Western Canada and USA host many of the world’s largest conifers and several of these species can survive in our climate. In the arboretum in Baggböle you can walk through small stands of white fir (Abies concolor), black spruce (Picea mariana), sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis), lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta) and tamarack (Larix laricina). Douglas firs (Pseudotsuga menziesii) and subalpine firs (Abies lasiocarpa), which were planted when the arboretum was started, have already become big trees. We have also done extensive new plantings of these species in the last couple of years, especially along Lägdaleden. On Hemlock hill grows the oldest planted tree in the arboretum. It is a 100 year old mountain hemlock (Tsuga mertensiana), which was 50 years old, but only 1m high, when it was moved here in the beginning of the 1980’s. Be sure not to miss the distinctive Silver fir slope that show the importance of choosing hardy plant material for use in our climate. The provenience of Pacific silver firs chosen for this planting was apparently not suitable since most shoots above the snow froze back during the first 20 years, while the trees continued to broaden underneath the height of the protecting snow cover. Western and eastern North America are divided by large grasslands in real life, and in Baggböle there is a meadow and the Ochre Stream between these parts. There you can have a picnic in the sun or visit the Riverside grill area right next to it.
As soon as you cross the duckboard between eastern and western North America, a collection of white spruces (Picea glauca) can be seen to your right. The provenance is from the Kenai Peninsula in Alaska at the 60° latitude. The general condition is good and growth is good. On the other side you will find a stand of Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis), which also grows together with white spruce on the Kenai Peninsula. There, they form a natural hybrid, Picea × lutzii, which is widely used in forestry, including in the British Isles. Both sitka spruce and the hybrid are wind-resistant and resistant to salt. Something that is otherwise unusual in the genus.