Hi Benjamin,
I can recomment you the cultivar 'Kelly's Prostrate' which will keep flat for ever.
It's winterhardy here in The Netherlands so it also will work out fine for you in Germany...
Sequoia sempervirens 'Kelly's Prostrate'
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No thanks, Benjamin...

Edwin

Im sure he will surface again

Hey
thanks coniferjoy, this is exactly what i am looking for.
Sorry for my absence had some busy days.
Frosty Greetings! We are facing pretty cold days right now in Europe.

Benjamin

Concur on 'Kelly's Prostrate' and 'Nana Pendula' lovely as well. They have different looks so check them out and see which you prefer (and what is available there!)

Here is a link that might be useful: Form and Foliage

'Nana Pendula' is a synonym of 'Cantab', used for propagations of that cultivar that grow low for a time. In my experience this tends to not be a very long time, erect shoots soon appearing.

Interesting. I have a 'Cantab' that is about 4' tall, semi-weeping, looks nothing like my 'Nana Pedula' which is dead flat. The 'Cantab' is admittedly much older...

I have not seen a real ' Nana Pendula', but I saw a pic in a book and this is quite different from 'Cantab'. 'Cantab' has the same needles as 'Prostrata' and isn't a weeping form. Maybe ' Nana pendula' is a rooted cutting ( from a side branch )from 'Pendula'.
These must be different cultivars.

Wolfgang

Thanx - I went out and examined both what I think is 'Cantab' and what I think is 'NP' - they look so different but my 'Cantab' is a relatively old plant, certainly much older than the 'NP' and age can make a difference. I guess I have to keep watching...

Here is a link that might be useful: Form and Foliage

Different names for different expressions (cultivariants) of the same plant. In addition to those I've seen that already had grown the tree shape some time beforehand small specimens recently from nurseries or even still in the nursery are usually producing leads. I've had to cut my back repeatedly to keep it growing as a branch.

Apparently there is (if it still exists) or was another plant of different origin from 'Cantab' ('Prostrata') named 'Nana Pendula'. Photos on the internet support the implication that the erroneous use of 'Nana Pendula' for 'Cantab' ('Prostrata') is still occurring. This would be the basis for what I said, I didn't know (or forgot) that there actually was a possibly legitimately named 'Nana Pendula' that existed apart from the usage of 'Nana Pendula' (and 'Prostrata') for 'Cantab'.

Around 1927, F G Preston, then Superintendent of the Garden, found a witchâÂÂs broom on the lower branches of a Sequoia sempervirens tree. This tree still stands at the southern end of the Systematics beds. Material taken from this witchâÂÂs broom was grafted on to a root-stock and grown on here at the Garden; further material was grown on at T Hilling & Co, a plant nursery in Surrey.

The nursery presented a plant at an RHS show under the name Sequoia sempervirens nana pendula. It was described as a prostrate spreading form of the Californian redwood. This name was later discovered to have been already attributed to a different plant and it thereafter became known as Sequoia sempervirens âÂÂProstrataâÂÂ.

The plants that were grown here at Cambridge have so far retained this prostrate form but in the 1970s Roy Lancaster reported that some of the plants arising from material taken from the original witchâÂÂs broom had developed different characteristics. An upright form, which was grown at HillierâÂÂs Garden, had reached 5.5m in height and showed a loose conical habit rather than the prostate form shown in the plants grown at Cambridge. This upright form arising from the prostrate mutant was then named âÂÂCantabâ by Lancaster.

Today an example of the prostrate form can be seen close to Cory Lodge. It is a slow growing spreading conifer with flat grey-green needles, making an attractive dome

Here is a link that might be useful: Sequoia sempervirens âProstrataâ

Good info but unfortunately without a picture...

I agree.Thanks for this info.

Wolfgang

Yes, thanks! My 'Nana Pendula' shows a very minor inclination to produce vertical growth (vs, for example, 'Kelly's Prostrate' which only goes sideways. Time will tell...

I just went out in the rain to take a picture of my 'Procumbans' where I let one shoot go vertical. (The trunk in the upper left)
The needles are wider and shorter than on the species. A little different color too.
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I really should clean out those dead needles that just dropped. I've been busy cleaning up ice storm damage. I will get to it when I can. Ice can do a lot of damage to a garden more mature than most.

Here's a picture of the 'Cantab'.
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The bark is softer than the species Sequoia and a Sequoiadendron.

Mike

I just joined the blog and live near Seattle WA (in Des Moines) and wonder if botann or anyone could email me pictures of Procumbans or Cantab? -- address is 'rtnorthen@comcast.net' I just bought a Sequoia sempervirens 'Contorta' from Lees Farm in Fall City and wonder how it might compare with these others. Thanks

you will have much better luck.. googling the full latin ... including the cultivar name.. and flipping to the images side ...

ken

Thanks for that suggestion, it is much more practical!

Thanks a lot, I now have pics of most of them and you can
find a photo of 'Contorta' (“Weeping Coast Redwood”) on the Lee Farm site at
Fall City WA (www.leefarmandnursery.com); it
looks almost like a very immature (small) redwood tree and is said to grow only
about 2-3 feet tall and around 2-4 feet wide, needs occasional pruning and is
best grown in a container.

rtnorthe, I am curious ow your weeping coast redwood looks now? I also just bought one and am trying to figure out correct spacing/placement for it

A pretty stale thread but Heather, you might have better responses if you can provide teh accepted cultivar name for your tree. The ACS data does not recognize/acknowledge a 'Contorta' but does list a 'Pendula', a 'Pendula Nana' and a 'Prostrata'. Growth rate and size difference will vary widely with these.

Thanks I happened to buy mine from the same grower (lee farm and nursery) which labels it as a ’contorta’—i know its not a formal cultivar but quite likely i have the same plant