Coniferous trees, due to simple cultivation, are often used in landscaping. Most gardeners are interested in the question of the longevity of a tree and how to determine age.

How long does an ordinary pine live?

The species of common pine has varieties, varieties and ecotypes that differ from each other:

• high
• crown shape;
• long and type of needles;
• habitat;
• life expectancy.

1 - a general view of a tree, 2 - a shortened shoot with two needles, 3 - a branch with female and male strobils, 4 - a female cone, consisting of macrostrobes, at the time of flowering, 5 - macrostrobil (a - seed scale with two ovules, b - hiding and seed scales), 6 - a branch with a wintering cone (a) and a formed cone (b), 7 - a mature ripe cone, 8 - a male spikelet consisting of macrostrobes, 9.10 - microsporophyllum, 11 - pollen, 12 - lignified seed and hiding scales with a thickened apex - shield (apophysis), 13 - lignified seed scales with 2 wings bubbled seeds, 14 - seed with a wing.

The average age of the pine is 200–300 years; such trees live in the forests of Europe, in the Russian taiga, the Balkans, and Turkey. The maximum lifespan of an ordinary species is 1000 years, for example a cedar variety. There are varieties and species living and more than 5000 years old. These centenarians grow in places inaccessible to humans: mountainous areas, in dense forest jungle.

Did you know? Gum pine contains bactericidal turpentine, therefore, it is a material for the manufacture of a patch.

What determines life expectancy?

Wild forests away from settlements or protected areas protected by law are perhaps the most important condition for long years of plant life.

In addition to the harmful effects of man or natural disasters, plants are not in danger. Trees can die as a result of drought, from fires, a hurricane, or by a man being cut down. Rarely, a disease happens and a reduction in life expectancy due to it.

For many years of productivity, trees need several factors:

• favorable climatic conditions;
• adequate lighting;
• moisture and nutrients.

Important! In the wild, pines intensively grow up to the age of 40. After it begins strengthening the root system, skeleton and the growth of the crown.

How to find out the age?

You can find out the number of lived years of a living coniferous plant using improvised means. For measurement, you need a tape centimeter and a calculator.

Instruction:

1. Measure the height of the trunk from the soil surface 1.5 m.
2. Make a measurement of the circle at this distance.
3. Multiply the resulting figure by a value of 0.7 (a coefficient calculated by scientists).

The approximate age can be determined by the height of the pine. Usually a tree a year gives an increase of up to 50–100 cm, after reaching 40 m in height, growth stops.

Dendrologists who compile reports by region have found a way to count annual rings on a living tree without cutting it. To do this, on an even place in the trunk without knots, a bark is stripped and a core is drilled exactly horizontally using a tubular, hollow drill. The drill must go through the entire diameter of the barrel.

Important! Conifers form thickenings on the trunk, according to which specialists calculate the age. But the method is not very reliable, since whorls are formed only in the early years.

The wound is treated with resin or a special antiseptic (garden var), it is delayed over time without damage to the plant. On the extracted piece of wood, tree rings are considered, divided in two. The amount received will be the age of the pine tree.

The oldest pine trees in the world

All instances of long-livers found by scientists are protected by law. According to world studies, the oldest representatives of pine are known today:

Coniferous plants are decorative year-round; they have the property of purifying the air of gases. All that is needed to grow a crop is to provide conditions close to the natural environment.