Pining for pines In praise of rare and vital evergreens

With the exception of Christmas trees, conifers are not always widely cherished. But at the world's most important collection of rare evergreens, which celebrates its 100th birthday this spring, these trees are celebrated.

- Patrick Barkham

Bedgebury national pinetum in Kent is increasingly vital as an ark for endangered conifers, which are globally one of the most threatened groups of plants and animals in the world. A third of conifer species are at risk of extinction.

The pinetum (pronounced "pine-eet-tum") was founded by the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew and the Forestry Commission in 1925 after Kew's curator complained that his rare conifers were choking in London smogs. "Anyone working in the pinetum would come away looking like a chimney sweep," wrote William Bean.

Set up on the southern Kentish weald, Bedgebury was an ideal escape from pollution and provided varied topography and soils and both boggy and free-draining land to suit a wide range of species. Conifers planted by the previous landowner, the Victorian evergreen enthusiast Viscount Beresford, were already thriving there. In 1925, the first 315 trees were planted, overseen by the Forestry Commission, which was founded after the first world war to ensure that Britain became more self-sufficient in timber.