Thrives in a light well-drained sandy or gravelly loam. Trees grow well on poor dry sandy soils. Fairly shade tolerant. Prefers a light acid soil, becoming chlorotic at a pH higher than 6.5. Trees can succeed for many years on shallow soils over chalk. Tolerates chalk for a while, but trees are then short-lived. Tolerates some water-logging. Dislikes poorly drained moorland soils. Established plants tolerate drought. Very wind resistant, tolerating maritime exposure. Tolerates atmospheric pollution. Fairly long-lived, to 200 years or more and quite fast growing, but trees are very slow growing in wet soils. Young trees can make new growth of 1 metre a year though growth slows down rapidly by the time the tree is 18 metres tall. This species is extensively used in cool temperate forestry as a timber tree. Plants are strongly outbreeding, self-fertilized seed usually grows poorly. They hybridize freely with other members of this genus. Cones take two seasons to ripen. Plants are easily killed by fire and cannot regenerate from the roots. A good food plant for the caterpillars of several species of butterflies. This tree has over 50 species of associated insects. Leaf secretions inhibit the germination of seeds, thereby reducing the amount of plants that can grow under the trees. There are several named forms selected for their ornamental value. Plants in this genus are notably susceptible to honey fungus.

Inner bark - dried and ground into a powder and used in making bread. It is often mixed with oatmeal. A famine food, it is only used when all else fails. A vanillin flavoring is obtained as a by-product of other resins that are released from the pulpwood.

It is best to sow the seed in individual pots in a cold frame as soon as it is ripe if this is possible otherwise in late winter. A short stratification of 6 weeks at 4°c can improve the germination of stored seed. Plant seedlings out into their permanent positions as soon as possible and protect them for their first winter or two. Plants have a very sparse root system and the sooner they are planted into their permanent positions the better they will grow. Trees should be planted into their permanent positions when they are quite small, between 30 and 90cm. We actually plant them out when they are about 5 - 10cm tall. So long as they are given a very good weed-excluding mulch they establish very well. Larger trees will check badly and hardly put on any growth for several years. This also badly affects root development and wind resistance. Cuttings. This method only works when taken from very young trees less than 10 years old. Use single leaf fascicles with the base of the short shoot. Disbudding the shoots some weeks before taking the cuttings can help. Cuttings are normally slow to grow away.

Forming woods in the mountains of Scotland.