The 'den': an integrated foreigner

The pine is not a native tree at all. Expelled after the ice ages, there was no pine to be seen in our landscape until the 16th century. Pine wood was supplied from the north and east, but its planting was very limited. At the end of the 16th century there was a large pine forest near Diest, planted by the Oranges. They had previously introduced the pine into their possessions around Breda. When in the 18th century the Austrian rulers encouraged to convert fallow land into cultivated land, more pines were planted. In the Kempen and Hageland, however, this is not massive, because the common lands were heathlands with a practical use for sheep farming, honey, broom binders, ... It was only when the coal mines needed shoring wood in the 19th century that planting started. In these regions, it will mainly be the exploitation of the mines in Limburg that stimulates cultivation after the First World War.

There are several types of pine that have been planted for economic purposes. The species closest to the period of the ice ages and planted the earliest is the Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris), easily recognized by its sometimes jagged trunk with a light brown bark, clearly visible at the top. The Austrians introduced the black pine (Pinus nigra), which, as the name says, has an even gray trunk and looks a lot straighter. But you can sometimes also encounter the maritime pine here. You can't miss it because of its spectacularly long needles.

Jan Rymenams