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Giant sequoias are a rapidly growing feature of the UK landscape

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Re: Giant sequoias are a rapidly growing feature of the UK landscape

#91

Post by indoordin0saur »

openrisk wrote: post #39

The introduction of non-native tree species is not without its own controversies as these may support very different biodiversity landscapes. In central Europe there is, e.g., a debate about the role and future of the Douglas fir, which was also introduced from North America centuries ago: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/ffgc.2022.84458...

I remember walking around Switzerland a few summers ago and was surprised to see that most of the tallest trees in the towns and parks were non-native American trees.

Re: Giant sequoias are a rapidly growing feature of the UK landscape

#92

Post by indoordin0saur »

api_or_ipa wrote: post #80
simonsarris wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The wood is somewhat brittle. When they felled lots of them in the US 100 years ago, the loggers found to their great disappointment little use for the resulting wood, and turned most of the giant trees into... matchsticks, and that sort of scrap thing. Possibly the trees can be harvested more delicately today, though.

Fiddlesticks. Redwoods are a fabulous building material. If you’re in the Bay Area, go check your houses joists. Quite a number of old houses here are made of redwood. AFAIK it makes a great wood for joists and structures because it it’s resistant to pests. My nearly 100 year old house’s joists are in fantastic condition. Big, beautiful beams, nearly completely clear and free from knots. The reason it’s rarely used t…

Coast redwoods have useful timber but Sequoias do not.

Re: Giant sequoias are a rapidly growing feature of the UK landscape

#93

Post by indoordin0saur »

dhosek wrote: post #73
Balgair wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not a carpenter, but my old house was built out of redwood. Never had a problem with it and redwood keeps most of the pests and bugs out. I think that's due to all the tannin in the wood.

The question is which redwood. I think the lumber redwood are the coastal redwoods and not the giant sequoias.

You are correct. The former are excellent quality timber, the latter are quite poor.

Re: Giant sequoias are a rapidly growing feature of the UK landscape

#94

Post by indoordin0saur »

secondcoming wrote: post #28

I purchased some Giant Sequoia seeds last year and only germinated them this year. Only two survived but I’ve no idea if they’re doing well. If they do survive my plan is to plant them somewhere in the Scottish highlands. I also have some Coastal Redwood and Dawn Redwood seeds but none of those germinated. I think I kept them in storage for too long. I might give them another shot.

Dawn Redwoods prefer hot humid summers and cold winters, like you'd see in NE Asia or the East Coast of the US.

Re: Giant sequoias are a rapidly growing feature of the UK landscape

#95

Post by OkayPhysicist »

indoordin0saur wrote: post #87

Related question I've always had: does anyone know why trees on the west coast of the US and Canada grow so tall? You'll find the tallest species of fir (douglas fir or if you're being pedantic the grand fir), pine (sugar pine), hemlock (western hemlock) and cedar (western red cedar) as well as the redwood species. Other places with similar climate grow tall trees but nearly so high. Is it something about the climate…

There's a couple factors.

A big one is that the North American Pacific coast was just one the last places to get significant settlement, so we didn't cut down all the big trees like we did elsewhere. Appalachia, for instance, used to have its share of giant trees. But those trees are still dwarfed by the sequoias.

The West Coast's wet-dry spells lead to more forest fires, presenting another evolutionary pressure on tree height. Tall trees put their canopies far enough away from the flames that fires can sweep through the undergrowth without ever reaching them.

There's also the fact that we have one of the most mild climates in the world: wild temperature fluctuations cause difficulties in getting water up tall trunks.

Finally, there's the fog that keeps the canopies moist.

Re: Giant sequoias are a rapidly growing feature of the UK landscape

#96

Post by pvaldes »

vaylian wrote: post #22
pjc50 wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or about one air passenger trip to Europe. ("just plant trees" is not a viable solution to climate change unless you can plant a very large number of trees which live to maturity)

And you need to make sure that the wood doesn't have a chance to decompose after the tree dies.

We will left that task for people living 800 years on the future.

Re: Giant sequoias are a rapidly growing feature of the UK landscape

#97

Post by Balgair »

indoordin0saur wrote: post #93
dhosek wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The question is which redwood. I think the lumber redwood are the coastal redwoods and not the giant sequoias.

You are correct. The former are excellent quality timber, the latter are quite poor.

Yep, most likely coastal ones for my former house. The house was built in the 40s, I know they were doing a lot of logging up the coast back then about that time.

Re: Giant sequoias are a rapidly growing feature of the UK landscape

#100

Post by hinkley »

ndonnellan wrote: post #72
daveslash wrote: post #51

"There are an estimated half a million -->redwoods giant sequoias (arrows mine) Giant Sequoias ( Sequoiadendron giganteum ) and Coast Redwoods ( Sequoia sempervirens ) are two different trees! Note: It seems that my California nomenclature uses "Redwood" to refer specifically to Coast Redwoods, whereas other regions use "Redwood" to refer to all 3 species of Sequoioideae (Coast Redwood, Giant Sequoia, and Dawn Redwoo…

Portland, OR (NW Oregon in general) also has a lot of planted Giant Sequoias! So it may not be strictly true that they are super picky. I imagine as climate warms, the PNW will become a better spot for Sequoias. Unfortunately at the cost of trees that like it cooler and wetter e.g. Western Red Cedars. I would plant one, but their trunks get huge quickly, and I see a lot of busted sidewalks around here due to that. ht…

Western Red Cedar is remarkably polite about foundations and sidewalks for such a massive tree.

Even black walnut is more of a "fuck this sidewalk, and fuck you too" kind of tree.

Current owner of a fucked sidewalk, former owner of a WRC planted way too close to a house.

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