Tea plantations look like a huge forest made up of small trees that rarely reach above 1.5m in height. When their trunks are thick and gnarled, they show that their age is much greater than their small size would suggest. Pruned and shaped by man over 50 or so years, the tea plants become real dwarf-trees and form strange plantations, a mixture of massive green covers and miniature forests. It is a hardy plant able to withstand cold winters and has an economic life of at least 100 years.Regular pruning keeps its height to a more manageable 4 to 5 feet tall. It has an economic life of 40 years with regular pruning and plucking.