Moon Valley Nursery - Arizona Blog

How to Care for Chinese Pistache Trees

Written by Felipe Benavides | 9/28/2017

Chinese Pistache, we love to grow them and plant them. After all, we are the grower of these beautiful big trees with the vibrant fall colors that bring a touch of New England to yards throughout Phoenix and Arizona! Our Red Push Pistache cultivar is even better! In fact, this variety is guaranteed to produce the vivid fire-engine red color that you cannot help noticing as it conjures up memories of east coast fall foliage. These are the perfect trees for Arizona. They have incredible drought-tolerance as well as thicker leaves and a large canopy that provides the shade you need to block out the sunlight during those blazing hot sunny days!

Chinese Pistache: Where to Plant

It is easy to see why Chinese Pistache is a top fall tree for any landscape in Arizona. The best time to plant this Pistacia tree is right now. They are an excellent shade tree, so much so that proper planting around your home may be able to reduce the temperature inside. We value engineer our trees so that so you get largest trees at best price! Why wait for these trees to get big when you can get them at the perfect size now? At Moon Valley Nurseries, we are the grower so that we have big trees available! Our ‘Red Push’ cultivar is more disease and pest resistant and they are ready to bring that cool shady relief! It is deciduous, so it can block the sunlight during the summer and let the warmth of the sun in during the winter! Of course, it puts on a spectacular fall foliage show before losing its leaves too! So where is the best place to have one of these attractive trees planted? Read on for more information on where to plant, as well as on how to care for Chinese Pistache trees!

Exposure

These trees love our hot, dry climate, so plant Chinese Pistache trees in a sunny spot in your yard and enjoy the view. It loves the sun, so it should be planted in a place that gets at least 6 hours of direct sunlight per day. They have a spreading canopy, so give them a little room to spread so that the canopy can provide the shade you want! This deciduous is a reliable tree for streetside planting and ready to bring plenty of shade and beauty to patios, gardens and lawn areas!

Water

Say yes to drought-tolerant trees and hello to the Red Push Pistache, a water-wise tree that tolerates the heat too! This colorful tree is not too picky about soil conditions, in fact, it prefers that the ground is not too wet, so this makes them ideal for growing in and around the Phoenix area! While the tree is acclimating to its new environment, it is a good idea to water at least twice a week until it has been established. We recommend checking the soil once a week, and it is good practice to water when only the top one-inch is dry.

Pruning

Prune as needed so that it reinforces the structure and form of the tree. If you have a young tree, prune in early winter so that it aids in establishing their umbrella-shaped canopies that bring that lovely shade. Periodic thinning is good practice. That said, in the summer, be careful not to remove more than 30% of the canopy because this can lead to sunburn injuries to the tree and pave the way for a wood boring insect infestation. Plus, who wants to prune during the dog days of summer in Phoenix anyway?!

Pistacia chinensis ‘Red Push” Pistache #FREEPLANTING!

If we could give this tree a high five, we would! Yes, we love the Red Push Pistache variety and so do our customers. It got its name because as new foliage emerges in spring, it is reddish before the leaves turn into the rich, dark green color in the summer and back to red in the fall! Anyone looking for a beautiful shade tree with lots of stunning fall color can do no wrong with this top tree for Arizona. If you want this tree now, take advantage of our #freeplanting service! We are the largest box tree grower in America that can bring the trees to your house and plant them for you! Our professional designers will help you design and plant your yard with specimen Red Push Pistache trees!