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REDWOODS LIKE IT HOT!
09/05/2024
I have been to California a couple of times to see (amongst many other wonderful sights) the giant redwoods or giant sequoias Sequoiadendron giganteum (Lindl.) J.Buchh. Although there are thousands of them in the UK, having been introduced here in 1853 (there were two in the garden of our house when I was a boy), this is rare as a native Californian conifer and is listed as endangered by the IUCN. Recent research by Hanson et alii[1] suggests that controlling the wildfires in the areas where these great trees grow may not be doing them any good. It seems that it is not only logging operations which are bad for the trees, as would be expected, but that they reproduce best following the high heat generated by wildfires which aids seed dispersal. The authors state that, while more research is needed beyond the relatively small area studied, “postfire giant sequoia reproduction was positively correlated with fire severity in terms of density, height (growth), and proportion (relative to other conifer species), and sequoia seedling/sapling density was positively correlated with percent shrub cover.”
Hanson, C.T., Chi, T.Y., Baker, B.C., Khosla, M. & Dorsey, M.K. (2024). Ecology and Evolution, 14 (4) https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.11213
A relative of S. giganteum is the coast redwood, Sequoia sempervirens (D.Don) Endl., another Californian native. I have one of these in my garden (illustrated) which I planted in 1985. Coast redwoods are the tallest trees on earth, known to grow to more than 115m and live for well over 2000 years. Mine is already as tall as most of the trees in our area but somehow, I doubt I shall live to see it at maturity!
Betts Estates have a giant redwood on our site in Worcester at Earl’s Court & King’s Court. It is still young but already stands out from a distance and is beginning to dwarf many of the local trees. It is protected within a Scheduled Ancient Monument so we hope it will become a true giant as the decades pass. It already fascinates those who visit it with its spongy orange bark that youngsters like to punch! It is beginning to lose its lower branches which is a natural process in this species as shade increases at the lower parts of the tree. I am hopeful it will resist the extraordinarily wet weather we have suffered recently that has led to long-standing waterlogged ground. One thing is unlikely – the kind of wildfires that occur in California!
