Abbeywood Gardens Cheshire – Redwoods – Sequoia sempervirens

Abbeywood Gardens Cheshire – Redwoods – Sequoia sempervirens

David Rowlinson 22/12/2011

Sequoia sempervirens

Common Names:

Coastal Redwood, California Redwood

Coastal Redwoods once used to be found across the Northern Hemisphere but now
they only exist along a narrow 500 mile strip along the coast of northern California
and southern Oregon.

In 2006, a Coastal Redwood measuring 115m (379ft) was discovered in Redwood
National Park in California. Known as Hyperion, this is officially the world’s tallest
living thing. The Coast Redwood was first introduced to Britain in 1843. Here, it
grows best in the wetter southwest of the country where it has been known to grow
to 40m (130ft) in height but more often is less than 30m (100ft).

Coast redwoods have a conical crown, with horizontal to slightly drooping branches.
The bark is very thick, up to 30 cm (12 in), and quite soft, fibrous with a bright red-
brown when freshly exposed, weathering darker. Like the Giant Redwood, Coastal
Redwoods have thick fibrous bark containing tannin that help protect in particular
the older, larger specimens from forest fires. The root system is composed of
shallow, wide-spreading lateral roots.

Coastal Redwood forests have an abundant undergrowth, amongst which there are
a lot of ferns. Coastal Redwoods can also be a complex ecosystem in themselves,
supporting a wide variety of life.

The Coastal Redwoods that have been planted in sheltered areas at Abbeywood
have fared better than those planted in more exposed areas. However with the
planting of the woodland glades, this should provide more protection for the Main
Arboretum where one Sequoia in particular has suffered from wind scorch over the
last few harsh winters.

I was fortunate enough to visit Muir Woods near San Francisco a Coastal Redwood
Forest containing almost 300 acres of mature redwoods. Unfortunately I only had a
short amount of time to spend here, as I had only allocated 1 day to spend in the
area, but I was able to have a good look around this beautiful forest.

Before the logging industry came to California there was an estimated two million
acres of redwood forest.

By the early 20th century, most of these forests had been cut down. Just north of
the San Francisco Bay, one valley named Redwood Canyon remained uncut, mainly
due to its relative inaccessibility.

This was noticed by U.S. Congressman William Kent. He and his wife, Elizabeth
Thacher Kent, purchased 611 acres (247 ha) of land from the Tamalpais Land and
Water Company for $45,000 with the goal of protecting the redwoods and the
mountain above them.

In 1907, a water company in nearby Sausalito planned to dam Redwood Creek,
thereby flooding the valley. When Kent objected to the plan, the water company
took him to court to attempt to force the project to move ahead. Kent sidestepped
the water company’s plot by donating 295 acres (119 ha) of the redwood forest to
the federal government, thus bypassing the local courts.

On January 9th 1908, President Theodore Roosevelt signed legislation establishing
the Muir Woods National Monument, It was named after the conservationist John
Muir.

If it had not been for the efforts of the Kent’s, I would never have seen this
wonderful sight. It is the great beauty of these remaining redwood forests that
helped to inspire me to start collecting them.

The current cultivars of Sequoia sempervirens at Abbeywood are:

Adpressa
Filile
Kelly’s Prostrate
Kenwood
Mt Loma Prieta Spike
Simpson’s Silver

As with my collection of Sequoiadendrons, it is my intention to plant more cultivars
of Sequoia sempervirens at Abbeywood Gardens Cheshire.

 

See more at wikipedia