Stu,

you are a madman! Sequoias in your backyard?!?

Love your blog, i'm a tree man myself, and i particularly like this pic of the redwood

We live in Derbyshire, England and have a giant redwood growing in our garden! We bought it about 4 years ago the States as a very small plant and it now thrives at the bottom of the garden. We have been wrapping it up in winter to protect from frost but as it is now about ten feet tall I don't think it will be possible this year. Do you think it will survive the frost?

Sandra - I think you will have no problem with the frost. It sounds like your tree is a veritable size now to grow on its own and may even benefit from a few colder winters.

dear sandra and phillip spencer i read your article do you know if your tree is either the giant sequoia or coast redwood there are two types in california you say giant redwood but which is it coast redwoods do not like alot of frost or snow which they rarely receive in native cally, the mountain version commonly caled giant sequoia seems to be more hardy, just fyi there is a home in the southern sirrera nevada mountains that has a 20 foot + giant sequoia thats 20 in diameter height is around 260 feet tall one day yours will be in that region or close to it, ive seen young sequoias that are no more than 50 years old and nearly 8 feet in diameter at the base and nearly 130 tall and thats at a locla park near San francisco so watch out your grand kids might have a monster to deal with in the future .... David

one more thing in regards to you future big tree the branches on these mamath trees grow very long and as a young tree so i hope you planted it in a wide enough area because come 30 or 40 years old or less its going to mhane a massive tree spread ok thats my fought

David - its a coastal redwood and still growing very well - we have left it uncovered this winter and it seems to be fine. I realise it will become very large - I am writing it into my will that my future generations will have to live here and keep an eye on it!

I just bought 2 last year I live in Maryland, 1 is dead the other seems OK so far, the one that died got black near the trunk and spread up through the needles, guess it was a fungus. I also noticed a small Walnut Sapling was near it I wonder if its Juglans killed it.

i live about 30 miles north of kansas city, mo and i have 4 redwood trees, propageted from seed, that are about 12 inches tall. my questions are, when can i plant these trees outside, and will the frost kill them??

Hey Stu,

I live in south eastern South Dakota and I just planted my Sequoia almost two year ago in my back years after two years of potted care. I have a few questions that maybe you can help me with. Here is the deal after the first winter the tree looked like it was dead, I almost dug it up but then noticed green bud all around the trunk, so I clipped all the brownish branches off and allowed the new ones to grow and boy did they grow. This winter I covered the tree up with leaves to prepare it for the winter and it did wonderful. The thing is huge now. However the diameter of the tree is more than the height, should I clip some branches at the base? Local green houses think I am crazy and none of them believe me when i tell them I have one in the ground and it has survived 2 winters. Long story short they won't help me. So how should I continue to care for my tree?

Mike, correct me if I'm wrong but I'm assuming that to have a tree where the height is less than the diameter of the trunk would mean that you have pruned the crown as part of your initial clippings.

If this IS the case then while you may have a nice shrub you won't end up with a great tree. The branches at the lower levels will eventually grow into trees but you will never have a tree with just one trunk. In this case, I would cut my losses and start again or you could put up with the retardation that has occurred and cut the lower branches back to one or two and let them grow.

If my assumption ISN'T the case then I have no answer for you apart from letting it grow and see what happens. If it's grown well for two years and its height is the only problem then continue to let it grow. Hopefully time should heal the problem.

I have a giant sequioa which I purchased 6 years ago as a seedling. It is thriving in the house and has gone through many pots we are at a point now that it needs to move out to the yard. We are in NH I am scared it won't survive, we put it out all spring summer and fall and only take it in the winter. Currently it's 5ft tall and 5ft wide. I would appreciate any tips on keeping it safe and sound. We have no shortage of space to plant it!
Thanks for the consideration.
Amy

I was visiting Muir Woods (redwood forest) last week and purchased two Giant Sequoia saplings from the gift shop. While the instructions came w/ them, a ranger said to plant them in a 2.5 gallon container (fairly wide) and to keep them in the container for at least 18 months in a mix of potting soil and cactus mix (out of direct sun and careful not to overwater). From there, they are supposed to be very hearty and able to sustain cold winters outdoors. We're in Ohio and I have HIGH hopes!

Hi Stuart,

Any idea where I can get some Coastal red cedar seedling in queensland?

Sean

Stu,
Thought I'd let you know that your assumption was correct. I did cut the crown when I clipped all the dead branches that first year. The good news is though that we have a new leader that has sprung up and the tree is not slightly taller than its diameter. It is a little retarted looking but I don't plan on staying in my house for to many more years so I am going to leave it!! Your advise was great though, thanks. Have you ever heard of a tree growing this far north of it's recommended hardiness zone?

I suspect one of my two coastal redwood trees is sick with a fungus. I've been searching the internet in the hopes I would figure out what is wrong. As another posting mentioned, I am seeing black in some spots on the trunk and some of the needles are turning brown (faster and larger quantities than normal). I bought my trees about 2 years ago when they were about 6 feet tall. They have grown to about 8 feet. I love my trees - what is going on? Anyone have any suggestions? Is it fungus? Can I treat it? Thanks!

Kirsten, it sounds like your tree is suffering from SOD (Sudden Oak Death) bought about by the deadly Phytophthora ramorum pathogen. Unfortunately, there is no known cure - despite what some "arborists" will tell you. The best defense is preventing it from spreading and trying to help your tree fight become healthier so that it can fight it on its own.

Here's some reading you might want to check out on the subject - http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2002/05/11/HO9708.DTL

Hello, nice that other people also love sequoias as much as we do. We bought a "Grow your own Giant Sequoia Kit" and now have a small tree in a pot. We live in Switzerland. It is only outside during summer. It is now nearly 4 years old and only 1ft3 tall. Should it be much taller? Sometimes lots of branches are dried out. How should we treat it?

Thanks and all the best to you and your trees, Michel

Hi and thanks for the response. I read the article and I'm trying not to get too depressed! In an effort to keep the trees as healthy as I can to ward off anymore funky stuff, what would your recommendation be for watering. I have a feeling I water too much and I'm sure that is not helping matters. It is really cool that you do this blog and help people (and trees!) you don't even know. Thank you :)

hello,
I was just wondering if it is necessary to keep your tree in a planter until it's so old. if so, how old does it have to be for you to put it in the ground?

I too am trying to grow giant sequoias first 3 died ,top of leaves started to turn brown then the whole tree,was told it was lack of water.Now have purchased 5no sequoias in pots two weeks ago.Again i see tops of leaves turning brown.soil is good loam ,and has been raining nearly every second day since any ideas? fertilizer maybe?

Spider - is your tree rootbound? If this isn't the problem then it could be a combination of many things. Check over and under watering, location of pots (are they susceptible to damaging or drying winds - remember these trees are meant to grow in forests where they protect each other), over-fertilising.

As a last resort it could be 'conifer canker' but this usually takes a while for trees to get it. Unless of course, the stock they're coming from is all infected.

i'm from south texas and i want to plant a giant sequoia in my garden. will it be possible? can you give me any tips?

Jesse - obviously the challenge for you and your garden is heat. However, with a tree like the sequoia you shouldn't have much problems with it once its established - the trick is getting it to a point where it can stand on its own two feet.

Therefore, grow it in a sheltered part shade spot in a container for the first year or two maintaining enough water to keep it moist. Then plant it out at the start of your winter and mulch liberally for its first spring. It may need some wind protection once it's in the ground but after that it should grow very well. All the best.

I have 2 redwoods. They are about 10 and 15 yrs old. This is the first year I a
can remember that they have alot of dying branches. What am I to do?Do they need more water?

Hi to everyone,

I’ve also been bitten by the “Grow your own Giant Sequoia” bug. I’ve posted a log of my efforts (which hopefully will provide some useful “how to” hints to other people), at http://www.durangobill.com/GiantSequoia/GiantSequoia.html

I haven’t updated the page for a couple of weeks, but so far the seedlings (now up to 4 inches tall) and the two trees that I bought from Welker’s Nursery are still looking very healthy.

I would appreciate any comments/suggestions that anyone might have.

Bill

I am looking for an answer to my evergrowing sequioa trees. They look like they have spung up children. I have like 5-10 trees that have spung up next to the original tree. I don't know if I can cut them off at the bottom and plant them into the ground so they can grow on their own? or what? Any help in progating these trees would be great! We would like to be able to grow more of these trees!

Sprouts (the children) from root systems are far more common from Coast Redwoods, but you can get sprouts from the root systems of Giant Sequoias. The reference at http://www.na.fs.fed.us/pubs/silvics_manual/volume_1/sequoiadendron/giganteum.htm
indicates this can happen after an injury to the main tree, but presumably other factors can lead root sprouts.

In any case my own feeling is that there would only be a remote chance that you could successfully dig up the spouts and transplant them. (Or worse yet just cut them off.) Since they are coming from the roots of the parent tree, there’s always the possibility that you could injure it by attempting to dig them up.

If you don’t want to let the sprouts continue growing, my suggestion would be to cut off the tops (top 6 inches) of the sprouts and try rooting them. (The above link has some information on rooting Giant Sequoia cuttings.) If you are successful with rooting the cuttings, then you can eventually plant them somewhere where they can have some growing space. Once the cuttings are established, simply cut down any additional sprouts. (The possibility exists that the parent tree has a problem as per the above reference so you might want to let a couple of the sprouts continue to grow as insurance until your cuttings are growing.)

I’ve never tried the above so you might want to get an opinion or two from others before you experiment.

Bill

I planted 150 Giant Sequoias in my field and put drip irrigation on them. The ones that get more water are growing much faster than the others. I live in western oregon and am excited about thi mini grove.

I drove 1900 miles from Healdsburg, Ca to Houston, Tx with 4- 7 Foot Redwood trees in a rental car. Lover for Redwood trees.. I wish the Cop that pulled me over S. of Austin was also..seems driving a rental car with 4 trees across country with Calif plates looks like a drug courier and at minimum way to complex for the redneck cop who threw me in jail for suspicion until the drug dogs could be transferred from Travis Co. to sniff the rest of the vehicle. Anyways...another story there but damn worth shariing. Right now trees are in different areas around my house.. I am experimenting with different climate controls, soil, water drain, shade and misting regiments to determine best results in hot Houston climate. Depending on who you talk to and what you read the temp here might be too hot. However it is so humid here. Many other soil similarities.. marine rock, sandstone. I will keep posted. What are your thoughts Over/Under?

hey! i live in romania and lately i've become quite interested in there awesome trees so i want to plant one of my own. the fact is that i dont live in a mountainous area, i'm situated 50m above sea level in a great plane. the soil here is very good for agricultural plants (rich, black soil) but will it be a good home for my tree? u said slightly acid soils in your description.. what does exactly mean and what can i do to prepare the soil in advance fot my sequoia? as for the weather, summers are very hot and in the winter we get fairly low temperatures but that shouldn't be a problem right, i mean they do grow on mountains. thank u, looking forward to your reply. razvan

HELP
We have a beautiful Secoya tree in our garden and some of the inner needles have gone brown - is this usual? The ends are fine and green.
Is this normal or is it dying?
Thank you
Charlotte

We have a sequoia sappling that my son brought home on arbor dayand has grown to about 10 inches. He didn't put it in a large enough pot, but I have remedied that yesterday. My question is, how much sun does it need in the winter. My house faces E/W and there are no southern windows. BTW I live in Connecticut. THe nights are starting to get colder. So should I bring it in, or as someone mentioned, wrap it. The directions for care were lost.

Hello everyone - I am also looking for guidance on how to care for my sequoia sappling. I bought it as a gift for my father a little over a year ago while I was on a business trip in san Francisco. He was very sick and always wanted to visit the Muir Woods and since I knew that wouldn't happen I decided to bring a tree home to him! Truthfully, I never knew you could buy them in tubes like that and was thrilled when I realized that I could buy one for him. He loved it to pieces, took great care of it and it has grown to be about 2 feet tall and maybe 3 feet wide. He kept it outside in the summer and inside in the winter (we live in Massachusetts). My father passed away a few months ago and before he passed he asked me to take care of the tree and plant it in my yard when it gets big enough.

It has been outside at his house and I planned to bring it into my house for the winter. But it has been extremely cold out these past couple of nights and I just realized tonight that it has been out in the cold weather all this time. I brought it home about two hours ago and have been desperately searching the internet to find out how to care for it (I'm not a gardener and have always asked my father for advice on everything plant related). I noticed that the dirt in the pot feels frozen and some of the needles close to the center of the tree are brown and falling off (the needles on the outside branches are nice and green). I am hoping it will warm up tonight inside and I will bring it out and give it some good water tomorrow.

Can someone please let me know if there is a website I can go to for information on exactly how to care for my tree? I don't know how often to change the pot, the dirt, how to trim it (or if I need to), and how much is too much water. Any help will be GREATLY appreciated as I am lost and scared that I will kill this very special beautiful little tree.

Thank you so much...Paula

I live in Healdsburg, CA and love redwoods too. John from Houston, where did you get them? They will survive outside, they just need lots of water and mulch to keep soil wet. And when you water do it for a long enough time to soak at least 3 feet down. We need to talk about others, Paula is your tree a coastal or Giant Redwood?

I live in Healdsburg, CA and love redwoods too. John from Houston, where did you get them? They will survive outside, they just need lots of water and mulch to keep soil wet. And when you water do it for a long enough time to soak at least 3 feet down. We need to talk about others, Paula is your tree a coastal or Giant Redwood?

I am concerned about my Mom's 50 year old redwood in her backyard. If it falls, it will fall on her house. Will topping it off, offset the shallow root system, to lower the risk? It is a very healthy tree.

Mickey - I am not sure which kind it is. I tried to look at pictures of both types on the internet to see which one it might be but mine is still so small it is hard to compare it to the pictures. I believe it is a Giant and not coastal. I just know that it said Sequoia on the label of the tube.

It seems to be okay now that I brought it into the house but it doesn't have as many branches in the middle as I would think it should so I'm still concerned that it is not growing right. I just want to make sure it is healthy and that I am doing what I am supposed to for it.

I purchased 4 sapplings from online, got them and planted them inside until it was warm enough to put them outside. They didn't do so well and we lost them. :-( It hurt my heart to see them die...but we're ready to purchase some more and try again.

I just purchased 50 Giant Sequoia seeds. How do I start the growing process and can I use a grow light indoors on these trees?

If you cut the top off a sequoia will that kill it??? It is getting in the way of high voltage power lines.

Thirteen years ago we moved into a house with a giant redwood. The tree has thrived and is over 16' in circumference. We love the tree but would like to have some branches thinned to let more light into the house and yard. Will thinning harm the tree? Since the trunk is so soft, will climbing the tree to remove some branches harm the trunk?

Stu,
I like your passion for trees and in particular, Sequoias. However your picture really sucks. You're an oxymoron. In one breath you talk the talk about trees and preservation, then you show a pic of a glorious tree that was basterdized by some idiot who would rather commercialize a fine specimen than enjoy a tree for it's pure and simple beauty.
Cheers.

Fair call Rob. While I agree with you about the tree I look at it a different way. I'm in no way condoning the "basterdization" of it, more looking at the tree's incredible ability to grow and survive despite it.

I live in N.C. and have a 2-3 yr old Giant Sequoia. The tips of each limb is turning brown. Can you advise on what I need to do to reverse this condition?

Two years ago I started a bunch of Sequoia and Redwood seeds. I live in Western Washington so the climate is perfect for both species.
The method I used was two moist coffee filters inside a plastic bag. The redwood seeds I soaked in water overnight. The sequoias should have been stratified in a fridge for something like two weeks (I didn't have the patience) and I still got a nice germination rate. About 20 percent of the seeds for both species germinate, so if you want a lot of tree's, you need to buy a lot of seeds. Once germinated I put them in small pots with a pretty standard soil. Once they got bigger I transfered them to larger pots. While young Sequoias like strong sun, the redwoods like filtered sun. Anyway two years later I planted a bunch in some woods next to my house, gave some to neighbors, friends, and ever sold some on craigslist. Both species are contenders for the faster growing organism on earth. Large Sequoias add move biomass per year than any other organism. A lot of that being carbon, good to mitigate global warming.

Two years ago I started a bunch of Sequoia and Redwood seeds. I live in Western Washington so the climate is perfect for both species.
The method I used was two moist coffee filters inside a plastic bag. The redwood seeds I soaked in water overnight. The sequoias should have been stratified in a fridge for something like two weeks (I didn't have the patience) and I still got a nice germination rate. About 20 percent of the seeds for both species germinate, so if you want a lot of tree's, you need to buy a lot of seeds. Once germinated I put them in small pots with a pretty standard soil. Once they got bigger I transfered them to larger pots. While young Sequoias like strong sun, the redwoods like filtered sun. Anyway two years later I planted a bunch in some woods next to my house, gave some to neighbors, friends, and ever sold some on craigslist. Both species are contenders for the faster growing organism on earth. Large Sequoias add move biomass per year than any other organism. A lot of that being carbon, good to mitigate global warming.

Hi, we have 3 trees in the back yard. We are in Bakersfield, CA and they seem to becomeing brownish red, We would like to save these. I see they said they like mulch and acid soil. So do you think that will help? Thanks, my husband is thinking of having some one come look to see if they need removed, but don' t want them to say yes just to make money. Want that at a last resort. They have growth on the bottom of them which we trim off hoping the upper part will get more strength. Help Please.

MATT and others: To water deep roots of your sequoia, build a circle dam around the tree. We used circular brick rings from the garden store. 3 pieces make a full circle around the tree. The brick ring is about 3 inches tall. Then fill the dam with water, every week or two, during the dry season.

What kind of root dydtem do redwoods have. Do they grow deep and narrow or spread out I planted 8 of them and I want to make sure the roots have plenty of room and they don't mess up my neighbors yard. How far away from the neighbors fence line and driveway should these trees be planted?

I`ve 2 seedlings from sequoia cones found in Newport Pagnell, Bucks, beneath a 100 foot tree. They are now in 5 inch pots in the open.
In 2 years they`ve managed to grow only 8 inches high. Where should I grow them on? I have an allotment patch with a greenhouse and would like to eventually plant one on my woodland grave.
regards, Roger (61 & counting).

At a critical point. I'm on my second attempt to grow sequoia's in eastern Kansas. First sappling I planted straight into the ground when it arrived. It was start of summer and i now know I did not water it enough through the summer. My second attempt I purchased 2 saplings in spring and planted in large 5 gal pots. They did terrific that summer growing to about 4 ft. Over winter they started turning brown. I tried several methods of protecting them from winters cold dry winds, but by spring were almost completely brown. Not to give up I keep watering them daily and moved to complete sunlight. One of the trees started to green up in the center and I put it in the ground about two weeks ago. It does not seem to be growing but is still about 1/3 green. I'm watering daily still. Question - I'm i over watering and is there something else i can do. Now, the other tree (still in pot) has only a couple 1/2 inch green stems at the bottom. I've trimmed off the dead limbs on it. Any advise.

go go go go

I loved reading this article and all of the comments. I'm totally psyched and have ordered seeds. I want to start from scratch! Wheeee! I think I can.. I think I can..

where can i buy seedlings or 1 gal pots of coastal redwoods? i would like to get 300-400. thanks

I planted two sequoias in my garden in southern France 7 years ago. They were growing nicely, one is five meters the other two. Now they both got sick. They are both getting yellow from the bottom up. no apperent sign of insects or parasites. Help

I planted two sequoias seven years ago. They are about 5 meters and since this year growing nicely. This was a wet years, I live in south France and both trees are yellowing bottom up. There are no signs of parasites. Anything I can do to save them?
help

I'd like to offer a solution for anyone that orders a lot of seeds and ends up with a lot of seedings, like me. I have given young trees to my towns Parks and Rec department, and they planted them in many of my towns parks. I have also planted them in my towns wooded parks as well, no one cares, and I plant the trees in late summer when the roots can grow a bit and the rain starts again (I live near Seattle). And I had some in pots and sold 15 of them over Craigslist, and made 100 bucks.

We are in North Central PA. We bought 2 Giant Sequoias from mail order nursery. We planted them this spring, in a wooded area nearby a couple springs. This summer they seemed to do great, they both doubled in height. They are both now about 12"-18" tall. However, starting this fall, the lower branches all seem to be dying. The needles are turning a rust brown color, and some whole branches have fallen off. This starts at the trunk, and progresses to the tip until the branch is dead looking. About half way up the trunk, the branches look good, with light green growth at the tips. Is this normal to loose the lower branches as the tree grows? If not normal, any idea what is happening? Also, what should we do for winter? Should we cover the whole tree in burlap? I have read some people bury them in leaves for winter. Is it OK to deprive sunlight this way? Any help will be appreciated. Keep up the good work, the forum is great!

Hi folks, I found this site that sells and has a FAQ, growing tips, etc., for Giant Sequoias, Coastal and Dawn Redwoods, etc. I found it while looking to see if I could grow them in IL. I'll include the link. Their links section also had a link to a watering calculator. Water seems to be MOST important, plus a loose enough, rich soil. Enjoy. http://www.giant-sequoia.com/homepage/