It will attack Pinus strobus. Of course the USDA is making a fuss overy it. It's impact on the lumber trade, ornamental horticulture, and Christmas tree production would be huge. I know someone who had to give up growing Scotch pine for Christmas because of this pest. He treats his remaining stock and has started to treat his white pine. I know the biggest concern they have is if it will start to attack loblolly pine. Based on resin and bark properties, they think loblolly is at risk.

Staining pine is really tricky. Even different boards from the same tree will look different sometimes. Another problem with pine is it often looks very blotchy when stained. Pretreatment is usually necessary. You can buy pretreatment, or use a one pound cut of shellac as the pretreatment. If you try and do this job yourself, you need to understand you are in for a bit of an adventure. First, you need several pieces of scrap, preferrably from the job just done. Use the stain you mentioned. Then add a coat of oil based varnish. Let that dry(24 hours) and add another coat. If that matches---the color will get more amber and darker with each application---you have the solution. If not, try a coat of orange shellac over the stain. Shellac is produced in several dark colors. You can order any of those colors online. The stuff will come in dried flakes, which you can dissolve in denatured alcohol(specific amounts are necessary for the different intended uses). You may need to experiment for a while before you get close. Jusat remember, every application of an oil based finish adds color. Every application of shellac(even blond/clear) adds color. The finish needs to dry to get the final color.

I will also add my 2 cents to the discussion that your pH need no adjusting. The vast majority of plants prefer a soil that is on the acidic side of the scale and yours is just about right where it needs to be!! In addition to most plants preferring an acidic soil, most plants will tolerate quite a wide range of soil pH as well. Despite what your cooperative extension agent says (and as a professional horticulturist, I question the validity of that advice), raising it a few tenths of a point is not going to make any significant difference in what you can grow or how well it will grow. It is pretty much a waste of time. FWIW, soils in the PNW tend to have a very similar range of pH as yours and there is seldom ever a need to lime. Maybe the lawn now and again if on the lower range of the listing. In fact, in many cases, folks want to make their soil even more acidic to best accommodate ericaceous plants, like blueberries, heaths and heathers and rhododendrons. I would also like to reinforce Babs' statement that bark mulches, wood chips or pine straw do not contribute in any significant way to making a soil acidic or an acidic soil more acidic. You would need dumpster loads full to have any kind of measurable effect.

Ok here goes ; ) Chamaecyparis obtusa 'Fernspray Gold’ (I'm going to try to get all tree names right!)... bought as a teeny tiny bonsai starter back in 2010 I think- one of the only plants I brought with me to this house when we moved 4 years ago. Developed a leader shortly after the move, I kind of like it. Pinks in front. Acer palmatum dissectum 'Red Dragon', in front of a Chamaecyparis nootkatensis ‘Green Arrow’ that a buck rubbed autumn before last... someone here might remember helping me figure out why the middle portion was dead! As suggested I decided to keep it, after cutting off the 3/4 that was dead. I don't know what kind of tree it looks like now but it's still interesting to me, and I don't have enough other stuff out there yet to justify ripping it out anyway. Ah well. A bright yellow barberry gifted by my mom behind the maple. Still want to grab some big rocks for around some of these guys. Picea pungens, 'Globosa' from westernevergreen in my first online conifer order, in spring of 2015. So exciting to see them all getting a little bigger; seeing the new buds in spring are one of my favorite things in the whole wide world. Right up there with watching the kids sleep and smelling the dog's paws, that level of good. Next are the other 2 from that order, Pinus parviflora 'Adcock's Dwarf' and Pinus parviflora 'Goldilocks'. These things are all obviously still very small but I've loved watching them, especially this spring. Then I have some decent growth on the Picea abies 'Pendula' that I also bought 2 years ago, from a nursery here. And this spring we splurged on a nice sized Picea pungens 'The Blues'... (I went a tad crazy this spring with big deal favorites). Then of course I have the curly thing that was the subject of this post-- I can't remember now exactly what variety it is, have to find the tag in the garage. Next I have my two most exciting plant purchases ever, the Tom Thumb and Kohout's Icebreaker I mentioned initially, which part of me thought I should wait until I had more space filled to buy, since they are so tiny and will remain that way for such a long time... but the other part of me thought I kind of have to get them early if I want to see any growth whatsoever! These two are my second online order, from coniferkingdom. At first I felt a little bit sick spending so much on such tiny little babies but then they gave me a free Picea omoriko 'Pendula Bruns' on top of it and while I have no idea where I'm ever going to put him, it made it all OK from there on out. And then when they arrived, I was so pleasantly surprised with the size of the Tom Thumb, though the trunk itself is pretty skinny. (Oh my gosh how cute is that tiny little thing? Can barely see it.) We've got a couple teeny tiny maples out there too, sprinkled in some. It's all still a little pitiful looking from the street but once things grow enough to sort of disguise gas/electric boxes and rainspouts and such, I think (hope) it's going to be really something. : ) thanks for asking Ron... feels good to be remembered!! -Nicole