Long overdue update.
Last winter was bad for sequoias at this Iowa farm. All sequoias taller than 2 feet got destroyed. Shorter ones that fit under foam cones did pretty well but have not grown much during last growing season.
A couple of them were cut down at about 1 foot height and eventually re-sprouted fresh shoots:
These new shoots grew fine, but the trees definitely look more like a bush than a tree. Essentially, any foliage that stays above mulch or snow cover during winter, dies. That's even with all tree being wrapped with burlap and plastic. I decided to try to use an extreme covering technique for 2023-24 winter. First I tie the branches tightly in one bunch:
Then I build cylindrical enclosure to hold wood chips:
And finally fill it up (and then some) with the chips:
All the chips would need to be removed in the spring. Having chips/mulch around tree base during growing season is certainly not a good idea since the feeder roots start to grow into it.
The long term game here is trying to keep them alive as soon as practically possible, hoping that the root system expands wide enough to support water pumping during winter months.
Additionally, a few sequoias were planted on a south side of the hill (rather than on top of the hill) with the idea that wind will have less effect on the trees. For this winter these 2 ft trees will still be covered with the foam cones:
And as always - more sequoia seeds were germinated and are going into containers:
Thank you for posting!
ReplyDeleteI’ve always wanted to do this I’m glad you are trying it
ReplyDeleteKeep going! I always thought as a kid it would be so cool to have some random huge sequoias at my grandparents about a mile off the highway by their pond. But they said they wouldn’t grow. 20 years later I just bought some 1-2yr old giant sequoias to grow down here in dfw Tx, as some people have had luck even through our summers. Wish you the best of luck on your journey!
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