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Conifers
Conifers at Kew Gardens and Wakehurst Place
Records show that the first pinetum (collection of conifers) in the original botanic
garden, sited close to the Orangery at Kew,
contained 36 conifers in 1789. By 1813 this
had risen to 56. One of these original plantings is the Corsican pine (Pinus
maritima) which can still be seen near the
Main Gate.
The second pinetum was planted randomly on
land donated to the Gardens by Queen Victoria
in 1843. Some of the conifer plantings of that
time, especially Pinus species, can still be
seen north-west of the Waterlily House.
In 1845 another 90 hectares (200 acres) of
woods and pleasure grounds were added to the
botanic garden. The intention was to form a
national arboretum (collection of trees). This
led to the initial planting of the present pinetum in 1870 under the direction
of Sir Joseph
Hooker, the second official director of Kew.
Some of the younger conifer specimens that
had been planted in the second arboretum were
transplanted to this new site. The pinetum was
laid out by genera in systematic order, with
all the species in the same genus
together.
As atmospheric pollution around London increased in the early twentieth
century, the
health of the conifers at Kew declined to such
an extent that, in 1920, it was decided to
establish a pinetum in the country. It was
agreed that, apart from clean air, the site
should also have a deeper and more water retentive
soil than at Kew so that Abies and
other moisture-loving conifers would flourish.
In a joint venture, Kew and the Forestry
Commission acquired land at Bedgebury in
Kent for a new pinetum in 1924. Over the
next 20 years this site was planted up and
became the National Pinetum. It is now
entirely in the hands of the Forestry
Commission but still retains close links with
the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
At Wakehurst Place, Kew’s sister garden in
Sussex, there is an extensive pinetum complementing
that at Kew. Kew’s collection
focusses on conifers such as Cupressus,
Juniperus and Pinus which are tolerant of dry
soils, whilst Wakehurst Place holds more
comprehensive collections of Abies and Picea
which both require damper soils. The Wakehurst Place
pinetum was devastated
in the storm of 1987, but has since been extensively replanted.
Trials are being undertaken at Wakehurst Place to
identify new species of conifer for use as Christmas
trees, and both 'home-grown' and bought-in trees can be purchased
during December in shops at Kew and Wakehurst
Place.
More plants
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