Pinus sylvestris (Scots Pine)

This is the most widley distributed pine in the world and the only one native to britain. It was thought that this tree covered parts of Scotland and Ireland when the british land mass separated from the continent and was evident across all of britain when the ice sheets retreated. It can live typically up to 150 years, however some have survived up to 300 years.

These trees produce a strong general timber which is used for fencing, joinery, box & packing cases, railway sleepers, fibreboard, chipboard and telegraph poles. Pitch, tar, resin and turpentine can be obtained from the wood and a medicinal oil can be extracted from the needles.

Grows well in any moist, free draining, neutral to slightly acidic, fertile soil in full sun. It will tolerate infertile and dry soil, some wind but does not like sea winds or high rainfall.

A tall evergreen tree that has a conical shape when young but becomes more spreading and flat topped with age. It has a horizontal branching habit and can grow up to 40m in height.  The trunk can grow up to 1m in diameter and it has a grey/brown bark which peels to reveal a brown/orange colour underneath and gives a rather shredded appearance.  Higher up the tree however there are patches of reddish brown bark.

Young branches start green and mature to brown. Stiff, blue/green needles anywhere from 4-10cm cover the branches growing in pairs in a twisted fashion so that you can see both the dark greek uppers and the blue/green glaucus underside.  Small egg shaped pale yellow/brown cones are produced in clusters of 2 or 3. They mature to a dull brown and vary in size from 2.5cm to 7.5cm and fall from the tree when mature which could take a few seasons.