Chinese Pistache Tree for Sale - Buying & Growing Guide

Planting and Care

by Mary Van Keuren | Gardener (30+ Years Experience) – last update on April 12, 2022

Planting instructions

Site your Chinese pistache tree in soil that drains well, in a spot that gets good sunlight at least six hours a day. Since a mature tree has a canopy 25 to 35 feet wide, keep it 15 feet or more away from buildings, and avoid overhead wires. Dig a hole that’s as deep as the root ball and three times as wide. Unpot the sapling, and tease out any encircling roots, as they can girdle the tree and kill it. Place it in the hole and hold it upright as you fill in around it with topsoil, tamping down as you go to avoid air pockets. Water thoroughly, and spread an organic mulch, such as bark chips, around the root zone, being careful that it does not touch the trunk itself.

Watering and nutrients

For the tree’s first growing season, water it twice a week, unless you have good rainfall. Once it’s established and showing robust growth, you can cut back on watering. A mature tree should not need supplemental watering unless you’re experiencing an extreme drought. Fertilize young trees in spring and early summer with a nitrogen-rich product. An established tree won’t need fertilizing unless it shows signs of nutrient deficiencies, such as yellowing leaves.

Pollination

Chinese pistache trees are dioecious, meaning that male and female plant parts are on separate trees. If you have more than one tree including both types, you will see small bright fruits in clusters on the female trees. They are green in late summer, then turn to red and finally to blue. They are beloved by birds, which spread the seeds far and wide.

Pruning

A mature Chinese pistache tree shouldn’t need pruning except to remove broken or diseased branches. Young trees benefit from pruning in early spring to open up the center of the tree and eliminate weak branches, which may be coming out of the tree at an acute angle. Thin out lateral branches, leaving alternating, wide-angled ones on either side of the tree. You can also shape the young tree’s canopy somewhat, but don’t remove more than one-third of the branches in any one year.

Pests and diseases

The Chinese pistache tree is remarkably pest- and disease-free. Once in a great while, a tree may show signs of verticillium wilt, a fungal disease that causes leaves to curl up and wilt. It may also leave dark spots on the branches. There is no cure for it, and it lives on in the soil, so avoid replanting in the same spot. Pests that may impact your tree include aphids, scale insects, and foliage-feeding caterpillars.

Achieving maximum results

If you purchase a Chinese pistache tree and the young sapling is unbalanced or scrawny, don’t despair. The Chinese pistache tree has earned the nickname of the “ugly duckling tree” because it is often lopsided when young but eventually balances out to form a full, attractive canopy when it matures. Judicious pruning when your tree is young will help it build that full canopy, so schedule a pruning session each spring for the first few years. Trim out weak branches, as we suggested above, then step back and survey the tree. You want to build a good scaffold of wide branches around the central trunk, to give it the foundational elements that will allow it to thrive.

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Customer Reviews

Anonymous

Verified Buyer April 15, 2021 at 4:04pm

Two thumbs up

I was pleasantly surprised on the care of the package and the condition of the tree. I have not transplanted it yet but it is doing very well. Thank You!!