Hi Can anyone tell me what the name of this tree is ? I would like to plant one but have no idea of what it is . Thanks Joe T
Nope, it is Metasequoia glyptostroboides (Dawn Redwood). Note the opposite (not alternate) leaf and shoot arrangement.
It isn't often so grown, but no reason why it shouldn't be. The biggest difficulty with growing any conifer as a street tree is getting plants large enough so that they can be planted with the lower branches already trimmed off to a safe height for traffic visibility. Another problem is that most conifers don't tolerate compacted soil very well.
As it happens the best street tree plantings of dawn redwood I have seen are in Vancouver BC. Thinking Dr. Straley's book says where they are.
Yes, I'm familiar with that planting (can be seen from the #41 bus which I occasionally take) - but I do have to say that from what I can recollect, the boulevard where the trees are planted is much wider than the site in the photograph above.
As a side not for city planners reading this. The upright habit of Dawn Redwood is pretty predictable. And it doesn't grow wide into power lines like ash and oaks do. Very similar to Bald Cypress, especially when limbed up. Can anyone confirm how large the trunks get if the tree is limbed up? If you limb them up do they stay narrower? The big ones at MOBOT still have their lower branches and would probably take up every inch of that strip between the sidewalk and the street.
I'm not sure about your area. But near Portland westside, I've seen quite a few lift edges of driveways and sidewalks sooner than I would have expected. Could be due to soil conditions. I'd like to find more in the older SE and NE Portland historic areas where the soil was not affected like more recent construction in SW.
