Lifespan Of Evergreen Trees – All Year Surprising Growth!

How long do evergreen trees live

What are evergreen trees? As is apparent from the name, the evergreen trees have green foliage all around the year. So, unlike the deciduous trees, which go bare in colder temperatures, these can add color and vibrancy to your garden, even during the dead of winter.

Many even present glorious colors on display during the fall. So, even if the older leaves fall, the new ones keep growing. Most evergreens are forgiving. They can thrive even in soil, lacking nutrients as they process whatever food they receive around the year.

People associate Christmas trees and Pines with evergreen trees. However, it is a general term for all shrubs and trees that maintain foliage across the year. The lifespan of evergreen trees is significantly good.

Benefits of Evergreen Trees

There are a plethora of benefits associated with evergreen trees. Beyond their visual appeal, the evergreen trees work as winter shelters for wildlife, especially birds, privacy screens, and windbreaks. If they have low branches, they can also give ample shade underneath.

Some evergreens bear edible fruits and berries, while others have beautifully-shaped cones and bear flowers, seeds, and nuts. People also resonate with evergreen conifers having an aromatic and delicious fragrance wafting across the garden.

Their textured and colored barks are also a distinctive feature. The only plausible low to the evergreen trees is their size. They grow tall and tower properties. So, if you have a small yard, it can be overwhelming in your residential space.

But, there are some dwarf varieties as well. You can also prune them to maintain their visual appeal. Given the growing conditions in your region, you have endless evergreen tree choices to pick from.

The Average Life Expectancy Of Evergreen Trees

Shrubs and trees like spruce and pines yield seeds in cones instead of flowers or berries. These evergreens have leaves all around the year. Typically, they have a long life. However, the actual lifespan of evergreen trees depends on the soil where they grow, geographical and environmental conditions, and the care they receive.

Generally, they are hardy and can tolerate even the colder conditions. Presently, over five hundred species of evergreen plants are on the planet. Now, the question is, how long do evergreen trees live?

Horticulture experts suggest that evergreen plants are the longest-lived woody plants that stay for around 100s of years. They are even older than flowering plants by at least millions of years.

Below, we will discuss how long do evergreens live – the common ones.

A. Pines

Pines are amongst the oldest found trees. There are multiple species of Pines, and each of them has a different lifespan. But, the average lifespan of evergreens ranges from 50 to 450 years. Here, we will discuss the average life of prevalent pine trees.

1. Ponderosa pine– If you ask how long do evergreen trees live? Commonly seen across western America, these trees have a lifespan of 300-500 years. There is an oldest documented tree in Utah that is about 800-years old.

2. Eastern white pine– The lifespan of evergreen trees is between 100-200 years. Scotch pine – These trees can live between 150-300 years.

3. Bristlecone pine or Methuselah– is the oldest tree in America. You can spot them in California’s White Mountains, and they are over 4700 years old.

4. Mugo pine tree – Their average lifespan is half a century.

5. Norfolk island pine tree – Norfolk Island Pines usually live for over 15 decades.

6. Lodgepole pine– These can easily live four centuries.

7. Italian pine tree– These conifers live between 50-100 years.

8. Golden Pine Trees– The life expectancy of Golden Pine Trees is between 60 to 90 years.

9. White Pine– White Pine has an average lifespan of two centuries, but they usually live to 450 years.

Neither a true fir, pine, nor spruce, Douglas Firs, tends to outlive most evergreen coniferous trees. They have an average life expectancy of 75 centuries.

B. Spruce

How long do evergreen trees live? Spruce is native to Canada and the western United States. The spruce trees have an average life expectancy of 250 to 300 years. However, you can also find older spruces up to 1000 years. Here, we will discuss the average life of prevalent spruce trees.

White spruce live for two centuries or more. Many documented white spruce is over three hundred years old, and you can spot them in Manitoba, Canada.
Silver Spruce or Colorado Sprucehas been around since 1862. They live for about eight centuries.
Blue Spruce’saverage lifespan is 150 years, but many reach 350 years.
Norway Spruce, native to Canada and the central United States has a short life. They rarely pass 220 years.

C. Junipers

These are evergreen plants that yield berries that are cones and not fruits. The color of berries goes from blue-purple to blue, copper, or red. Broadly, there are three kinds of junipers. They have a peculiar smell.

This distinctive aroma makes it easy to spot Junipers from a distance. The lifespan of evergreen trees is not very long. Most junipers live only 150 years.

D. Redwoods

These are amongst the world’s tallest trees, typically about 350-400 feet. Redwoods are rapidly-growing conifers and grow about three to five feet per year. In a quarter-century, they get about 90-feet tall. They have a long life and usually live for six centuries. Only two kinds of redwood are still prevalent in North America – the giant sequoia and coast redwood.

Where are Evergreen Trees Found?

Typically, Evergreen Trees can be present anywhere in the world except Antarctica.

You can spot Broadleaf, Coniferous, temperate, mixed, and evergreen trees in temperate mid-latitudes. Predominantly, they are a common sight in:

Orinoco and Amazon basins of South America
Scandinavia
Siberia
Indonesia
Himalayas and western ghats of India
Malaysia
Australia
Canada
Andaman and the Nicobar Islands
Africa

Are Evergreen Trees Endangered?

Some evergreen tree species are at the risk of vanishing from the earth, but since there are over 630 varieties of evergreen trees, it is almost impossible for them to go extinct.

However, a beautiful evergreen conifer, Florida Torreya, has experienced a ninety-eight percent decline in its population since the 1950s. At present, less than six hundred individual trees are remaining.

Another variety is the Boynton Oak. It is a semi-evergreen tree and is critically endangered. At present, only 50 to 200 varieties remain in the wild.

Lifespan Of Evergreen Trees – Frequently Asked Questions

Ques 1. How long do evergreen trees live? Do evergreens live forever?

Ans. Evergreen trees have a long lifespan of 100s of years, but they do not live forever.

Ques 2. How do you tell if an evergreen tree is dying?

Ans. Evergreen trees die slowly, and their parts may show some signs of life, even when it is impossible to bring back the plant to life.

As plant sheds needles in later life stages, the yellowing needle is a part of the plant’s routine life cycle. The conifers’ evergreen foliage lasts from two to ten years, depending on the variety. But, how to know if your plant is dying? Watch out for symptoms discussed below:

Check the canopy. Even when your evergreen trees may be shedding old needles, they will still have ample green foliage. So, if the branches have just brown needles, there may be a problem.
If the brown branches are somewhere between many healthy green branches, it could indicate stress in the plant. It means the plant is alive, and you can undo the damage. Usually, the brown needles appear because of overwatering, soggy soil, some disease, or underwatering.
You can also tell a tree is dying from its leaves and needles. So, analyze them by bending them together in between your fingers. If the plant is healthy and living, the foliage is strong. Hence, it would not break easily.
However, if the leaves and needles are dry or dead, they will snap when flexed. On the exterior, they may appear green, but they have barely any life left inside.
Another way to identify a dying evergreen is by checking the bark. If canopy assessment spells damage, you can next make a small slit in the bark with a knife. Then, snoop aside or chip away the dead dry exterior.
Check the green cambium layer over the moist sapwood. If the green layer is absent and the bark is brown throughout, it can indicate a severe injury. Unfortunately, it is impossible to reverse this damage.

Ques 3. How long do evergreen trees live to adult?

Ans. When evergreens mature, they are considered an adult. Most evergreens take seven to ten years to adult, while some attain maturity even faster.

Ques 4. What tree has the shortest lifespan?

Ans. The tree which has the shortest lifespan is Peach. On an average its life expectancy is 10-15 years.

Ques 5. What is the life of a conifer tree?

Ans. The lifespan of conifers ranges from a few decades to over 5000 years.

Ques 6. Will evergreen needles grow back?

Ans. While the plant discards its old needles, it does not take too long to grow new ones.

Ques 7. What is the lifespan of a pine tree?

Ans. The lifespan of evergreen trees (Pine)is very long that lies somewhere between 100-1000 years.

Ques 8. What is the difference between deciduous and evergreen trees?

Ans. The primary difference between a deciduous and an evergreen tree is that the former loses its leaves during the winters, but evergreen trees remain green across the year.