Mihkel Ranna dendraarium

Neemi, Estonia, Estonia

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Mihkel Ranna dendraarium is a protected dendrarium located in Neemi village, Saaremaa Parish, Saare County, on the island of Saaremaa, Estonia, and is Saaremaa's most species-rich dendrarium with over 100 species of trees and bushes, including many foreign tree species.

The garden was founded in 1925 by Mihkel Rand (1871–1958), a village blacksmith born in Neemi village, who began creating this 0.4-hectare garden on a limestone hill by chiseling holes into the rock and carting thousands of loads of soil to plant rare trees and shrubs. Mihkel Rand traveled extensively to find seeds, visiting most of Saaremaa's parks and gardens as well as making trips to Tallinn, Tartu, and Viljandi, and the first trees he planted were hazel and birch at the beginning of the 20th century, with the hazel still surviving in the garden today.

The dendrarium features notable specimens including a ginkgo tree, payon tree, white and black mulberry, Caucasian fir, a small pond, oak benches, and unique stones, and is particularly famous for its central life-tree alley (called "neidude allee" or "maidens' alley") planted in 1925, which folklore says will keep couples who walk through it hand-in-hand faithful to each other.

The site is under nature protection and open by advance booking only, with parking available for 5 cars or 1 bus, an information board, and a dry toilet on-site. In 2025, the dendrarium celebrated its 100th anniversary, and it inspired Juhan Alas to create his own dendrarium.