Diferent pine trees

[coconut2024]

Hey! I have some relatives in Texas, in San Antonio area and I want to know, which pines that grow there could also grow here in Brežice, zone 8a? Hopefully they can survive our drough in summer.

[Austinpalm]

Hello Coconut2024,

No pine tree species are native to San Antonio per se but Texas pinyon (Pinus remota) can be found within 100 miles to the west and loblolly pine (Pinus taeda) can be found within a similar distance to the east. Loblolly experiences typical southeast USA weather (hot humid summers with generally mild but ocassionally very cold winters).  Texas pinyon experiences similar but is found in areas with much less rainfall and generally rockier conditions.  Another local native you might look into is bald cypress (Taxodium distichum?).  My apologies that I cannot tell you more.  I do not have much experience with pine trees.  Have heard to Afghan pine does well in central Texas, but I have no experience with it.  Good luck!

[coconut2024]

On 1/6/2026 at 10:09 PM, Austinpalm said:

Hello Coconut2024,

No pine tree species are native to San Antonio per se but Texas pinyon (Pinus remota) can be found within 100 miles to the west and loblolly pine (Pinus taeda) can be found within a similar distance to the east. Loblolly experiences typical southeast USA weather (hot humid summers with generally mild but ocassionally very cold winters).  Texas pinyon experiences similar but is found in areas with much less rainfall and generally rockier conditions.  Another local native you might look into is bald cypress (Taxodium distichum?).  My apologies that I cannot tell you more.  I do not have much experience with pine trees.  Have heard to Afghan pine does well in central Texas, but I have no experience with it.  Good luck!

Thanks!

[Silas_Sancona]

28 minutes ago, coconut2024 said:

Thanks!

You might look over species profiles/ climate tolerances of various species over on Conifers.org  to get an idea of what sps. ..that grow in the Southeastern U.S. / overall U.S. , etc areas in the Americas.. might work in your part of the world. 

From what i've read, appears there are several from this side of the world that have done pretty well in various areas over there.. 

[SeanK]

Where I live in the SE US, all the native are huge. Long Leaf, Slash, Loblolly, Shortleaf; all 100-feet full grown. White pine gets pretty big, too. Virginia pine grows to about 60-feet. 

Finding short pines suitable for private yards is difficult.

[ChrisA]

A lot will depend on your soil type, drainage, and PH. San Antonio is on the edge of humid, muggy conditions and desert dryness. From a soil perspective we have heavy clay, sand, and limestone in places and the soil (unlike in the SE US) is very alkaline. 
 

With that said, pine trees are few and far between in San Antonio and many areas contain no pines at all.

There is a morph of Loblolly that is native within 100 miles of San Antonio which is an ecotype of that species which is able to handle more alkaline soil and drought conditions. Nearly all pines require good drainage and those native to the eastern US prefer acidic soils and more consistent rainfall.

Pines that do the best in San Antonio are those native to the Mediterranean region which withstand drought and alkaline soils: Pinus hallapensis (Aleppo Pine), Pinus eldarica (Afghan Pine),  and Pinus pinea (Italian Stone Pine). Also have seen Pinus thunbergii (Japanese Black Pine) occasionally and this seems to be a really adaptable pine! Overall for San Antonio I’d say the Aleppo pine is the best looking given the conditions. One risk being that in a near record cold spell it could be wiped out.  

Pines to avoid in SA would be:

Pinus strobus (Eastern White Pine) - too hot and dry, soil too alkaline

Pinus ponderosa (Ponderosa Pine) - too hot and humid with no winter season, drainage could be an issue

Pinus edulis (Pinyon Pine) - too hot and humid, too wet

Pinus canariensis (Canary Island Pine) - too cold
 

For your region, since you are zone 8a, you might check Pinus roxburghii (Himalayan or Chir Pine). This pine grows well in the SE US and is quite cold hardy, down to 0F I believe. Probably too hot and humid in San Antonio for it, but not sure anyone has tried.

 

 

 

 

Edited January 17 by ChrisA