Pinus thunbergii Mini Yatsabusa

I'm in love with this little guy.

For anyone renting or living in a small space, here is your living table top Christmas tree. Small enough to live outside or on a balcony for 11 months of the year, and tough enough to endure all of your crabby relatives in your house for the festive season.

I'm a BIG crusader for avoiding cut Christmas trees, and worse still, plastic monstrosities. This dwarf conifer will live with you for the remainder of your existence, and if you're nice enough to it, it may even be passed down to your kids.

Get one now while they're available and start a family tradition.

Common Name:
Dwarf Japanese Black Pine

Description:
Pinus thunbergii ‘Yatsabusa’, commonly referred to as Dwarf Japanese Black Pine, is a slow-growing, compact conifer prized for its distinctive architectural form and rich green, densely packed needles. This unique cultivar is a naturally dwarf variety of the classic Pinus thunbergii (Japanese Black Pine) and is highly valued for its use in traditional Japanese gardens, bonsai culture, and as a sculptural feature in modern landscapes. Its growth habit is compact and irregular, giving it a naturally windswept or layered appearance that only improves with age. In Melbourne gardens, ‘Yatsabusa’ performs best in full sun with free-draining soil, showing excellent drought and wind tolerance once established. It requires little maintenance beyond the occasional shaping or candle pruning to refine its form. Ideal for feature planting, rockeries, containers, or coastal gardens, this pine adds timeless structure, movement, and year-round evergreen colour to any setting.

Form:

• Shrub - Clumping / Grass-like / Mounding

• Tree - Small (in maturity or long term)

Mature Size:

• Height: 1 to 2 metres (slow growing over many years)

• Width: 1 to 2 metres

Aspect:

• Full Sun

Flowering:

• Does not flower

Flower Colour:

• Does not flower

Key Attributes:

• Drought Tolerant

• Wind Tolerant

• Suitable for Pots

• Suitable for Feature Planting

• Suitable for Coastal Gardens

• Evergreen

• Suitable for Bonsai

• Architectural Form

• Very Low Maintenance

• Slow Growing

Toxicity:
Not known to be toxic to humans or animals.

Companion Plants:

• Acer palmatum (Japanese Maple)

• Ophiopogon japonicus (Mondo Grass)

• Azalea indica

• Buxus microphylla

• Sedum ‘Matrona’