A Walk Through My Pinetum

June 10, 2022

This time of year, there is always so much to see around my Bedford, New York farm - everything is looking so lush and green.

As many of you know, I am a serious and very passionate gardener, and over the years have designed many gardens around my home. One area that is constantly evolving is my pinetum - an arboretum of pine trees and other conifers. I first planted it almost 15-years ago in a field behind my large Equipment Barn and near my weeping willow grove. This collection has grown extremely well, and I continue to add additional specimens every year.

Here are some photos, enjoy.

: When I first bought my farm, I knew I wanted to plant many, many trees – young trees, to replace the older ones when their lives ended. I love all the different sizes and varieties. This collection includes pine trees, but I have also included many spruces, firs, and other evergreens.

: Once trees are mature, they need little maintenance except for regular mulching and removal of dead or diseased branches. We also keep the ground well-mulched using material made right here at the farm.

: Among the trees growing is this dwarf white pine tree. If you’re not sure how to tell some of these popular trees apart, here are some key tips: pines have needles that are arranged and attached to the branches in clusters of two, three or five. Spruce and fir trees have needles attached individually to the branches. Spruce needles are sharply pointed, square and easy to roll between the fingers. They’re attached to small, stalk-like woody projections, and when the needles fall, the branches feel rough. Fir needles are softer, flatter and cannot be easily rolled between the fingers. Fir needles are usually attached only on the upper side of the branch. Its branches lack projections, so the bark is smooth. And, a fir tree’s cones stand straight up on many species, or protrude outward on others.

: The needles on this dwarf white pine are soft and blue-green in color.

: I add more specimens to this collection every year – some are very rare and slow growing, but I love the variety of plantings I’ve amassed.

: This Pinus resinosa is a dwarf red pine native to eastern North America. It is a compact bush with long, green needles.

: Red-brown buds develop at the tips of branches. The decorative reddish cones of the dwarf red pine remain on the tree for several years.

: This is Picea orientalis ‘Skylands’ – with beautiful short, tight, yellow foliage, and a graceful form. Oriental spruce is a slow-growing, upright tree that typically grows about eight to 10-feet tall over the first 10-years. The name ‘Skylands’ has no relation to my home in Maine, but I was attracted to it because it was called ‘Skylands.’ This tree was introduced by Skylands Botanical Garden in New Jersey, in 1979.

: Picea glauca, the white spruce, is a species of spruce native to the northern temperate and boreal forests in North America. Picea glauca was originally native from central Alaska all through the east, across southern-central Canada to the Avalon Peninsula in Newfoundland. It typically grows up to 80 feet tall with a cone-shaped crown.

: Pinus densiflora ‘Jane Kluis’ is a dwarf, globular form with a flat top. It typically grows to four feet tall and six feet wide over the first 10 years.

: It has rigid green needles that radiate from around the stems. This cultivar was discovered in the mid-1970s by Rudolph Kluis of Marlboro, New Jersey.

: Chamaecyparis pisifera ‘Filifera’ is commonly known as Sawara cypress, a large, pyramidal, evergreen conifer that grows in the wild up to 70 feet tall with a trunk diameter to five feet. It is native to the Japanese islands of Honshu and Kyushu.

: It is noted for its gracefully weeping golden-green foliage.

: This is a Cedrus deodara ‘Wells Golden’ – an upright true cedar with rich, golden color, which is beautiful in winter. It can grow up to 30-feet tall.

: Cedrus evergreen needles are borne primarily in dense clusters that arise from stout, woody pegs.

: This tree is often seen at nurseries as Chamaecyparis nootkatensis ‘Pendula’. At botanical gardens, it is also called Cupressus nootkatensis ‘Pendula’ or Callitropsis nootkatensis ‘Pendula’. It is commonly known as a weeping Alaskan cedar, a slender, strongly weeping form that grows to as much as 35 feet tall. It has widely spaced ascending to horizontal branches with flattened sprays of blue-green leaves.

: Picea orientalis ‘Nigra Compacta’ or oriental spruce is a medium to large, densely branched evergreen.

: On one side of this pinetum are the gorgeous weeping willows. Weeping willows are wide and tall with beautiful curtains of drooping branches that sweep the ground. I have several groves of weeping willow trees growing at my farm.