19 replies to this topic

[newfolsom]

Hi,
I have one Redwood (around 6 feet tall) and one Avacodo (around 3 feet tall) baby trees... both are around 2 years old. They both are growing in pots. I live in an apartment so cannot plant them in ground & its time they need to be out of pots.
Could anyone provide me with some information where i could donate them.... some place where they will be taken care of.
Thanks!!

[Robert Giacometti]

Hi,
I have one Redwood (around 6 feet tall) and one Avacodo (around 3 feet tall) baby trees... both are around 2 years old. They both are growing in pots. I live in an apartment so cannot plant them in ground & its time they need to be out of pots.
Could anyone provide me with some information where i could donate them.... some place where they will be taken care of.
Thanks!!

Welcome to the form!

I'll take the Avocado tree and you can come by anytime and pick as many as you like!

[granto]

Hi,
I have one Redwood (around 6 feet tall) and one Avacodo (around 3 feet tall) baby trees... both are around 2 years old. They both are growing in pots. I live in an apartment so cannot plant them in ground & its time they need to be out of pots.
Could anyone provide me with some information where i could donate them.... some place where they will be taken care of.
Thanks!!

habitat for humanity.

[aztransplant]

Wow. I was going to request the redwood, but then did a bit of research; doesn't look like a good choice for a residential lot!

http://sunnyfortuna.com/explore/redwoodreproduction.htm

WARNING! Even though a redwood is an awesome tree, Sequoia sempervirens is NOT a good choice for a suburban lot if you wish to remain a good neighbor. Even in average soil it will quickly overwhelm the surrounding area. After growing an extensive root system, a juvenile tree will generally add five or six feet to its height each year. It is easily capable of reaching a height of 120 to 150 feet during a person's lifetime. That's fifteen stories high.

The year-round heavy shade will not allow grass to grow and landscaping will be limited to shade-loving plants such as ferns. Winters underneath a redwood tree are cold and wet. Redwoods control the growth of other plants around them by 'bombing' them -- dropping chunks of wood and branches on competing plants (and your house.) The area around a mature redwood resembles a war zone. It is not possible to leave the paths in the redwood parks without having to clamber over the mess on the ground. The redwood is also by nature a messy tree, dropping a third of its branchlets each year as it renews them, clogging gutters and drains.

Its roots are very efficient at removing nutrients from your and your neighbor's soil. They are shallow and extend many feet from the tree, damaging foundations, driveways and cracking water and drain pipes. Many years after a tree's removal, the existing roots will continue to send up sprouts in the surrounding landscaping.

NEVER, NEVER, NEVER top a redwood. The top of the trunk will then send up multiple sprouts. Each sprout will become a trunk and will grow its own branch system. These will accumulate a tremendous amount of weight. The sprout trees are attached only on one side and to the outside of the trunk, not the heartwood, and a strong wind will peel them right off the tree with devastating consequences.

The tree maintenance companies love redwood trees because of the job security. Its fast growth and large mass makes it very expensive to prune or to remove. If you absolutely have to have a redwood tree, consider the costs of maintaining it, and be sure your homeowner's liability insurance will pay for the damage it will do. There's a reason they're in the parks.

[folsom500]

Sure is a lot of misinformation on that WARNING - I will add more later.

[ducky]

Sure is a lot of misinformation on that WARNING - I will add more later.

Not our experience with redwoods either.

[aztransplant]

Sure is a lot of misinformation on that WARNING - I will add more later.

Oh, good. I look forward to hearing other experiences. My husband would really like one of these trees in our yard.

[ducky]

Oh, good. I look forward to hearing other experiences. My husband would really like one of these trees in our yard.

The trees that I think need to come with warnings are Cottonwoods and Fruitless Mulberries.

[aztransplant]

Still looking forward to hearing from you Folsom500.

[folsom500]

By far the most common redwood tree in this region is the Coastal Redwood. While some will say that these trees should not be planted here due to their size potential and other purported issues, you will see a lot of them in the Folsom area- and many in our hood in Natoma Station. Considering our area is now around 20 years old you will see a number the have grown to nearly 50 ft in that time (That is only just over 2ft a year if they started at 6ft).

We have 17 Coastal redwoods in our 1/3 acre along the back wall (we back up to Prairie City Road at the end of the Natoma Station Landscape wall on the right coming from Blue Ravine). Most were planted in 1997 and are about 30 ft tall. I also have one in my yard at a mobile home park were I work out of that is maybe 50 ft tall and has been there for nearly 20 years.

One element of this tree is that it needs to be watered deeply on a monthly basis more in the summer as they do like moisture.

They only grow about 2 feet max a year and I can tell you for sure they do NOT loose 1/3 of their branches every year- We have losses of a few small branches on each tree each year and those are mostly older ones near the bottom of the tree. The amount of 'leaves' they drop makes a nice ground cover and keeps weeds from growing - although many things will grow if you plant shade plants.

You will see a lot of brown 'leaves' each year but this a normal situation and the rains and a few wacks on the lower ones clear these out by late summer.

I am not at home so cant measure the branches but the one I have here that is 20 years old has branches at the lowest point ( it is cut up at 6 ft) are about 12 feet long- so including the diameter of the tree ( currently <2 ft) the total breadth of the tree is around 26 ft after 20 years.

As we did initially, you can leave the lower branches on or over time cut them up so that you have space underneath them on which you can plant any number of shade plants and even sensitive temp plants as the cover gives them great protection. about 5 years ago I started cutting them up from the bottom and now have a wonderful, shingle path , shade plant area, several seating areas including a large hammock and what we call our shade patio...and it increased our usable space by 20 ft along the back wall.

They do have shallow roots but keep them watered and make sure that you do have have a pool withing about 20 ft and you should be OK. The Root are more a mesh and not on the surface like some trees I have never heard of any issues with the many that are in our hood.

I have also never seen any go over in our hood but then I do not always know/see everything...

If you were planning to put it near a fence- plant it about 5 feet from the fence or more. The branches will eventually ( 7- 10 years ) go over the fence but if you cut it up you will not loose as much yard space on your side and will provide a nice amount of beauty and shade to your neighbor as well.

The Redwood is also very disease and critter resistant and makes a wonderful addition to the right yard.

Our two neighbors on either side of us have planted them as well along their back fence or wall so soon most of what you will see from Blue Ravine to the hill will be large redwood tree screens... although ours is the most dense stand of them...

I am not sure the OP still has the one as I have sent a PM with no response and they have not responded to this thread, but do consider one if you have the right kind of yard for it.

Here is one site I saw today about redwoods in the Sac area... http://rod-whitlow.s...ood-tree-a35798

Cheers
F500

[aztransplant]

Thank you SO much, folsom500. Such a comprehensive explanation; I am very grateful for the time you took on this.

newfolsom, Is the redwood still available? If so, I am very interested. However, we don't have a truck and would need assistance with transporting it. I'll PM you now . . .

[newfolsom]

Sorry for not replying earlier.

Welcome to the form!

I'll take the Avocado tree and you can come by anytime and pick as many as you like!

i will love to pick avacados from the tree I have grown with so much care I recently received a complement from a visitor that it is doing great and looks like it is 3 years old PM me if you are still interested.

Thank you SO much, folsom500. Such a comprehensive explanation; I am very grateful for the time you took on this.

newfolsom, Is the redwood still available? If so, I am very interested. However, we don't have a truck and would need assistance with transporting it. I'll PM you now . . .

@aztransplant : yes! it is still available but the problem is even i do not have a truck so will not be able to help with transporting.

[cw68]

It should be noted that sequoias are not appropriate for our climate and require significant amounts of water, much more water than should be used for one tree. Water consumption in Folsom is off the hook and, by far, the majority of that used is used on landscaping. We all should plant more plants that actually match our climate.

[ducky]

deleted

[folsom500]

It should be noted that sequoias are not appropriate for our climate and require significant amounts of water, much more water than should be used for one tree. Water consumption in Folsom is off the hook and, by far, the majority of that used is used on landscaping. We all should plant more plants that actually match our climate.

I am assuming that you are using the word Sequoias as a general term as the proper sequoia is actually in the cypress family and actually needs a hot dry period to procreate...

Although a coastal redwood does need a fair amount of water - it does not IMO use much more than the rest of the native trees and plants that we have in this region. With the right watering system it can be Ok with a 2 hour soak every other week. Less than what a lawn uses over that time. And the benefits of large redwoods make up for a bit more water - at the worst case it is like having a large lawn or a pool ... but actually uses less water than either of those...

Talk about plants that are not appropriate for our climate- check out the City landscaping plants within Natomas station --- and I am not talking about the many redwoods that are planted in our area parks- more on this later.

I am sure that many of those that have coastal redwoods do not even water them much - as they do not know they should and rely on only the rain and the watering that is done for the lawns and other plants and trees near the redwoods...

So - while you are technically correct based on some opinions- they are not the water hogs that they are made out to be..