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 Jim Hall December 2005 |
My wife Griselda and I were married at the end of 1991, both at the age of 60. During our honeymoon in January 1992, we visited Muir Woods near San Francisco and bought a piece of a Sequoia sempervirens from the information centre. It was a flattish dome shape about 10cm across called a "burl", comprising a piece of the bark with wood attached. They also provided instructions for growing it.
I understand that burls grow at the foot of the trunk and their natural function is to regrow should the tree be burnt down. Anyway, we kept it sitting on a saucer of water as instructed; on the windowsill of a north facing bedroom for about a year.
After many months, it threw up about 10 shoots. When the biggest were about 3cm tall I rubbed out all but the two strongest and later, when about double this height, I selected just one of them and planted the whole burl in a wide plant pot and stood it in the garden, watering it regularly. After several more months, when it was about 25cm tall, I planted it out in its permanent site at the end of our garden where it backs onto woods and where it was quite heavily shaded in summer but only lightly so in winter.
The planting out must have been in the early spring of 1994. Now, almost 12 years later, it is about 7.5 metres tall and its trunk has a girth of 60cm (20cm above the ground). At this rate of growth it will have reached the height of a neighbouring sycamore in another 12 years! |
December 2005 |
| Thank you Jim - what a lovely story. It is interesting that Coast Redwoods can sprout from these burls. They also seem to reproduce relatively easily from cuttings, unlike the Giant Redwoods. We can see from the photograph that it is doing really well. |
|
 Matthew Copus May 2006 |
My interest in Sequoiadendrons (or Big Trees as I think of them) dates back to the 1960s, when we lived in Sandhurst Road, Tunbridge Wells. On visits to a school friend who lived at the top of what was then a new road nearby called Springhead, I greatly admired two fine large specimens, one on each side of a road of a similar vintage near their house, actually called "Cedar Ridge", presumably in honour of the two Sequoiadendrons. I was fascinated by these giant trees and determined to plant my own little grove of them if I ever got the chance. Unfortunately, although the trees are still there, and one still looks vigorous, the other is now in a very sorry state - see recent pictures, one taken by my father on a visit to a friend who lives nearby and also admires the trees.
In 1991, following the cot death of my sister Damaris' son Jack and other sad events including the death of my grandmother, my mother Brenda bought about 3 acres of land in the Welsh countryside, on which (as part of the "International Peace Forest") she has since created a new woodland. This she has named "Jacks' Wood", in memory of my nephew and of an old gentleman, also named Jack, who during his lifetime owned this and the surrounding land, extending to about 50 acres. Several friends of the family have plots in this area, which they have planted up with various trees, reflecting their own diverse interests. |
May 1993 April 1996 |
| The chance to plant my own trees came when, in 1992, my wife Karin and I, with help from my mother, acquired a smaller wood of about an acre, just along the track from Jacks' Wood. Damaris had heard of this becoming available and encouraged us to buy it. In November 1992, Damaris and friends planted my first three Sequoiadendrons, which I bought from Starborough Nursery near Edenbridge, Kent. Then in May 1993, on my own first visit, I planted another two, also bought from the same nursery. All five were, like Jacks' Wood, later registered as part of the International Peace Forest. I have also renamed the part of our land on which the Sequoiadendrons are growing "Big Tree Land". The rest of the land is given over more to native woodland with glades with native wildflowers (some of which we have planted ourselves) and we jokingly call it "The Bog", although in fact the area where the Sequoiadendrons are growing is rather boggier and there is even a "seasonal" stream and pond in that area. By far the tallest tree is the one growing right by the stream, and they all seem to relish the location and plentiful supply of water. |
October 1997 |
October 1997 |
Finally, in May 1997, my mother planted the sixth Sequoiadendron on our land. This is now about 2 metres tall, but at that time it was still quite small, being a seedling from a batch of pre-germinated seed I had bought from Norfields and sown in 1994, growing them on at home in Kent. I had previously attempted to establish some of them in Jacks' Wood, but with less success. Perhaps the conditions there were simply too harsh - our land is relatively sheltered and was already quite well wooded even when we bought it, while the other land was originally just an empty field on a very exposed Welsh hillside, although now, after 15 years, looking much more like a "real" wood. |
June 2006 |
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However, I am pleased to say that one solitary Sequoiadendron from this same batch of seeds does still flourish in the very depths of Jacks' Wood. I planted this there in November 1996 and, as of June 2006, it was approaching 3 metres in height and looking in excellent condition, actually rather better than those on Big Tree Land..
Unfortunately, in recent years, a number of native trees (mainly birches and willows) had rather taken over Big Tree Land and crowded out the Sequoiadendrons. Some were cut down early in 2005 by our friend Nigel, which was a great help. Then in June 2006, I was able to make a brief visit and cut back more of these birches and willows (fortunately there are still many more left on our land as a whole, together with hazels, oaks, hawthorns, beeches and many other "native" trees, providing a real haven for wildlife). |
This encroachment was a problem which I did not anticipate when planting the Sequoiadendrons - I did allow what I thought plenty of space between them, but I had not taken into account these equally vigorous native trees, which clearly had other ideas!
| Common Names and Latin Name |
No. |
Height |
Girth |
Date Measured |
Giant Redwood, Wellingtonia
Sequoiadendron giganteum |
1 |
6m |
.49m |
June 2006 |
| 2 |
6.5m |
.775m |
June 2006 |
| 3 |
9m |
.86m |
June 2006 |
| 4 |
7m |
.825m |
June 2006 |
| 5 |
1.9m |
.11m |
June 2006 |
| 6 |
6.5m |
.535m |
June 2006 |
| Heights are estimates. Girth was measured at 1m from ground. |
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June 2006 |
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| Thank you Matthew - another excellent project with six trees that will no doubt eventually become a local landmark. The crowding by other trees is always a problem when the very best shape is sought from our specimen trees. Whatever happens, though, in time the Giant Redwoods will win out because they will just keep growing upward, leaving the rest way behind! A marvellous story from a great enthusiast. |
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Alex Lewis July 2006
Alex is a 19-year-old student studying Arboriculture and he is growing Giant Redwoods to turn into bonsai specimens. |
| I have only recently become interested in the tree world and with this I developed my love of Redwoods. These trees are the longest living in the world and they are just amazing. With my fascination for trees, I have enjoyed the art of Bonsai and I wondered how it would look to have the largest tree in the world growing as a bonsai. |
I bought some Sequoiadendron giganteum (wellingtonia) seeds from Nickys Nurseries about a year and a half ago and, after following the advice sent with the seeds, have managed to geminate 9 from a batch of 30. The best one is now 15cm height with a girth of about 8mm.
First of all I planted the seeds in a seed tray, covered them and left them outside for a while. Once they started to germinate I planted them into smallish pots. Before Spring this year I planted my best redwood in a small bed, (using normal compost), that already has a variety of my other trees growing. I will wait a few years before I bonsai this one, as I want the tree to have a more substantial diameter and more height in order to get the dimensions correct.
I still have the remaining trees potted and I am waiting for some space to be freed up in the garden before planting them. |
July 2006 |
| Thank you Alex, it is so nice to hear of young people interested in trees and Redwoods in particular! Your miniature Redwood forest will be a lovely sight in future years. Good luck with all your efforts. |
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| John McCarthy July 2006 |
June 2006 |
We believe we bought this tree in about 1990 from a nursery next to the restaurant at Loch Fyne in Scotland. We kept it in its pot until we moved to our present house in Barrowby, Lincolnshire.
My wife planted it in November 1994 when it was eighteen inches high. In 1998 the growing tip was mysteriously broken but it hardly faltered and is now magnificent. Measuring it as accurately as we can it seems to be approximately ten and a half metres high.
I love this tree and it is a pleasure to look at when covered in snow or it has the wind blowing through its branches. |
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| Thank you John, and pleased that we could finally identify your lovely tree as a Coast Redwood, after you sent a photograph of the foliage and cone. We hope your tree will continue to give much pleasure as you spend many enjoyable times, with a cold beer, just watching it through the seasons. |
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| John Gorman October 2006 |
October 2006 |
My interest in trees begun when I was a boy and my parents took me to the Bedgebury Pineatum where I first saw a redwood and I've liked them ever since. I've been to Bedgebury many times since I was a kid and have learned a fair amount about the forests around the world and I was shocked to learn that, of the old redwood groves that once stood a hundred years ago, only 5 percent of them remain. So I decided to plant a couple of coast redwoods as they are less common than the giant redwoods, in homage to those trees that no longer exist. |
| When I decided to buy the trees I couldn't get them anywhere through the usual garden centres and was refered to a tree specialist near Ashford. The previous owner of the garden (tree centre) had left and most of the trees had become potbound so the new owner decided to cut them. That was last year and I bought them about 3 months ago. The garden centre said they are both about 10 years old. They have produced about 4 leaders from the cut stump and I intend to let them grow and then cut to leave one leader. |
October 2006 |
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| Thank you John, it sounds like you will have a grand collection of trees and the pictures show they are growing well. |
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Nathan November 2006
Nathan is 8 years old and has grown some Coast and Giant Redwood from seed. He very kindly sent us these entries from his growth diary. |
| 2006 |
| 26th October |
Today I planted my Coast Redwood seeds. I had five seeds and I planted them in two pots. I scarified them with a nail file first. |
| 11th November |
When checking my seeds I noticed a small root under a clump of soil. I was very excited when I saw this. |
| 19th November |
Yesterday I discovered a small green thing with a brown thing at the top I suspect it is the seed coat. I now believe they are Coastal Redwood (Sequoia Sempervirnes). |
| 22nd November |
I was going to write what I saw last night but I checked the trees this morning, one has two needles the other still has it's seedcase on I might pinch it off. |
| 23rd November |
I checked both seedlings, the seedcases just wouldn't fall off so I gave it a little pinch, it came off. |
| 24th November |
Today I took the Redwoods out of the bag and put them both on the windowsill. The one I took the seedcase from has now got 3 needles. |
| 25th November |
Not much happening today, except from the two needles opened up which were closed yesterday. |
| 26th November |
I had to put a cocktail stick in as a cane. From now on I will only post major updates they seem to have stopped growing for now. |
| 6th December |
My redwoods have caught a fungi disease called damping out they will probaly die. |
| 9th December |
My redwoods died of damping off. |
| Thank you Nathan, what a fantastic record of the germination of your Redwood trees, and what a great shame that they have succumbed to the dreaded damping off. They had sprouted very quickly, so it seemed that you are doing all the right things, but they can be very delicate at that stage. It sounds as though you have just been unlucky, but it is possible that they might need a little less watering next time. One thing which might help prevent the damping off is to use a teaspoon of Cheshunt compound per half pint of water on the first watering. This is not a nice substance to use, so it would be best to have a parent do this for you. Hopefully your next batch of seedlings will get past this tricky stage and we are really looking forward to an update of your journal in the future. |
| 2006 |
| 15th December |
I have bought 25 seeds which arrived today I will plant them soon. |
| 28th December |
Yesterday one of giant sequoias sprouted it has many little needles. |
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I am really glad you have tried again Nathan, good luck and let us know how they get on.
Thank you very much for the Redwood Christmas card - Merry Christmas to you too and a Happy Redwood-growing New Year! |
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| 2007 |
| 4th January |
Today I discovered another small giant sequoia seedling. The other one has unfolded its needles. This time I'm going to keep them in the bag longer. |
| 17th February |
Sadly my last two redwoods died of the same disease. I'll try again at spring. |
| 1st April |
I have decided to try again to grow a giant sequoia tree now its spring. |
| 6th June |
| Today I woke up to discover a small seedling of my giant sequoia I was again very excited about this again I hope this seedling will live. Also I have planted some coastal redwood seeds in my greenhouse so fingers crossed they will work this time. |
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| 19th June |
Today I spotted two seedlings I think they are giant sequoia. |
| 22nd June |
I spotted two reddish loops I think they are giant sequoia. |
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Nathan sent me a handful of seeds that he had gathered, and from them this lovely Giant Redwood is growing. In December 2007 it measured six centimetres tall at five months old. |
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| Nick Cocker December 2006 |
December 2006 |
I'm 23 studying Arboriculture in Lancashire and became interested in redwoods partly due to reading your website which is brilliant. I particuarly like the 'Tall Tales' section. I recently bought a lot of different variety's of seeds to plant my own trees as a personal project and for fun as our family has some land so I am hoping to create my own forest with redwoods as the kings!
I have never done any type of growing before and we haven't covered it on my course thus far so i was bound to make a mistakes which I did pretty much straight up, I hurried into sowing the seeds on 9th December without any pre treatment such as soaking or cold storage These included packets of Giant and Coast redwood. Only after I did this did I do more research and find out how much pre treatment was needed. |
I was pleasantly suprised to notice some of my seeds germinate, Scots pine first up, very healthy number of them as well! I heard how long it would take and with the stories of very low germination rate I didn't hold up much hope for the seqouias but today I was happy to see 1 of the giant redwood seeds germinating.
Recently I decided to buy some saplings off the internet in case mine didn't work. I also bought some new redwood seeds and will be putting them through the works. I have already soaked them for 2 days and are now in 'pre-chilling' for a number of weeks before I sow them. Hopefully they will be succesful. |
December 2006 |
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| Thank you Nick, in your second email you mentioned about the germinating giant redwoods; "there are a couple more but they look a bit red, not green and healthy." This is fine, the seedling starts as a red loop that gradually uncurls before the seed case falls off, revealing four (or in some cases, three or five) tiny green branches. We could have no better accolade than having been a part of your initial interest in redwoods. Good luck with all your seeds and saplings, and let us know how they fare. |
| April 2007 ..As for my own Redwood growing my last batch died, probably to over watering.. They all seemed to grow to about 1-2 inches then curl over and die. With my most recent batch I have had limited germination compared to the first batch in January. The first 2 that germinated died possibly due to the
dreaded over watering and now I have 3 more sprouted which I am really keeping as water-less as possible without killing them and hopefully at least 1 will survive.. if none survive maybe I'm not cut out for growing my own from seed! |
| I sympathise about the watering difficulty, I also lost many seedlings in this way when I started growing Redwoods. I found that it helped to grow them in pots sitting in small saucers, and water mostly from the base. The use of cheshunt compound may also help. Don't give up! |
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| Gareth Mackenzie February 2007 |
| I have 46 Coast redwood seeds that have germinated so far but I am struggling with the Giants - have had three germinate but lost them all within 3 weeks. |
Coast Redwood |
The photo's are of Scots Pine seedlings of which only 2 have survived, and Coast Redwoods. I have had to sacrifice another 6 today as they had started to develop a greyish/white fungus on their leaves and they were starting to decompose. So that leaves 40 now. Some of these have started to develop little buds (secondary foliage) in the centre of the original two leaves (can't remember the correct term - biology is but a hazy memory!) |
Scots Pine |
| I have just got a new batch of Giant Redwood seed from Nickys Nursery. I will hold onto these until spring as you suggested and try germinating half indoors and half in my miniature greenhouse. |
|
Thank you Gareth, I am afraid your "trials and tribulations" are fairly typical of Redwood growing in our experience. I believe most of the losses are due to over-watering. It is tempting to make the compost as damp as you would for flower seedlings but this is a mistake.
Naturally, the survivors will eventually be well worth all your efforts. Thank you also for your queries about growing and tending seedlings, we will be using some of our answers to update the growing page soon. Good luck with next batch of seeds and do keep us posted with your updates. |
| April 2007 Have had much better success with my second sowings of all three species (Giant and Coast Redwoods and Scots Pine) I now realise the BIG mistake I made was putting the original lot in direct sunlight, they obviously don't tolerate it at all well. Have just pricked out a load and potted them on so will hold thumbs that they do ok. |
Giant Redwood |
Coast Redwood |
Scots Pine |
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| Thank you for the update Gareth, it is good to hear (and see) that your young trees are doing well, it really is a question of perserverance. The photographs show the subtle differences between Giant & Coast in the very early stages of development. The Giant has thin spindly needles, whereas the foliage of the Coast is more flattened and broader. You should also find that the Coast seedling grows at a much faster rate. The Scots Pines are also doing well. |
|
 Guy de Moubray June 2007 |
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I have two dawn redwoods, one 28 years old and about 40 ft high and the other only 4 years old and of the golden form. I planted both - the first one in 1979 and the second in 2003. The Dawn Redwood which has been in for 28
years has this year for the first time produced cones. And,
surprisingly, the Golden form Dawn Redwood which has only been in for
four years, has this year also produced cones. Can anyone explain?
I also have a swamp cypress. Anyone wishing to visit my garden should look at my website www.buxlow.com |
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| Thank you Guy, both the Dawn Redwoods look to be in good health, the older one already taking on that classic conical shape. I must say I was amazed to see that a very young tree of mine (a Giant Redwood in this instance) produced a cone when it was around two or three years old. If anyone can offer an explanation I would also be interested to hear from them. |
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Some good news on my single seedling: my little giant redwood
has not grown much for months but the last weeks it finally started growing quite considerably. See the photo I took last week. |
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I also sowed another batch of self gathered seeds (from the same cones) a
couple of weeks ago but nothing is happening. I fear I might have fried the
seeds by putting a glass plate on them to avoid that they'd dry out. The
ground was very, very hot when I checked them, so we'll see. Last week I sowed all the other seeds I still had from that same tree. I think I might
have sown like 200 seeds, 3 germinated. One is doing ok (the one from the
images), one died after a few weeks after germination because of overwatering, and I lost another one because some bug ate the seed
leaves...
Anyway, I'm not giving up and try to collect some new seeds from that
tree this summer (I do not want to buy seeds, 'cause I like to "know" the
parent tree you see). |
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| Thanks Tim for permission to use your photographs here. I quite understand your eagerness and satisfaction of growing from trees that you "know". I have had around about the same success rate as yourself but the one or two that have survived are quite special. Good luck with your seedlings! |
| July 2007 Remember I sowed some giant redwood seeds a couple of weeks ago from that same Belgian tree? I feared I might had fried the seeds by putting a glass plate on them. Well, already 4 giant redwoods have germinated since then, which brings the total to: 7 out of 200 germinated. Not bad for self gathered seeds, I suppose! |
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| Very well done Tim, on your 7 out of 200, it is a very good propagation rate for self-gathered seeds in Europe. I hope they continue to do well and I look forward to receiving some more photographs as they grow. |
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Caryle June 2007
Caryle is 11 years old and has grown some Giant Redwood from seed. He very kindly told us about his germination successes. |
I am writing to tell you that I have started 18 Giant redwoods. The first three I grew were ones that I bought in Miur Woods (America). I was going to buy a coastal redwood seed, but my Dad encouraged me to buy the Giant redwood. Anyway, I planted my 8 seeds at the end of February 2007.
In March, I saw a plant in my pot. It had a red stem, with four green prongs on the top. I was very excited when I saw this. I rushed to my Dad and told him. He came to see. I looked at the pot again, with Dad.
"Is that another one I see" I said I saw a second one "And there's another one" said my Dad. It couldn't be true. 3 out of the 8 seeds germinated. Too bad I didn't get to see when the loop came poking out of the soil. |
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| The other 15 were from 35 seeds I bought at Kew Gardens before Christmas. I sowed the seeds after I saw the three in March. At the end of April, I saw two loops poking out of the soil. the next day, three more were poking out of the soil and that evening, another one poked out two days later after that, four more were poking out, and the first two had already straightened out. The next week, another one poked out, and all the others had straightened and had four prongs. Three days later the other four poked out. All were all cramped in one very small pot, so I separated them a week later. |
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| Thank you Caryle, it is so very rewarding when those first red loops appear and your seedlings look like they are doing well. Remember go easy with the watering and you should have a fine clutch of trees. |
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| Tom July 2007 Tom originally wrote in April this year asking for tips about germinating Coast Redwood seeds from cones he gathered at Westonbirt Arboretum in Gloucestershire last summer. Since then he has had successes with seeds from Chiltern seeds. |
| April 2007 I bought some seeds from Chiltern seeds and have germinated 3 so far. I would estimate that I have planted about 120 seeds, so there are almost definately more to come. They've been planted for about 1-2 weeks and one is about an inch high with the seed case still on its head, the other two are barely out of the ground and I can't see whether or not the seed case is still attached. Should I take the case off the top of the redwood? I think it might be stopping the needles from spreading out. |
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It is a difficult one to decide upon. I generally leave them three or four days, or possibly a week, to see if it drops off naturally. If not, I will very gently pull it off. To do this I tend to hold the leaves in the forefinger and thumb of my left hand (being right handed), squeeze the seed case gently from the edges to open them a little, and then carefully pull. It is important not to pull on the base of the stem as they do not like disturbance to their roots.
Sometimes the leaves snap but this is a chance you have to take, otherwise the seedling may shrivel and die. Having sown 120, you should have the opportunity to experiment a little. |
| July 2007 Several redwoods have come up through the soil now. One, I noticed had three needles. I thought this might be just on the first set of needles, but now
the second set are starting to open up and I saw they have three needles as
well. It must have different genes from the others or something. I have a
deformed redwood! COOL! Have you ever seen anything like this? |
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| Thank you Tom, that is great news about more redwoods germinating. I too was very surprised to see three-prong redwoods myself, and I have also had five-prongs, although they did not appear to look any different once they had grown a little bigger. |
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| Iain Gordon July 2007 |
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Iain sent a photograph of the Giant Redwood that "you gave last year now planted out in my parents field in north wales." |
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| Thank you Iain, it was good to hear (and see) that the tree is doing well and I look forward to future updates on its progress. |
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| Ralph Elmes October 2007 |
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Ralph sent a photograph of his Coast Redwood. He says "This sempervirens is in our paddock down Whitcalls Lane, visible from the public footpath. It is about 15 years old given to us by a friend who returned from California.
My wife has a Dawn Redwood Bonsai, but does this count?"
It would be great to have a photograph of your wife's Dawn Redwood Bonsai too as a curio.
"Attached is a photo' of my wife's Dawn Redwood. Unfortunately it's in its winter plumage! I'll update it in the spring." |
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| Thank you Ralph, the Coast Redwood is certainly a lovely young specimen and I look forward to the spring picture of your wife's Dawn Redwood. |
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| Colin Steele-Perkins October 2007 |
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"I have been a trained Forester for more than 43 years and trees are a passion of mine. I have been to California to see some of the redwood groves near San Francisco last December. I even managed to collect some seed cones and bring them back, and managed to germinate some. I now have 5 small Coastal Redwood seedlings."
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| Thank you Colin, good luck with your Redwood growing and I look forward to hearing updates in the future. |
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Mark D’Cruz November 2007
Mark has published detailed Bonsai guides for many species of trees, and he is currently writing a Guide for Redwoods. |
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"My adventure with Giant Redwoods was fired by my love for Little Trees - Bonsai. For years now I have been growing different species as Bonsai. I have always wanted to grow Redwoods for Bonsai; however, it was only recently that I decided to give them a try.
About 2 years ago, I got my hands on some Redwood seeds from a couple of Online Nurseries. I followed the instructions that came with the seeds, and excitedly watched the propagators every day for months, and made logs of the seeds' progress in a database. |
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I have sown three species of the Redwoods, Sequoia sempervirens, Metasequoia glyptostroboides, Sequoiadendron giganteum, about 15 seeds each. I pre-chilled the seeds as per the instruction and sowed them in a mixture of 1 part sharp sand, 1 part peat, and 1 part of ericaceous compost. I pre-chilled the Dawn for 4 weeks, the Wellingtonia for 12 weeks and did not pre-chill the Coastal redwood. I sowed the seed in different times of the year – more to do with when I acquired the seeds, than when their ideal sowing time was. I sowed all the seeds in an unheated propagator in my greenhouse. |
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| To my joy, in spring a few months later, I got 4 seedlings from the Dawn Redwood and 5 Seedlings from the Giant Redwood. Unfortunately I did not get any seedling from the Coastal Redwood. I have tried two batches of Coastal Redwoods and still have not had any luck. |
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Sadly I lost one of Wellingtonia to mildew at about 1 year old. The others survived and have grown well since. In the second spring I grew three of them in the ground in an ericaceous soil mix along and I grew one in a 5 litre pot. All have done well, and are currently between 45-60 cm tall. |
| The Dawn Redwoods – don't grow quite as rapidly – but they have done just as well. I grew them outdoors with 3 of them in 3 litre pots and one in a 5 inch Bonsai pot. All have done well and all now are around 25-35 cm tall. They have now shed their leaves in readiness for the winter. I see, what I believe to be healthy buds on the trunk, not all the trees have developed radial branches as yet. Hopefully next year they will be more Branching." |
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| Thank you for your story with Redwoods, Mark. Your trees are looking healthy and good luck with your Bonsai Guide on Redwoods. Based on your own experiences it should be a big help for those who wish to attempt this themselves. Please do send your updates in the future. |
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| Liz Clayden November 2007 |
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Liz sent a photograph of the "Dawn Redwood growing in our garden in Pontefract, West Yorkshire. It was grown from seed by my father many years ago. Unfortunately it has lost most of its needles but it will give you an idea of what it is like." |
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| Thank you Liz, your tree is doing well. It must be nice having a tree that your father grew from a seed. Another photograph in its Spring / Summer foliage would be good if you are able to take one next year. |
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| Emil November 2007 Emil from Sweden first wrote at the beginning of the month and then sent an update after a couple of weeks. |
"I'm growing a Giant Redwood. As of today I placed it into the shade, since it didn't seem to grow at all anymore under the lamp. I had 3 seedlings but 2 died. I would very much like some advice. Since I now have only 1 seedling left and I wanna make sure I don't kill it... It takes so long to grow a new one (I've planted a seed just in case though"
Thank you Emil, your seedling looks in good health, but this is the crucial stage of development when they can fall foul to their biggest enemy, over-watering. I have lost many seeds to this before I realised that I musn't make the compost soggy, and I try and water from the base (using a plastic saucer under the pot).
The best place for them in terms of light is in a window or greenhouse, but shaded from direct sunlight in the Summer. Keep persevering as you will eventually be rewarded with a stunning tree. |
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| "I can see more needles growing in the middle of it (at least 4, more soon hopefully). Thanks for the tips I'll try not to give it too much water (I already water from the base), and keep it out of direct sunlight. As I said before I planted a few more seeds and at least 2 of them are digging into the the dirt and growing quite fast at the moment. Once the seed fall off I will take them out of my mini greenhouse and place them with the other one." |
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| Richard Osbourne January 2008 |
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"Here are my GIANT Redwoods!
The big one is about a metre tall in its pot and doing well - the trunk is about 10 cm across and looks really chunky for its size. It grew a foot last year with some feeding. I bought it as a seedling from the Eden Project in 2001 so it's smaller than it would be in the wild - the photo shows the original package for it. It wouldn't fit back in there, that's for sure!
There is some odd browning of the foliage on the new growth, any idea what that might be?
The three babies are only a centimetre tall but spiky looking. They have been left outside and haven't grown since about last September. I'm hoping they'll come on in the Spring with some feeding.
As for the other 77 seeds - nothing yet but I'm hoping that Spring will bring some news." |
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Thank you Richard, your large tree looks to be a fine specimen and growing well and good luck with your new seeds.
Regarding the browning and curling of the foliage, where it occurs along the side of a stem rather than the whole stem, I have found this to be caused by a tiny bright green caterpillar/larvae. Try and inspect your tree regularly and squish them, sometimes they hide in a fluffy cocoon formed after gathering two small braches together, clever but annoying! They are about 1mm across and up to 5mm long and so far this appears to be the only insect that does damage to my trees. It can be very annoying if one of them decides to attach itself to the top growing tip because, if I have not found it in time, it will force the tree to have to start a replacement leader. |
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| Shane Thomson January 2008 |
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"I have a small giant redwood in my garden in Cheshire. It is about three feet tall, about four years old and growing very fast."
Shane also has a coast redwood of the type "ADPRESSA, it only grows to about six feet so it's ideal for growing in pots. It is very dark green and the new shoots are very light green." |
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| Thank you Shane and good luck with your young trees. I am not sure how long before the tree is bursting through your fence though! |
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"I have started my own collection of Sequoia and now have an example of all three in the garden, none are particularly large yet - the sempervirens only being planted a couple of weeks ago (is it one of yours?). They can be seen on our NGS yellow book open days (look for Barnfield in Essex)." |
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| "The wellingtonia came from Horseshoe Nursery at Bicknacre, as did the one I planted in the garden in Maldon (25 North Street, CM9 5HH, best viewed from Victoria Road) a few years previously. When I bought the Maldon tree there were two to choose from in containers, and I am sure that the one I have here is the second one from all those years before because it was so pot bound. It has been quite slow growing compared to the Maldon tree, and has a much tighter habit but it is starting to grow quickly now." |
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| Thank you Paul, a lovely trio of Redwoods and the sempervirens is indeed one of mine! It looks as though you have done a great job with the planting of it. I have also planted one of my Coast Redwood trees in Colchester Castle Park, I did this back in November 2005 with one of the Park Rangers and it is really roaring away. It now makes the support stake look like a matchstick! I also admire your Sequoiadendron giganteum - it looks like a fine specimen. The Dawn Redwood looks healthy in its early Spring foliage. I hope to pay a visit sometime in the future. |
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| Jed May 2008 |
| "Which kind of Redwood Tree have I germinated? The seed packet said Giant Redwood and Coastal Redwood seed mixture. Can you tell me which one I have please?" |
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| Congratulations Jed on successfully germinating a Redwood! I believe it is a Giant Redwood or Wellingtonia. (The Latin name is Sequoiadendron giganteum). Perhaps you would like to let me know how your seedling progresses. |
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