A Twenty-year Survey of Conifer Survival At the Baker Arboretum, Bowling Green, Kentucky, Poster Board #094

The Baker Arboretum is a private garden affiliated with Western Kentucky University.  The garden emphasizes collections of conifers and Asian maples among its over 1100 taxa on the fifteen acres.  Baker Arboretum It is used as a living teaching and research laboratory.  It was established in 1970 and a plant database began in 1991.  A survey of the database over the past twenty years reveals trends in survival of over 100 conifer taxa representing over 1300 living specimens.  Survival analysis of monthly planting dates showed a distribution in which the greatest deaths occurred in mid-summer with lesser amounts in early spring and late fall.  Yearly analysis showed that the greatest deaths occurred during the dry, hot summers of 1994, 1998–99, and 2002.  Utilizing the American Conifer Society’s size classification there was a direct relationship between plant size and survival. Miniature plants (excluding groundcovers) died at 13.6% n = 128, while the greatest deaths occurred for large plants 29.6% n = 170.  Plant shape was correlated with survival, as well.  Bun or cushion-shaped plants experienced the greatest death rate, >40% (n = 205), while vase-shaped plants experienced the least death, 1% (n = 54).  When plants were categorized as to their water needs, the greatest death occurred for those plants requiring the most soil moisture > 50% death (n = 145) while those requiring dry soils died about 7% of the time (n = 915).  We believe that an examination of existing plant databases will reveal the strengths and weaknesses of such collections as well as unrecognized trends.  These data may also reveal areas of cultural, procedural, or climatic deficiencies and corrective actions can be implemented and justified.