Dendrosad in Buzuluk Pine Forest

The Dendrosad (dendrological garden) is the oldest collection nursery of trees and shrubs in the Buzuluksky Bor pine forest. It covers about 10 hectares near the village of Opytny, in the Borovoye-Opytnoye forestry district of the Buzuluksky district, Orenburg region, 15 km north of the town of Buzuluk.

History

The garden was laid out in 1910 by forest scientist Andrey Petrovich Tolsky. For more than a century the site served as a ground for research and experimental work in forest genetics and selection. More than 250 species of trees and shrubs were originally planted here, brought from European Russia, Western Europe, North America and Asia. Not all the plantings survived the century: today about 50 species unusual for a pine forest have been identified in the garden.

What to see

Among the surviving plants are Norway spruce and silver spruce, Siberian and Sukachev larch, cedar, Cossack and common juniper, Manchurian hazel, silver maple, Ussuri pear and other species. Of particular value is the collection of Scots pine clones known as "super-pines", selected for the tallest, straightest and most resilient trees. The garden also keeps an archive of elite tree clones: cuttings of so-called "ship pines" were grafted onto the stumps of ordinary forest pines.

Nearby grow two giant pines over 30 meters tall, which, according to local accounts, are about 300 and 350 years old; old-timers call one of them the "Pine Tsarina" and tell many stories and legends about the forest around it.

Next to the garden stands the building of the Borovaya Forest Experimental Station, built in a wooden Art Nouveau style; since 2023 it has had the status of a cultural heritage site. A museum is being prepared inside it, whose first exhibition will be devoted to the history of forest fires in the Bor since 1760.

Getting there

The Dendrosad lies 15 km north of Buzuluk. It can be reached by car, by bus from Buzuluk to the "Posyolok Partizansky" stop, or by train from Orenburg to Koltubanka station. A 700-meter ecological trail with a wooden boardwalk, ramps and benches runs through the garden, making it accessible to visitors with limited mobility.