Ancient trees in the Netherlands

The Netherlands is the wrong country for ancient trees and has them anyway. We map 540 trees in 55 cities here. The oldest of them is The Wodanseiken in Wolfheze, at roughly 400 to 600 years.

Half of it was seabed, peat bog or open water within the last thousand years, the soil is young, the water table sits close under the roots, and North Sea storms arrive with nothing in the way to slow them down. What survived did so under shelter, and that shapes the entire list: a pear tree inside an almshouse courtyard, a cycad potted in a botanical garden in 1704 and never repotted since, lindens pollarded for three centuries because a village square needed its shade. Dutch ancient trees are tended survivors rather than forest giants, which is why so many stand behind a gate you have to find rather than out in open parkland. It also explains the oldest one on this list: a fruit tree.

Every place we map in the Netherlands

1Leeuwarden34 trees · oldest 225-275 years 2

Arnhem32 trees · oldest 325-390 years 3

Utrecht30 trees · oldest 275 years 4

Amsterdam27 trees · oldest 300 years 5

The Hague26 trees · oldest 300 years 6Haarlem21 trees · oldest 230 years 7

Nijmegen20 trees · oldest 300-400 years 8Helmond19 trees · oldest 195-205 years 9

Amersfoort18 trees · oldest 225-275 years 10

Dordrecht17 trees · oldest 300-325 years 11Eindhoven17 trees · oldest 200 years 12Groningen17 trees · oldest 340 years 13

Leiden17 trees · oldest 310 years 14Tilburg17 trees · oldest 650 years 15Maastricht16 trees · oldest 300 years 16Rotterdam16 trees · oldest 226 years 17Zwolle15 trees · oldest 225-275 years 18

Enschede13 trees · oldest 225-275 years 19Deventer12 trees · oldest 325-425 years 20Hoorn12 trees · oldest 160 years 21Alkmaar11 trees · oldest 175-225 years 22

Breda11 trees · oldest 345 years 23

Den Bosch11 trees · oldest 250 years 24Roosendaal10 trees · oldest 180 years 25Assen9 trees · oldest 250-350 years 26Delft9 trees · oldest 319 years 27Apeldoorn8 trees · oldest 340 years 28

Baarn8 trees · oldest 175 years 29

Heerlen8 trees · oldest 330-430 years 30

Ede7 trees · oldest 225-275 years 31

Emmen7 trees · oldest 225-275 years 32Venlo7 trees · oldest 205-215 years 33

Hilversum6 trees · oldest 150 years 34Haarlemmermeer5 trees · oldest 140 years 35Sittard-Geleen3 trees · oldest 160 years 36Zaanstad3 trees · oldest 140 years 37Hilvarenbeek2 trees · oldest 320-350 years 38

Rhenen2 trees · oldest 350-400 years 39Amerongen1 tree · oldest 330-345 years 40Borculo1 tree · oldest 175-195 years 41Breukelen1 tree · oldest 270 years 42Den Hout1 tree · oldest 300-800 years 43

Doornenburg1 tree · oldest 350-700 years 44

Fleringen1 tree · oldest 400-500 years 45Giethoorn1 tree · oldest 195-215 years 46Harderwijk1 tree · oldest 270 years 47Heinkenszand1 tree · oldest 155-165 years 48Laren, Gelderland1 tree · oldest 400-500 years 49Nuenen1 tree · oldest 400 years 50Oostkapelle1 tree 51

Sambeek1 tree · oldest 350-500 years 52Stoutenburg1 tree · oldest 350 years 53Velp1 tree · oldest 300-500 years 54

Vorden1 tree · oldest 400 years 55

Wolfheze1 tree · oldest 400-600 years

99 species grow in the Netherlands

Oaks Pedunculate Oak 67 · Northern Red Oak 6 · Sessile Oak 6 · Hungarian Oak 4 · Turkey Oak 4 · Oak 3 · Pin Oak 3 · Holm Oak 1 · Pontic Oak 1 · Scarlet Oak 1 · Sessile Oak "Mespilifolia" 1 · Turner's Oak 1

Beeches Copper Beech 43 · European Beech 18 · Weeping Beech 12 · Sweet Chestnut 9 · Chinese Beech 1 · Golden Beech 1

Elms and zelkovas Dutch Elm 6 · Wych Elm 'Exoniensis' 4 · European White Elm 1 · Saw-leaf Zelkova 1 · Wych Elm 1

Planes London Plane 75 · Oriental Plane 12 · Plane 2

Limes Common Lime 33 · Silver Lime 10 · Lime 9 · Large-leaved Lime 6 · Crimean Linden 2 · Small-leaved Lime 2 · Weeping Silver Lime 2 · American Lime 1

Maples Silver Maple 8 · Sycamore 4 · Sycamore 'Leopoldii' 2 · Box Elder 1 · Cappadocian Maple 1 · Field Maple 1 · Japanese Maple 1 · Norway Maple 1 · Norway Maple 'Leopoldii' 1 · Variegated Sycamore Maple 1

Chestnuts, walnuts and hazels Horse Chestnut 27 · Caucasian Wingnut 14 · Black Walnut 4 · Double Flowered Horsechestnut 1 · Pecan 1 · Red Horse Chestnut 1 · Turkish Hazel 1

Figs and mulberries Black Mulberry 2

Conifers Giant Sequoia 12 · Ginkgo 9 · European Yew 7 · Bald Cypress 6 · Cedar of Lebanon 3 · Western Red Cedar 3 · Atlas Cedar 2 · Dawn Redwood 2 · Himalayan Cedar 1 · Nordmann Fir 1 · Oriental Spruce 1 · Pond Cypress 1

Fruit and blossom Date-plum 1 · European Pear 1 · St Lucie Cherry 1 · Weeping Pear 1

More broadleaf trees Southern Catalpa 10 · Tulip Tree 9 · Canadian Poplar 7 · Black Locust 4 · European Ash 3 · Hornbeam 2 · Japanese Pagoda Tree 2 · Tree of Heaven 2 · White Willow 2 · American Yellowwood 1 · Balsam Poplar 1 · Black Alder 1 · Catalpa 1 · Common Holly 1 · Eastern Cape Giant Cycad 1 · Flowering Ash 1 · Golden Chain Tree 1 · Gray Poplar 1 · Grey Poplar 1 · Handkerchief Tree 1 · Holly 1 · Honey Locust 1 · Lombardy Poplar 1 · Magnolia 1 · Oak-leaved Hornbeam 1 · Persian Ironwood 1 · Sweet Birch 1 · Sweet Gum 1 · Transcaucasian Birch 1 · Weeping Japanese Pagoda Tree 1 · Weeping Willow 1