Dawn redwood (Metasequoia)

[Lean'n'mean]

Objectively, Britain's biodiversity is screwed. The UK not only has the lowest GDP of the G7 but also has the lowest biodiversity on the biodiversity intactness index of the G7. 90% of the UK's biodiversity is accounted for in it's overseas territories. Changing land uses, pollution, competition from invasive non-native species, introduced diseases & climate change are nails in the coffin for what rests of Britain's biodiversity.

 

[TLM]

If I remember correctly almost half of UK main island was covered with ice. No vegetation whatsoever 11k years ago. That is not enough time for the whole system to find even a natural balance, of course there exists a balance of a kind but that is changing all the time.

 

[Pattree]

……. erm ……. One of the perfectly natural changes on the British archipelago was the arrival of a tool using naked ape.
There is no division between humans and nature. We and our ‘factories ARE nature. What is more the planet doesn’t care what we do to it. The only issue is our own concern for us and our survival.
For myself I hope that our species can survive. We are the only species that is aware of and can explore every niche on the planet. We are the only species that is aware of the majority of other species and cares about them. We are the only species that can reach out beyond the planet. We are a learning species.

<99.9% of Earths fauna is extinct.

Gaia doesn’t care.

@TLM. Plant your seeds. It won’t make a scrap of difference to your own plot’s biodiversity other than to increase it by one. It certainly won’t affect Britain.

@Lean'n'mean ….. so what are you doing about it?
Does your MP know who you are?
Are you active in your local ecology associations?
Are you in contact with academic institutions and offering your help?
Are you an eco warrior?
Have you written publicly about your solutions to the issues you describe?
Are you a British Citizen? What can you do for your country?

If you are active then all power to you.
If not:
Don’t bleat, do!

edited repeatedly to try and get @Lean'n'mean link to work. Sorry mate!
Ah! At last.

 

[TLM]

Plant your seeds. It won’t make a scrap of difference to your own plot’s biodiversity other than to increase it by one. It certainly won’t affect Britain.

To plant or not was actually not the question!

The question was how to best do it. As said before it would be in an area where it is far outside its normal northern limit so I don't think it can spread or otherwise critically affect its surroundings.

 

[Pattree]

To plant or not was actually not the question!

Neither was my first response

I think that a number of people have given you the advice that you asked. My interpretation is that it’s not that difficult. Enjoy!

…….. but thank you for providing the soap box.

 

[Broch]

……. erm ……. One of the perfectly natural changes on the British archipelago was the arrival of a tool using naked ape.
There is no division between humans and nature. We and our ‘factories ARE nature. What is more the planet doesn’t care what we do to it. The only issue is our own concern for us and our survival.
For myself I hope that our species can survive. We are the only species that is aware of and can explore every niche on the planet. We are the only species that is aware of the majority of other species and cares about them.

Actually, highly unlikely humans were naked when they arrived 11 thousand years ago; though they had been her long before that of course.

And I beg to differ; those of us that do care about other species assume that others do to - the reality is that we are in the minority by a very long way. Most humans don't give a fig. There may not have been a division between humans and nature at one time but there certainly is now. When you have farmers that don't know the difference between a crow and a rook or a raven we have lost touch.

 

[Toddy]

People were here long before the ice retreated.
The Red Lady (it's a man) of Paviland, for instance.

The 'Red Lady' of Paviland

In 1823, geologists excavating the remains of mammoths in Goat's Hole Cave near Paviland in South Wales made an intriguing discovery: a partial human skeleton covered in red ochre, accompanied by shell beads and carved ivory items, and watched over by a m

oumnh.ox.ac.uk

and from the Dogger Bank, which only flooded c5,500 bce there's clear evidence of hunter gatherers.....and that same evidence is coming up from what we think were channels/rivers in the ice sheet too, from much earlier, and further north than was expected.
It's very likely that during the ice age that northern hunters lived much like the Inuit.
Remember, 50,000 years ago the sea levels were 50metres lower than they are now.....that's a lot of land.....and they had been 70metres lower.
Nice article in Science

https://www.science.org/content/article/relics-washed-beaches-reveal-lost-world-beneath-north-sea

Having said all that though, the land bridge to the continent broke down before the full range of European flora and fauna could re-establish itself in these islands. Ireland was seperated before the snakes managed it, for instance. Many common tree species that will happily grow here just didn't spread quickly enough. Some just wouldn't fruit anyway; the stone pine for instance....wouldn't that be lovely though, to be able to grow pine nuts ?
Even edible chestnuts are not reliable where I live, it's very rare to find any full fruits, and any trees we know of were introduced deliberately.

 

[Pattree]

Actually, highly unlikely humans were naked when they arrived

The ape under the animal skins was naked compared with its cousins.

The Naked Ape: A Zoologist's Study of the Human Animal is a 1967 book by English zoologist and ethologist Desmond Morris.

 

[Toddy]

Have you read about the cooking ape ? How cooking made us human ?

There's a very good book,

Catching Fire: How Cooking Made Us Human by Richard Wrangham

Buy Catching Fire: How Cooking Made Us Human Main by Richard Wrangham (ISBN: 9781846682865) from Amazon's Book Store. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders.

www.amazon.co.uk

 

[Tengu]

Here at work, we do a lot with trees.

(Seeing as our building plans involve a wood extravagant edifice...)

We will have a coppice section.

And a forest garden.

But the last will be an arboretum, so I guess there might be room for this fascinating Chinese tree...

 

[Kav]

I was active in the redwood summer protests. Julia Butterfly slept in the premium bag I bought during her tree sit in Luna. I grew up visiting the second Giant species.
Grow your Redwood. And plant a dozen native trees.
EARTH FIRST!

 

[Paul_B]

What is the area around the metasequoia going to end up like? We had two huge leylandii chopped down a year ago. Still clearing the wood and brash. As to the area around them it's still mostly bare without much growing. Bare soil despite the undergrowth in that area is thick around the beech, Hazel, Holly, yew, etc.

 

[demographic]

IIRC Coastal Redwoods are one of the few coniferous trees that can be coppiced.
When you look at just how many invasive species gardeners have plagued this country with I can't see one pretty cool tree being the end of the world, sbeesh to read some of the answers it would seem you've shot their dog or something.

There's massive redwood of some description near Brampton train station, all the trees around it look pretty normal, the brush around it isn't bad but the bark is pretty interesting, really thick and spongy.

 

[Pattree]

Indeed wherever Metasequoia appears in public parkland it seems to have a groove around its trunk at about youth shoulder height where folk have punched the soft bark (coz they can). I’ve seen small avenues of it where a trunk has fallen and a row of treelets has emerged along its length.

 

[TLM]

As it was "found" during WW2 and seeds only exported after that, very old trees should not exist outside China.

I have options from wet to fairly dry ground so if several seeds do germinate I'll probably try both.

 

[Glass-Wood-Steel]

Metasequoia seed usually has very low viablity so don't expect loads of seedlings. A few weeks at around 2 to 3 degrees in a fridge will help germination. They will germinate from mid March onwards but a little bit of warm will help. Transplant on when lateral roots have formed, dont wait too long as they have no issues rooting. Keep on potting on to avoid the roots getting bound up. You can expect very vigorous growth from these.
As ever watch for damping off when a seedling and avoid watering too late in the day, best if foliage is dry by night.
This species is not known to be invasive and is actually good at coping with pollution. They are not heavy feeders or drinkers, certainly not in the class of Lawson or the dreaded Leylandii.

 

[Toddy]

@TLM
Are you certain about that ? or are we thinking of a different sequoia ?
The reason I ask is that there are a lot of 'estates' around here, where since the push for gardens/ improvements in agriculture of the 17th and 18th centuries we've had a lot of imported plants....among them those now huge spongy bark trees. They're at least pre WW1 because the estates lost their manpower thereafter and pretty much folded.

 

[Glass-Wood-Steel]

@TLM
Are you certain about that ? or are we thinking of a different sequoia ?
The reason I ask is that there are a lot of 'estates' around here, where since the push for gardens/ improvements in agriculture of the 17th and 18th centuries we've had a lot of imported plants....among them those now huge spongy bark trees. They're at least pre WW1 because the estates lost their manpower thereafter and pretty much folded.

I am pretty sure those trees ith very spongy bark are sequoia sempervirens or Coast Redwood. Dawn Redwood was only only "discovered " last century.

 

[Glass-Wood-Steel]

@TLM they will grow on a range of sites and don't seem to mind in less acidic soils nearer to pH 6.
Once you have some saplings and they have a good few branches, I would try some cuttings. These do well as a cutting, best being inserted in late Feb before the new needles start to emerge. Keep up the humidity on them and you can get over 50% strike rate.

 

[Pattree]

Indeed - my bad.
You can see why I took the business option for my horticultural qualification!!!!!

I started by confusing Metasequoia with Swamp Cypress (Taxodium) then with Sequoiadendron and Sequoia. I still have to flap my arms up and down to identify cedars!

From what I can read this years seed should readily germinate in a lime free compost come Spring.