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I have 500 acres in SW Washington on steep hills overlooking the Columbia River.
Coastal Redwoods are the tallest tree on the planet and are endangered as they get 75% of their water from mist - fog.
California -Redwood National Park has most of them- but the climate at my place is similar - a few degrees cooler but also a bit wetter.
I planted 92 of them and will check their progress. I can buy trees myself and plant them but I would need some leveling - filling i dirt because its too steep-hilly in many places. These trees wont mature in my lifetime but they are super for the environment and are classically beautiful.
I have 500 acres in SW Washington on steep hills overlooking the Columbia River.
Coastal Redwoods are the tallest tree on the planet and are endangered as they get 75% of their water from mist - fog.
California -Redwood National Park has most of them- but the climate at my place is similar - a few degrees cooler but also a bit wetter.
I planted 92 of them and will check their progress. I can buy trees myself and plant them but I would need some leveling - filling i dirt because its too steep-hilly in many places. These trees wont mature in my lifetime but they are super for the environment and are classically beautiful.
Certainly, coastal redwoods are wonderful beings. The species evolved to take the best advantage of the environment they happened to be in. Microclimates are a thing, often an all important one. It isn't just temperature and fog. Its also soil and its particular mycorrhizal community, aspect, air quality, and the interactions with other species. All well and good. Yes, its sad how many were lost.
Consider this from another angle...some would view your project as deliberately introducing non-native plants to habitats where they have no business being. If your particular redwoods even do thrive, they could outcompete/interfere with declining native species that DO belong on your 500 acres. I'd suggest that there are already other species on your land that are also super for the environment.
Worldwide, there are hundreds of examples of exotic species introductions that created subsequent environmental disasters. How many times have eager but clueless gardeners introduced aggressive weeds to a new area just because they wanted something pretty growing next to the house? Eager but clueless range managers seeding land with non native grasses to promote better forage for livestock or cover for wildlife. Talk about backfires. Eager but clueless foresters throwing a bunch of coniferous cultivars into wildfire burns just to get SOMETHING growing faster? You can travel all over the world and see the negative fallout from that way of thinking.
Off the top of my head, consider the introduction of Eucalyptus to burned areas of Madagascar. Sure, they grow fast and growing roots stabilize erosion-prone rainforest soils, but they also alter the chemistry of the soil to the point almost nothing else can grow along with them. No native food plants? No native animals. No native animals or insects? No pollinators. That may pollinate agricultural crops residents also want. The wood isn't good for anything but firewood. The spiral grain prevents using it for lumber. So, the plantings spread wider. An endless chain of impact from one ignorant action. Eucalyptus barrens...wanna see some? Go to CA and tour developments where nothing grows under them.
Just because you want to plant some redwoods doesn't mean its going to benefit them as a species. It could even hurt them. I doubt you'll find anyone eager to fund your work. If you really want to help redwood recovery find out what restoration efforts in CA are going on and help fund them. Those run by people who know what they are doing, including ones that are salvaging viable seedstock from the trees that grow there, not some commercial cultivars that might not even be genetically appropriate. Endangered species recovery efforts are developed very carefully because so much is at stake.
Last edited by Parnassia; 12-05-2020 at 05:49 PM..
Thanks for the detailed and thoughtful response. Let me answer.
1. Originally there were lots of coastal redwoods in parts of Washington. My acreage was owned by Weyerhauser and they plant their areas with more marketable trees such as Douglas Fir and with a smattering of hemlock They own 12 million acres. I hear there are a few growing successfully around SW Washington but I haven't hunted them down. This was their area. Here is one map https://redwood.forestthreats.org/range.htm
2. The only plants growing on the property are Douglas Firs, Hemlock and the really invasive weed-like Alders. We remove the Alders when we can. The Douglas Firs will need to be thinned out however there are places for the Coastal Redwoods
Weyerhaeuser assumed I was a commercial forester and that is exactly what they were selling me - a logged forest. I am introducing a few dogwoods and Japanese Maples just for color and diversity ( animals like that) but my guess is I have 400,000 Doug Firs 10,000 Hemlock- 92 planted Coastal Redwoods and 150 of the dogwood-Japanese Maple and Paw Paw. I also planted about 200 sitka spruce.
What is the current vegetative cover on your land? Do you know the historic vegetative cover type? That should be your first inquiry. If you're seeking funding assistance, you'd be better off looking into planting species which were endemic to the area, perhaps Western Red Cedar, Western Hemlock and Douglas Fir. Those can be quite impressive trees, too.
There may be state or federal programs which could provide funding to help with conservation or restoration of your land. You should try contacting a local land conservancy to see what suggestions they might have. You can look up conservancies in your area at: https://www.landtrustalliance.org/
If you're interested in protecting your land you should look into conservation easements or other methods for permanent protection. That may provide some of the best sources of funding for your land restoration goals. (And I don't see any reason why you'd need to level or fill your land in order to plant trees.)
EDIT: I typed this while you made the above post. I'm not all that familiar with western botanicals and all of the range maps that I've seen showed southern Oregon to be the northern extent of Coastal Redwoods. If they historically extended to your area, that would make a difference. You should still stick with native species, IMO.
Last edited by jackmichigan; 12-07-2020 at 07:19 AM..
You don't live on the west coast, do you? I seem to recall from a previous post that you reside somewhere in northeast USA or over in Europe. Or at least some place far away from the west coast. I remember when you posted because you were having difficulties about how to deliver water to seedlings you had planted on a steep logged out hillside.
I have just one question with regard to the redwoods. In the location where you planted the redwoods, what did you do to alter the microbiome, the mycobiome and the required ph and nutrient levels of the soil before you planted the redwoods? Also, what essential redwood forest species of other coastal plants did you plant first to be nutrient supportive companion plants to the redwoods?
The soil conditions will have changed drastically from what it was like when the original redwoods might have been there so long ago. It will not be acceptable now. If you did nothing to prepare the soil then in all likelihood the redwoods you planted can't adapt to the unsuitable soil conditions of the Columbia region and they won't survive even if the climate there was ideal for redwoods (which it isn't now and is going to become less and less hospitable in coming years).
If you want to fix the soil I'll suggest you read the full PDF report available below about the type of arbuscular-mycorrhizal fungi and ecto- and ericoid mycorrhizal fungi that redwoods need in the soil in order to survive. Then act accordingly and seed the soil with the spores only in the area where your redwoods have been planted. If you do that as soon as possible it may be possible to save them. In the meantime you can give the little redwoods a sort of pre-booster shot by laying down pulverized redwood bark around each tree. It MUST be redwood bark, not any other kind of bark.
I live in El Paso Texas and we plan to have a summer home up in Skamokawa WA where we are planting. The trees we planted the last week in Feb are doing well but they weren't Coastal Redwoods.
My understanding from others is that the soil is perfect for growing trees - firs but did not check if it was much different for redwoods. It might be like Redwood forest in California.
thanks
I live in El Paso Texas and we plan to have a summer home up in Skamokawa WA where we are planting. The trees we planted the last week in Feb are doing well but they weren't Coastal Redwoods.
My understanding from others is that the soil is perfect for growing trees - firs but did not check if it was much different for redwoods. It might be like Redwood forest in California.
thanks
I would start there, with the soil. Have you had your soil tested (nutrients/PH, etc.) by an independent lab? It needs to be done. Surface/3/5/10 feet down tested. Locations close to the Columbia, and also your farthest location from the mighty Columbia. At those depths. This info should give you various drainage trends on your property. Yes, this is some work, but it'll reduce guesswork for "what to plant, where."
Good luck with what you grow. Most that clear cut in forests do so to hide marijuana grow operations. It's a breath of fresh air to hear about someone that just wants to re create a tree based environment.
Sequoia sempervirensis not an endangered species in Washington and I can find no evidence it is native to Washington. You aren't going to find any funds for it unless its from a private donor, and I doubt even then. You'd have more luck planting native species and creating habitat for species that are actually vulnerable natives.
Sequoia sempervirensis not an endangered species in Washington and I can find no evidence it is native to Washington. You aren't going to find any funds for it unless its from a private donor, and I doubt even then. You'd have more luck planting native species and creating habitat for species that are actually vulnerable natives.
Check the link I posted earlier with the map. LOL Im getting advice from someone named Deserterer? I already live in El Paso much of the year.
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