Crikey Dax, you telling me that that put out 5 foot in one seasons growth? And I thohght conifers were slow!
Fantastic, can I have one for my garden? ;)

Just in time for the holiday mine just lost its foliage here in zone 6 st louis.

Hi Greenlarry! It's a good one huh?

Sequoia Stiffy - I grew it from seed I purchased from F.W. Schumacher (seed company) online. I buy almost all my seeds from them as compared to Sheffield's their prices are much more reasonable and besides Schumachers are a friendly group to speak with on the phone. Seems like a family business. The Ma, Pop, and Grandma with son in the seed room creating the packets.

I simply follow the directions written on the website or the seed packet itself. I keep a circulating fan going (helps dampening off immensely) and I am now switching to buying bagged media. I used to use perlite/peat/sand to "my" desired consistency - pretty much no measuring. I also use similarly to Mike, either plastic flats normally used for holding pots for the large batches or tupperware containers that are 6-8" across and pretty deep. Then I prick the seedlings and move them to plugs and then to pots in the Spring.

Noki, there's plenty of room for that tree. I mentioned to my mother that I was going to propagate it, and she like any mother jokingly said, "no it's mine now" sarcastically of course.

Dax

"And I thohght conifers were slow!"

Abies grandis, Picea sitchensis, Pinus muricata, Pinus radiata, Pseudotsuga menziesii, Sequoia sempervirens can all grow more than 2m in a year in Britain ;-)

Resin

Resin

How fast does Metasequoia grow where you are? and
any Scottish records?the largest seem to be in the
south like Taxodium.

Yep, fairly slow up here (about 30-50cm/year), tho' not as slow as Taxodium (10-20cm/year). The tallest in Britain (32m) is in Somerset - warm, and wet.

Resin

I thought the tallest Taxodium was in London 124ft (38m)
Taxodium distichum that is. There is also a Taxodium mucronatum
at Kew that is about 70ft (21m) I don,t know about
record Taxodium ascendens but think the large
ones are in the south.

"I thought the tallest Taxodium was in London 124ft (38m)"

It is 38m, but it's in Hampshire, not London.

The 32m tallest is Metasequoia ;-)

Resin

Is the second tallest Dawn redwood in East Sussex? and
are there any Devon records? I wonder if that Somerset
one has slowed down? I must see that tree.

It's at a place called Wayford Woods. Sorry, don't know where in Somerset that is.

Second tallest is 31m, at Leonardslee, West Sussex

The Devon champ Metasequoia is 25m tall, 88cm diameter, at Bicton

Resin

Seed all comes from China I wonder if its all from one tree?

"For reference I am 5 8" tall or 1.5272 Meters (with hat and shoes)color>"

Actually, you're taller than you think, Dax: 5'-8" is 1.73 meters :O)

Methinks Dax got it right, but with a typo (as opposed to a conversion error) - should've been 1.7272m . . .

Resin

The tallest Metasequoia in WA is 100'. It was last measured in 1992.

And methinks the same Resin. You're a snappy guy!

Dax

How much space would one need to allow for one of these beauties? I love its autumn colour,something sadly lacking in my garden?

Fairly narrow when young, but becomes much broader with age. Allow for a spread of at least 6-7m in all directions from the planting site for long-term growth, though 3m will do for the first 20 years or so.

Resin

allow for a spread of 6-7m in all directions
Ah,that would be most of our garden taken up then. This is where dwarves come in handy!

Larry, you can always limb it up and plant under it.

Dax went out three places on Metric, now 'The Resin' went out four. I love it!

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This was taken five years ago in my garden.

botann

Is that a blue china fir next to the DR any cones on it?

Botann,nice idea but it still wouldn't work in my garden,i need the lawn for the kids. The bottom of the garden is too shady,its for my ferns,and the only place left is the border,and my neighbours would be really impressed with i giant conifer pushing their fence over. No I'll just have to make do with seeing them in the wild someday... Could always bonsai one;)

British 'Summerhill' school is now in session for the kids who disagree with authority, the ones that figured it out early! lol Go figure as Kenneth our ...friend would say! ... hahahahahah lol lol lol lol lol lol :~) Gotta be cool, relax... take a ride on my motorbike... just jammin' here! Crazy little thing called love, ya ya!!

Dax

Torreya, yes the Cunninghamia has cones on it. I have never collected them because the tree readily roots from cuttings.
All ten of them have started from the same tree. I must have sold fifty over the years, but haven't started any in a long time.

I will put a picture of the cones in the Conifer Gallery.

I always liked the fall colors of the decidious trees, I love to see the pics of the decidious forest in Eastern US. I got some oaks and even the Metasequoia mainly to get that, but it is almost impossible here. The problem is that we go from summer to winter almost everyear, with no time for the leaves to turn their fall colors. Although it grew more than 3', it lost its needles while green in mid-late October (first frost).. I just hope one day I will be able to see it...

I planted a dawn redwood a year and a half ago. By the end of the first year it was about 5 feet tall, sorry, I mean 1524mm. i've been amazed at how fast it has grown - I bought it as a little stick of one foot tall. I stuck another 4 in the ground this fall - they don't do anything in the winter so I'll have to wait for the spring for them to start growing again. Love this tree though.

Mine has a couple of bends in the trunk from the wind .. does anyone recommend staking?

Little ones I stake mr. mm! I cage em too.

Dax

I think I bent one because I staked it ... perhaps I bound it too tight ... but now there is a kink in it.

As for Mr mm ... I'm English and we and the rest of the world converted, so it's in my blood.

Conifers -

Any updates on how your tree is doing this season?

Also - if you only stratify a month, what did you do, start them indoors? I'm thinking of growing some from seed but really don't have anywhere inside the house with enough light - I can barely get enough light for a ficus benjamina indoors!

Can you sow outdoors or keep in cold storage longer to get April germination?

The seed I got from F.W. Schumacher didn't require any stratification. I just soaked them for a few hours and put them on a damp paper towel that was enclosed in a plastic container. In a few days they started to germinate and I would take them out and plant them. I would barely cover them and in another few days they would start coming out of the soil.

Hi Hairmetal,

I was there a month ago and it was growing but just beginning.

I'll definitely update the info as things go along but maybe not until it's done for the year.

My seed also came from F.W. Schumacher's. It won't hurt to cold-stratify the seed for a month in the refridgerator in damp but not wet sand. I microwave sand for a few minutes then dampen it, after, mixing the seeds in. Get yourself a fluorescent light for eight or ten bucks and keep the light about 3" above the seedlings at all times. Start your seeds in March or if cold-stratifying, due that in Feb followed by sowing of them in March.

Don't be discouraged if germination is low. Sometimes a crop that is inferior makes its way into the seed bands. That was my case this year. I only got about 15 or 20 seedlings.

Dax

I got the "Min cut 80%" from Schumacher's a few months ago and the last batch of seeds I tried recently gave me a germination rate of about 30 out of 40 seeds. The seeds came straight from the fridge stored dry to short soak/damp paper towel and the first ones started to germinate within a day or two. As soon as I see germination I put them into a rootmaker tray. Currently they are by a window that gets some direct light but will soon go outside when they get a bit more established. A fluorescent light works well too when young.

I have tried seed in the past from other sources and the germination rate was very low so that can make a big difference. Schumacher's sells trial packets and you can get over a 100-200 seeds easily.

I was there today and the leader is 18". Rain "rain rain" it's been flash floods all spring until today. Another huge flood storm. It should grow huge again.

I meant to take softwood cuttings...

Dax

My little Gold Rush is making great progress this year too...

Hi all, google brought me to this thread...

I was told this was a Dawn Redwood. But it looks a little different from the pictures here. Mainly that ever since I've lived at my house (3 years now), this tree has always been more wide than those shown here. Its branches have also been very low, I never see the trunk unless I bend over and look. Is this a Dawn Redwood? It's about 10' tall now. When I bought the place it was probably half that, or slightly shorter than that.

Can ya take a pic zoomed in on a branch or two worth of foliage? If I saw it walking in the park I'd walk closer to see if it was one.

Bald Cypress looks very similar, but the foliage is spiraly arranged. To my untrained eye the dawn redwood foliage looks organized, the cypress haphazard.

There's a chance it grows wider than others because of being in the open, being in the wind, having the leader nipped off by animals or frost,

There are also some bushier cultivars, apparently. I think. They can be limbed all the way down to the ground like that though.

Judging from the picture, though, the foliage isn't spirally arranged, and it's too broad to be a dawn redwood. What looks odd to me is that it's a really dark green and most of the dawn redwoods I've seen have a really distinctive brighter green color to them.

Actually, is it at all possible that that's the Miss Grace cultivar?

Here is a close up pic.

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/conif/msg062037162267.html

I forgot it was another forum here that I originally asked what tree this was.

That would be Dawn Redwood as previously stated.

frank325.....Here's one of my Meta's with same characteristics as your yard specimen...Mine is from a seedling lot purchased from Treehaven Evergreen Nursery....I had intended to remove this "oddball" but maybe it should be spared?

Dawn Redwood.....12" diameter at root collar.... less than 15' height

I think the shorter, broader ones are really neat looking. Don't know if they have any health problems though

Someone planted a dawn redwood on campus and apparently forgot to water it, because it's sort of orange and yellow now. I'm hoping there's some scrap of life in the poor thing, still.

Sorry to bring up an old thread, but I just continue reading through this, and now I am wondering how the trees are doing.

So, Dax, would you mind, if you have time, giving us an update? I would love to see the trees now.

It'll be the next time I'm in my old neck of the woods which should be fairly soon.

Dax

August 3rd 2009. This seedling has exceptional characteristics and since I had no tape I guessed it to be 17 feet tall.

My father is going to go measure it as I do not live close to it.

You'll see the bark is normal red below and at all hte upper branches off of the main trunk there is a black blotch and the entire branches have curling/black tones/bark.

The last photos show the very first year where the bark has had 2 years to age. It's really something. I think it has characteristics (I'll watch it for another five or ten years) to become cultivar material.

Dax

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Height maybe better shown as I'm 5'8"

(3) consecutive cropped shots. It's hard to imagine but... this tree is tall.

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WOW that is crazy! Thanks for updating us Dax. These trees are crazy fast growers.

Ryan

Nothing like Illinois man.

Dax

wanted to post a pics of mine in its 4th growing season. Such a gratifying tree to grow. It started off at 1.5 feet tall from forestfarm.

I have to say they're amazing. To watch a 1-3' seedling become 40' tall in a decade is a joy.

Dax