdict on Jack Pine, add ?species=jack-pine with zone (2 to 10), sun (full, part, shade) and moisture (dry, average, wet) to that address; for example, the verdict for zone 2, part sun and average soil as Markdown is at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/site-check/index.html.md?species=jack-pine&zone=2&sun=part&moisture=average
- [Companion species for Jack Pine](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=jack-pine): the natives that share its ground and the plants that pair with it in a yard.
- [Transplant planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/transplant/index.html.md?species=jack-pine): whether Jack Pine can be moved and what the move takes, the root ball, its weight, who can lift it and the months, as Markdown at that address (add caliper= or height=, month= 1 to 12 and soil= sandy, loam or clay)
- [Growth estimator](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/index.html.md): how the height and trunk projections are made; the estimate for Jack Pine as Markdown is at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/index.html.md?species=jack-pine (add height=, years= and site= poor, average or good)
- [Seed sowing planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/index.html.md): how Jack Pine is sown, in the chart for every species (treatment, cold days, depth, timing); the dated plan for it as Markdown is at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/index.html.md?species=jack-pine (add state= and zone= for your own frost dates, method=fridge for the refrigerator route)
- [Pollination planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/index.html.md): what Jack Pine needs for a crop and how many to plant, in the table for every species; the verdict for 2 of them as Markdown is at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/index.html.md?plants=jack-pine:2
- [Planting-window tool](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/planting-window/index.html.md): when to plant Jack Pine where you live, as a fall and a spring window from the local frost dates; the windows as Markdown are at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/planting-window/index.html.md?species=jack-pine&state=MO&zone=6 with your own state and zone in place of those
- [Planting-distance tool](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/distance/index.html.md): how far Jack Pine goes from a house, a septic field, a walk, wires, a property line and the next tree; the distances as Markdown are at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/distance/index.html.md?species=jack-pine&near=house,septic,pavement,wires,boundary,tree
- [Bloom and fruit calendar](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md): the months Jack Pine flowers and fruits, in the grid for every species; its own row and the gaps of a planting with it as Markdown at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md?plants=jack-pine