Shore pine was not one I had on my list of greens for a few years until I discovered it. It is odd how you may know so much about plants and such, but then make a new discovery just because you noticed some sitting in a box at the supply house!

I was picking up my typical greens’ orders in early December one year, and I just happened to see it in a box on another table, and asked, “What’s this?” The reply was, “shore pine.”

Next question, of course, was, “Can I get some?”

I always wished wholesale suppliers would have classes. A manager literally rolled her eyes at me when I asked or suggested this idea. I understand, they just don’t have the time, they are so busy, and teaching us is not part of their job, but I do wish there was an intro to what they have and how to use it, especially if someone was a newbie.

Anyhow, if you are new to the world of greens for wreath making, hopefully you found me because I started writing this month about the various greens used in holiday wreaths and kissing balls. Each post is covering a different holiday greenery.

Shore pine is a needled evergreen tree or shrub. The needles appear and grow along very long stems. The whole stem is covered with the short dark green needles, so you end up with a nice long piece of fully covered dark green needles on a stem.

The stems are somewhat flexible, but I think what I liked about these the most is how long the stems were. You could literally use whole pieces of the shore pine branches to make a quick simple wreath without cutting it into pieces if you wanted to, and because they are flexible, they were easy to bend in a circle around a wreath frame. Then just using some green florist wire, wrap here and there to secure it to your wreath frame.

One year, I made some Peace Sign wreaths. I used coat hangers to make the center of the peace sign and used the shore pine wired to it – it was relatively easy to secure. Again, the long pieces of the shore pine worked well for this application.

On this wreath, I also secured moss behind the shore pine so it would be a nice green color.

Shore pine is a great item to add to the mix. It offers another texture when side by side with other greens. It also makes an excellent thriller tall piece in the center of outdoor holiday pots.

Another way that I used it was as pot toppers. Rings with greens that would be placed level on the top of a pot around the circular perimeter of it.

By just adding some wired pinecones, it was an instant way to dress up a pot. On this photo above, I used small green foam type wreaths as the base, covered them with moss, and just bent the long stems of shore pine over it and wired it in easily.

This dream catcher wreath I made has a round bamboo type wreath under it. As you can see, the long pieces of shore pine were perfect to just mold around it easily and secure.

As far as longevity of the shore pine, I would notice some minor tip yellowing after the holiday or if the shore pine was stored too long. Otherwise, it had decent needle retention and I found it was an easy use green.

Some pieces would have tightly closed cones attached too. And when provided as an item in my box of greens, it was another layer of green texture to use.

I can’t find the photo of this but years ago, a friend at my workshops, made a horse profile wreath and the shore pine is perfect to create the mane along the horse’s head portion. When I find the photo, I will update this post! But any animal like wreaths you may consider making, think of the shore pine as useful for things like that – a tail or whatever. All you have to do is get creative!

Hope you are enjoying these “greens reviews” posts and are having the time to make your own creations this season.

Thank you for visiting,

Cathy Testa
Container Crazy CT
Broad Brook, CT