do redwood trees grow in ohio?
do redwood trees grow in ohio
12 Responses
A Well Lit Garde
08 Sep 2011
tamarack58
08 Sep 2011
No. Wish they did.
sophieb
08 Sep 2011
they’re not supposed to be able to survive there, but I used to live in Ohio and we had a redwood (it was medium in size and was struggling but it did survive the winters) and it was in our back yard near the house. Probably with the weather being strange all over, I wouldn’t be surprised if the redwoods in the future started to flourish there.
pandasrule1258
08 Sep 2011
no
plain jane
08 Sep 2011
I planted a redwood 25 years in my Maryland garden (suburbs of DC) and it’s doing fine. Check with a local nursery or state farm bureau.
I found that taking a garden hose and ‘misting’ the tree every day in the summer mornings, from top to bottom for about 10 minutes helped it, since in California they generally are misted by fog. Your winter might be a tad harsher than Maryland, but I’d give it a try.
Mine was 4′ tall when I planted it (make sure to ‘amend’ the soil, keep the right pH, etc.) and is now well over 30 feet tall. Well worth a try. When it got to about 20′ I trimmed the bottom branches off, up to about 7′ above the ground…great shade in the summer. And are the neighbors ever curious…and jealous.
Huba
08 Sep 2011
Not naturally but you can plant them with the proper care. Most redwoods are very shallow rooted and they are one of the few plants that absorb moisture through the needles or leaves. That is one reason why they do so well on the California coast – they get a "drink" from the fog!
There are different varieties of redwoods. Check with your local nursery for recommendations. Plant it in an area where it has room to grow and your generations to follow will enjoy it too.
Kevin C
08 Sep 2011
Giant Redwoods, the kind you see in California and on the west coast are borderline hardy in USDA hardiness zone 6. Some of Ohio is in that zone, so you’ll have to consult a hardiness map to check your area.
You can try Dawn redwood (Metasequoia glyptostoboides), they are hardy in zone 5 (I think all of Ohio is either 5 or 6). They are truly beautiful, I grew one at my parents house outside of Detroit. People used to stop, to ask them what it was. They are deciduous (drop their needles in the winter), so don’t be alarmed when the tree goes bare. The bark is also an amazing feature.
Similar trees include Bald Cypress (Taxodium distichum) and Larch (Larix decidua). All of them are nice and different.
I hope you find one you like.
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21 Oct 2011
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21 Oct 2011
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Evan Davis
16 Apr 2020
I live in Columbus, Ohio and had the second largest Sequoiadendron Giganteum in my town. It lived 14 years but each time there was a cold, dry spell in the Winter , the tree would show signs of stress in the late Spring. It got to about 9 feet tall, with a trunk diameter of about 6.5 inches 12 inches from the ground.
In the last season of its life, when we had an exceptionally hot, dry summer, I laid bags of ice below the tree every morning, to keep it hydrated. Sadly, it was not enough.
We lost the other 4 Redwoods that year, also, although the last surviving one, in Goodale Park didn’t fully expire until the following Spring.
There were 3 much larger (35 ft) specimens in Athens County, Ohio, planted at a nursery called Companion Plants, but they died as well.
I think that the extreme fluctuations in both temperature and humidity/precipitation we are now experiencing in Ohio thanks to climate change simply cause the Redwoods too much stress. They aren’t very drought-tolerant, and, in their native habitat and adapted to rely on a very thick snowpack through the Winter months. Therefore, I would NOT recommend trying to grow them in Ohio.
Metasequoias and Bald Cypruses thrive here, though. I’ve planted 6 Metas and 2 Baldies and all are doing just fine. One of the ones I planted is visible on East Northwood ave, and another is in a back yard on West Como where it is visible from the alley.
Dawn
26 Dec 2020
We have a Dawn Redwood that has been alive in Cleveland OH in a suburban neighborhood for 48 years, with no special care. She is beautiful and over 20 feet tall.
Todd
16 Jun 2021
I live in Akron ohio, and in the Highland Square area we have a redwood tree on the corner that is very large probably as old as Akron and they have it marked to cut it down because the roots are pushing up sidewalk. What a shame to see a healthy redwood so rare in our town cut down because it is a nuisance to walkers.
Redwoods are certainly not native to Ohio but there is a possibility that you could grow them in your yard.
There are two species of redwood native to the US. The Coast Redwood (Sequoiadendron sempervirens) and the Sierra Redwood (Sequoiadendron giganteum). The Coast Redwood will never grow in Ohio. These trees can’t tolerate the cold and need moist coastal air. The Sierra Redwood can grow in USDA cold hardiness zones 6 to 8. Ohio is either zone 5 or 6 depending on where you live in Ohio (North or South). If you live in zone 6 than you could plant a Sierra Redwood. They actually do quite well in the east as they tolerate drier conditions than the Coast Redwood. In fact, Tyler Arboretum in Lima, Pa. has a 100′ specimen. You might look for the cultivar ‘ Hazel Smith’. This is a strong-growing upright Sierra Redwood with bluer foliage, greater cold hardiness and slower growth (it will stay reasonable sized, longer).
If you live in zone 5, then consider a Dawn Redwood (Metasequoia glyptostroboides). This endangered tree from China will grow in zones (4)5-8. http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/consumer/factsheets/trees-new/metasequio_glypto.html
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Metasequoia_glyptostroboides
Additional Information: Sequoiadendron giganteum – Mean daily maximum temperatures for July for typical groves are 24° to 29° C (75° to 84° F). Mean minimum temperatures for January vary from 1° to -6° C (34° to 21° F). Extremes are about -24° and 40° C (-12° and 104° F) (32,37). http://www.na.fs.fed.us/spfo/pubs/silvics_manual/Volume_1/sequoiadendron/giganteum.htm
http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/consumer/factsheets/trees-new/sequoiadendron_giganteum.html
Adapted to Coarse Textured Soils Yes
Adapted to Fine Textured Soils No
Adapted to Medium Textured Soils Yes
Drought Tolerance Medium
Frost Free Days, Minimum 130
Moisture Use Medium
pH, Minimum 5.5
pH, Maximum 7.5
Temperature, Minimum (°F) -24
Precipitation, Minimum 35
Precipitation, Maximum 55
http://plants.usda.gov/java/charProfile?symbol=SEGI2
USDA Cold Hardiness Zone 6 : -10 to 0 (°F)*
*Certainly within the natural extreme tolerance of Sequoiadendron gigateum (Sierra Redwood), but then cold hardiness is both a function of genetics and acclimation. Ideally, one must locate plant stock which has been propagated from plant stock that has exhibited cold hardiness in your target zone and has been raised in that target zone for any plant to truly be cold hardy. Any plant not meeting these two criteria may be borderline hardy regardless of the zone or the plant. Even Dawn Redwood can be borderline hardy if selected from lineage grown and propagated in zone 7, but ultimately planted in zone 6.
And yes, the bark of Dawn Redwoods is special!