Important changes were under way in British gardening in the early- to mid-19th century. Gardens continued to develop in their complexity, scale and importance; at this time there was a growing interest in scientific horticulture. New plants from the Americas, Africa and Asia had been arriving in Britain in increasing numbers during the 18th century but scientific plant-hunting expeditions, many of which the Duke sponsored, were now increasingly popular and successful.
This was one of the first pinetums, or collections of coniferous trees, in England. It included cedar of Lebanon Cedrus libani, Douglas fir Pseudotsuga menziesii, Norfolk Island Pine Araucaria heterophylla, a giant redwood Sequoiadendron giganteum, monkey puzzle Araucaria araucana and Japanese white pine Pinus parviflora.
In 2009, the sculpture ‘Forms that Grow in the Night’ was made by David Nash especially for this site in the south-east of Pinetum.
