Life Span of a Norfolk Pine

[sling blade]

Hi,

Can someone please let me know the average life span of a Norfolk Pine grown outdoors?

Thanks!

[Cearbhaill]

Longer than you'll ever live to see. I found mention of 1000 year old NIP's in Chile, but most sites list 150 years.

[told2b]

Depends where you live. "Although this plant enjoys cooler termperatures (about 65 degrees Fahrenheit), it does not fare well in areas where frost occurs. The frost can cause great damage to its tender needles, possibly resulting in the death of the plant. In the United States, some of these plants can survive in Florida, but not any further north." HTH

[David E. Ross]

In California, Norfolk Island pines (Araucaria heterophylla) do well in coastal areas as far north as San Fransico Bay. In southern California, they thrive in much of Ventura, Los Angeles, Orange, and San Diego Counties.

[Paulo da Costa]

Not Chile surely, as Norfolk Island Pines comes from N. I. near Australia. Araucaria araucana comes from Chile, and Araucaria angustifolia from southern Brazil.

That being said, it depends on the climate where you live. N. I. Pines used to be popular in Rio de Janeiro when I was growing up, but they last only a few decades there (I've heard of several cases where the roots gave way and the tree went on to lean against a wall). They can also be seen growing outdoors in the San Francisco Bay area, where I live now. On the coast, you can see very large ones, they have obviously been there more than a few decades (but I doubt that anybody has experience growing them for much longer than 150 years outside of Norfolk Island, certainly not in California).

Paulo

[sling blade]

I live in New Zealand and the temps are moderate and no chance of a frost where I live (Auckland). Looks like I can rely on the tree just out of my front door living a long time.

I just hope the roots don't get too big.

Thanks for all of the great answers!

Cheers

[GreenieLeBrun]

There are a number of Norfolk Island Pines in the Queen Victoria Gardens at Beechworth in north-east Victoria (Australia). The park was started in 1862 and the trees were donated by Fredrick von Mueller (the head of the Royal Botanical Gardens in Melbourne). I don't know the date of the donation but von Mueller died in 1896 so that makes these trees well over 100 years old and still going strong.