Hi, I am new to this forum and this is my first post. We have a tree in our yard which has doubled in size in the past 14 years we have lived here. We have no idea what it is. It has a bark like a cedar but has long branches with needles. It does shed lots of branch pieces in late summer and early fall. I am attaching pictures and hopefully someone will know what it is? http://img28.imageshack.us/img28/1938/tree007.jpg http://img38.imageshack.us/img38/9008/tree006.jpg http://img19.imageshack.us/img19/8632/tree005.jpg http://img709.imageshack.us/img709/6006/tree004.jpg http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/6249/tree003.jpg
Thanks for the answer. It is great to finally know what kind of big tree this is in our back yard in Campbell River here. It is about 70 feet tall now and the lower branches were so big at one point that we had to remove them in order to use that part of our yard. It is a very nice tree. How often are they seen in British Columbia or Canada?
They say the Sequoia sempervirens only grows as far north as mid Oregon but I live in Anacortes, WA - just south of you and we have at least two here. Check out this web sight plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=SESE3 It gives a good description of the whole tree, bark needles, cones, seeds, and it's needs. barb
Don't believe everything you read ;-) It should do fine on Vancouver Island, the worst it'll suffer is some slight foliage browning in the coldest winters. There's a forest plantation over here at 55°40'N latitude (same as southern Alaska) with four specimens 46m tall, so high latitude isn't a problem for them.
Thank you all for all the great info. The website was good and helpful too. We have mild winters here and very rain forest like. Some winters we do not have hardly any snow if any or freezing. The time that the tree lose pieces of brown branches is when we have hot days mainly in August and September. It has been very interesting to find out what kins of tree this is. There is a park here named after the huge "Sequoia" that stands in the middle of it. It is different from our tree though and this is why we had not been sure before. Good to finally have the answer.
Seattle has at least 5 of them over 150' tall: "Coast redwoods thrive in Seattle and are common: our tallest non-native trees." A.L. Jacobson, TREES OF SEATTLE - SECOND EDITION (2006)
That'll likely be a Giant Sequoia Sequoiadendron giganteum; closely related to Sequoia sempervirens, but very distinct in appearance.
