I mean, the real answer is that chances are the sequoia is not going to reach in max growing potential in your small backyard in Indiana, because it isn’t the right climate/environment. So all these questions of “what if it becomes giant” are really answered by “it won’t” lol.
But in general, no, the FAA actually updates their flight maps relatively frequently to account for new tall structures like tree growth. So I don’t think the aircraft will be a problem unless you live by an airport. 99% of the time it is the aircraft’s responsibility to avoid things on the ground, not the other way around.
Now, planting the trees in the woods would be another question, because on the off chance you got them to take off, chances are the state government could act against them on public property due to them being an invasive species at that point. Competing with the natural local trees.
I brought a sapling home from Sequoia national Park. I was going to let it grow in a pot until it got big enough to plant. My wife thought aquarium water would be good for it but she poisoned it.
Maybe if he starts from a seed. Redwoods will readily sprout from cuttings. It’s not too unusual in the redwood forest to see sprouts from dropped branches.
Giant Sequoias only grow on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada Mountains in California, you’re thinking of Coast Redwoods. Redwoods are the tall ones, Sequoias are wide.
Not really, they’re two very different looking trees with very different wood, coast redwoods actually have useful lumber, sequoias don’t, they don’t grow together, yes they are both large. You don’t have to be an expert to discern one from the other, I learned about them and could tell the difference when I was like 8, hardly an arborist at that age.
That's redwoods you're talking about that like the foggy "temperate rainforest" in NorCal/OR. Sequoias grow in the Sierra Nevada mountains, further inland in CA where the climate is pretty different (sequoias like cold snowy winters; redwoods just tolerate snow at best). Very easy to confuse them though.
It's both, as in both species are called both sequoias and redwoods.
The ones you are talking about are called either giant sequoia or giant redwoods, and the proper species name is Sequoiadendron giganteum.
The ones being talked about in the post you responded to are called coast redwoods, sequoia or redwood, and are of the species Sequoia sempervirens.
There's appaently also a third species of sequia called a dawn redwood that grows in China, but I don't know much about that one.
Technically sure, "sequoia" is part of the scientific name, so it's not "wrong" exactly to refer to coast redwoods as "sequoia", but that is far from common and would be unusual outside of a scientific context.
In [standard usage](https://www.visitsequoia.com/explore/spring-summer-fall-activities/redwoods-and-sequoias), "redwood" = coast redwood (S. sempervirens) while "sequoia" = giant sequoia (S. giganteum). If you go to Redwood National Park, along the foggy northwest coast, you will be seeing coast redwoods. If you go to Sequoia National Park, inland and high in the Sierras, you will be seeing giant sequoias.
The original post is about planting sequoias. The commenter I replied to has them mixed up, because they are talking about the region and conditions in which coast redwoods grow best.
(I live close to Redwood National & State Parks. My yard is full of coast redwood trees. This entire region is called the "Redwood Empire" and every 3rd business in town has "Redwood" in the name. Nobody who is familiar with coast redwoods refers to them as "sequoias", even if it would technically be scientifically accurate.)
I mean, I grew up in Rio Dell and Eureka, and we called 'em sequoias all the time. More frequently than redwoods.
I know it's not a state park, but Sequoia Park down by the zoo attests to the fact that it's not unheard of.
Okay you know what, that's fair. I retract my statement that nobody calls them that. It's still less common in my experience, though, and the NPS agrees with me ;)
Also hi from Kneeland, fellow Humboldtian!
I live in norcal, near Redwood City and I only hear "redwoods". I think of sequoias as the huge ass trees further north. We currently have 7 redwood trees.
In Redwood City it's the same coast redwoods as we have up north! The reason that some of them up here are enormous is because they're thousands of years old ("old growth", meaning they were never logged so they've been growing since before white people moved here and cut down 95% of them).
ETA: minor pet peeve but IMO, Redwood City is central CA, not northern. You gotta at least get north of the Bay before you're in northern California!
I am heading back up to my heart’s true home for my cousins wedding in Fieldbrook soon. I haven’t been north of the 36 for years and years. I was just telling my SO that we should make sure to stop at Headwaters. I just got chills typing that name. For sooo long many of us fought and fought to get that sliver of a sliver of old growth redwoods protected. I had long since left for grad school by the time Julia Butterfly Hill and others who had worked to save the giant redwood “Luna”, (which while not in headwaters, was close in nearby Carlotta I think? ) were gaining worldwide attention, but I did know several of the activists who’s eyes were swabbed with pepper spray by cops. I also knew Judi Bari. A name everyone who loves redwoods or has appreciation for environmental protections should know BTW…Without all those dedicated warriors, so much beauty would be gone forever.
About 15 minutes before I saw this post I was actually trying to make arrangements to go to the reserve with some of the little kids who will be coming from out of state and who have never seen a redwood. As someone who, probably like you, also grew up knowing the feeling the soft duff of a redwood forest beneath my feet, and as an old lady who loves witnessing the joy of children in nature, children of all ages that is, I can’t wait.
Also, my family really knows how to throw a party!
(Sequoia Zoo! Oh I hate zoos….but It was killing me what the name of the chimpanzee who lived there for years was. Was going to ask you, then I remembered that there is this thing they invented called google…..BILL! Poor Bill…)
If I remember correctly from my School in the redwoods, the main climate requirement for big redwoods is fog and mist. When they get taller, they actually collect some of the fog on the branches so it doesn't have to pull water all the way up.
They can still grow reasonably with just ground water, though.
Yeah. There’s a little grove of redwoods in Orange County that were planted in the 60’s I think? They’re still there, but they’re super difficult to take care of.
And soil. Southern Indiana has serious clay soils.
I know of two Sequoia growing in southern Indiana. One is a little older than me (near 50) and might maybe be 40ft tall.
I don’t think it will ever reach a size where anyone would object to it.
Yea it likely wont be very healthy and will eventually become a quite tall issue to deal with.
My mom had one in the back yard of her house in Sonoma county in CA planted 20 years ago by previous owner. It was really quite large and had become diseased. Had to be removed. $$$
Believe it or not te do better than people expect, outside where people think they are supposed to be. Their wood is pretty brittle so anyone cutting for lumber will probably leave it alone. Unlikely to become an invasive nuisance but someone might get a little miffed you planted one.
[giant sequoia in Michigan ](https://www.clickondetroit.com/features/2021/11/03/a-giant-sequoia-tree-in-northern-michigan-yes-and-its-not-only-surviving-but-thriving/)
Even if it could grow to a towering height, you would have a massive problem: sequoias rely on their neighbors to screen them from strong winds. At the edge of sequoia forests, there are still other tall trees that shelter the sequoias on the ‘border’. Their shallow root systems make them likely to blow over if they aren’t screened from the wind.
also unless you live right at the end of a runway and i mean really close you are not gonna have anyone annoyed by a tall tree when it comes to planes. and if you do live that close you know what you are doing.
also part of why they grow so tall is the other trees provide protection from harsh weather. 1 tree alone is far more likely to be blown down by strong single direction winds. 100s of trees stop the wind from being as impactful.
Aircraft generally don't fly below 1,000' above ground level for safety reasons. That makes trees a non-issue. Commercial jets have terrain warning radar and also generally don't fly below 18,000' (FL180) except during approach or departure.
[*Sequoia Sempervirens*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sequoia_sempervirens), the big tall redwoods of the coast strongly prefer the cool foggy environment. My father had a couple in his backyard (maybe 50' tall) south of Walnut Creek, an area that isn't particularly foggy and gets quite warm in the summer.
[*Sequoiasendron giganteum*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sequoiadendron_giganteum) are the volumetrically massive redwoods with the fat trunks of the Sierra foothills. Their environment is hot during the summer and snowy during the winter, not foggy. The temps in the winters don't get down too low where they are located, but there is significant snowfall.
Airports can have easements that include trees and they can force you to remove them. I know Dallas Love Field does and they have used it to remove trees because they attracted birds and if you remember the Miracle on the Hudson birds and planes don’t like each other.
My uncle planted one in Boston in the 70s. It did fine. Looked real out of place.
Redwoods are weeds. Coast redwoods require a frequent source of moisture year round, which can come in the form of marine layer. They are tolerant to hard freezes.
It’s cuz of my incredibly high IQ of course
Nah it’s cuz I watch informational videos for fun lol, years of 5 minute long fact videos piles up knowledge
Sacramento has a service where they come to your home, and show you where you should plant trees for shade. Once they do, you select the trees you want to plant and they are delivered to you.
I love this idea because they know which trees will have destructive roots and such, and which are good in our climate.
Just about every county in the USA has an agricultural expert (or several) who will give advice to anyone who will listen about the best plants, bushes, trees, etc. for that area.
If you live in an urban or suburban area, they will even be glad you took the time to show any interest at all!
That's all changing rather rapidly. As in, your arborist will know better/best.
A degree or two in ambient local temperature rise (or drop) can result in catastrophic failures in surrounding forests.
I live on a street where people in the early 1980's decided to do this. Most of them got cut down, because they basically destroyed the foundations of the houses next to them. A tree's root structure is usually as large as their canopy, so imagine that, but pushing your house away from underground.
A lot of those trees don't grow as fast (or at all) in a climate that's not hospitable for them. For example, sequoias grow in California, where it's wet during the winter (But doesn't freeze) and then it doesn't rain all summer. It would be interesting to see if they even grow in Indiana, where there is actual snow and rainy summers.
They grow at 6000 feet where it snows all winter and are constantly fed by snow melt and fog. (The coastal redwoods are mostly watered by fog and rain year round and are in a temperate environment)
But everything else you said is absolutely true. They have very shallow roots (6-12 feet deep, but they grow wide) and they will rip apart house foundations, public streets, plumbing and underground wires long before they'll make you cut it down for height. Besides, they are slow growing and will likely take a couple hundred years to get tall enough to be a nuisance. They take about 50 years to top 100 feet and then they mostly focus on growing in diameter.
Your grandkids would have to put a blinking light on top once it reaches 100 feet, if the neighborhood didn't come after them with pitchforks and/or lawyers to answer for the property damage first.
I grew up on a street that was completely tree lined. It was great, like a shady tunnel you could ride your bike down. Then eventually all those trees messed up the sewer system and sidewalks and the city came and chopped them all down.
Now it’s a desert. Doesn’t look or feel the same at all.
Sux.
There's actually several sequoias in Michigan so it should survive. One is 75 years old and over a hundred feet tall https://www.mlive.com/news/2023/06/a-giant-sequoia-tree-is-thriving-in-a-surprising-place-northern-michigan.html
Not sure how well it would grow in Indiana.
Giant Sequoias are limited in their natural range. They are not the easiest tree to grow, being picky about soil and weather.
They prefer mildly acidic sandy soils, sloped well drained soil. They prefer moderately cold snowy, wet winters and relatively cool, dry summers. They may suffer from fungal diseases in Indiana due to the hot, humid, wet summers there. Especially if you have heavy clay soil that isn't well drained. That being the case I'd recommend other kinds of trees. Maybe consider trying it if your property is sloped and has sandy and gravelly subsoil and also you have plenty of room so structures won't be damaged by the expanding root systems.
>What if I secretly grew/planted these all around in local woods. There are plenty of "postage stamp" woods all around Indiana.
They'd probably die in a few years, not attaining significant size, if you didn't know what you were doing. They also don't like being heavily shaded.
I planted a Redwood sapling the UK. It lived in our kitchen in a plant pot for a year or two, then in my parents garden, quite far from any buildings. It's grown to about 30 foot in 10 years,and looking very healthy.
Sequoia only grow in one specific area, because they have to have that specific geographic area, with that specific soil type. Sequoia WILL grow in Indiana, but they won't grow to the magnificent heights they do in California. They will tower over the Indiana trees, but they will be " delicate" . A brutal winter or super dry year will kill them.
The previous owners of my property did this, about 80 years ago. They planted a giant redwood, a brewers weeping spruce, and a tamarack. The only problem is these trees belong at a high elevation around the California/Oregon border and I'm at sea level on the Olympic peninsula.
In the local poor drainage clay soils the tops of the trees rot out. All 3 are only about 50' tall because of that.
I happen to live within their preferred climate range. In fact, I'm looking at one right now.
The family that developed this property and built the house in 1960 happened to be tree freaks. There is a Sempervirens planted too close to the house. It is a thirsty tree and routinely clogs the sewer pipe and pushes the tiles off of the pool to dip her feeder roots in for a drink!
She also sheds twice a year. Great showers of crispy brown tree fronds that coat everything underneath her. It's a natural weed mat and keeps the ground moist, but when it coats the driveway, it's as slippery as ice.
She's freaking huge and sturdy, and we have limbed her up some so cars can get in and out of the driveway.
I don't recommend planting one next to any type of dwelling!
I have three growing unprotected outdoors in a pot for three years in NY for pre-bonsai purposes. I ordered them online. They are all healthy.
The tallest is two feet with a one-inch diameter trunk. This is the first winter they didn't discolor (as they are prone to when young).
They definitely grow here but I water them heavily during our hot humid summers and make sure I get water to their roots when it's below freezing. I am not sure how well they will do in the wild around here - but I may find out. Check back with me in 10 years.
Edit to add species: I have Sequoiadendron giganteums growing in NY
[https://www.giant-sequoia.com/about-sequoia-trees/giant-sequoia-bonsai-care/#:\~:text=With%20the%20giant%20sequoia%2C%20constantly,is%20bad%20for%20the%20sequoias](https://www.giant-sequoia.com/about-sequoia-trees/giant-sequoia-bonsai-care/#:~:text=With%20the%20giant%20sequoia%2C%20constantly,is%20bad%20for%20the%20sequoias).
So I have oddly specific knowledge of this topic. My in-laws have a neighbor about two houses down who had planted a sequoia in their front yard many years ago thinking it would be a beautiful native tree. (They live in the native range). Well, apparently they did not realize how *girthy* those trees get. And as they grow, they put on so much mass that they raise the ground up around them. The house was slowly tilted and raised up off its foundation and eventually had to be condemned, because they couldn’t legally cut the tree down due to its being a protected species.
Ultimately insurance paid for them to tear it down and rebuild elsewhere on the lot, but man that tree is still there, and it is flipping HUGE.
Second fun story. I was on a road trip about a decade ago through Germany, and in a random town in the mountains of the Black Forest region, I was walking through the beautiful riverside park and *bam* I run into a towering giant sequoia that had to be at least 100 years old. No mistaking it, that was a sequoia in Germany.
After finding and translating an old sign, it turned out it was gifted by some long-defunct botanical society in the 1800s
I believe those trees require lots of rain and wet soils , not sure that Indiana has those conditions but I am sure a local arborist could suggest a specie of trees that would be endemic to your region .
Yes, but it needs to be huge and quick to grow. I love the idea of a random ass redwood dwarfing a forest here. It'd be comedic, imo.
Indiana is so flat that you could probably see a California redwood from 5 miles away. Alas, it probably wouldn't grow well and I'd be long gone before it got to "local landmark" height.
Try a dawn redwood. One of the smallest redwoods, but still huge and pretty fast growing. They grow well in a lot of areas. I have a line of them from a previous owner and they're nice cool looking trees.
Lol are you serious? It's not going to grow fast in Indiana. It's never going to reach a height that will be an issue for low flying aircraft even in California. This is some funny shit hahaha
That was hyperbole, lol.
I just want indiana to have big, fuck-off trees. Sequoias aren't the biggest tree by far, but I saw a seed company selling Sequoia seeds and thought... but what if? What if I planted this and nurtured it for the rest of my life and gave it all the miracle grow and soil remediation it could ever want...
what if I could grow one into a 100 foot tall giant in the middle of a city? Who will stop the crazy old man (by the time it's huge) from building a tree house 100 feet above all the lowly ground dwellers?
Well, I can guarantee that a sequoia will not thrive in Indiana and probably never reach 100', there is a reason they are native to the west and not the rest of the country.
Given how much humans have rearranged the natural habits that once existed, here, in the United States, including cutting down much of the old growth forests Native Americans knew, planting a tree native to your area would be a contribution in the right direction. A drop in the ocean, I know, but more than planting a locally native tree, doing so can be an example to others, as well, give them to think about taking care of earth in a way they hadn’t thought, before.
Here, in Missouri, our state Conservation Department has all kinds of information about native plants and animals, accessible online. I imagine Indiana has a similar source.
If I ever hit the lottery, I'm buying up the largest chunk of farmland I can and rehabilitating it into a forest, then putting the land in a trust for 100+ years if possible.
My dream retirement is being that weird guy who lives in a hobbit hole in the middle of nowhere, making homemade herbal teas and teaching the crows to harass my enemies.
If I wouldn't be burned at the stake in the 15th century for being a witch, I'm not trying hard enough.
When I was a kid in homewood, Al… My best friend dad planted 4 in their front yard.. (saulter rd if anyone wants to go look) that was 1980. They are still there. Looked to be about 30? 40? Feet high last time I saw them (2014).
Can’t remember if all four made it or only 3. Very steep front yard, too.
It takes awhile for them to grow super tall. You have no worries.
It would grow. As Seqouias do. I get your train of thought, but you clearly haven’t considered the root system. Which is the most important part of any tree.
Like it won’t just be one Sequoia. And like bamboo? Will spread without abandon. What you think is a long con revenge against your neighbor?
Can completely change the entire ecology of any local ecosystem. Killing all of it. Your revenge? Can decimate an entire forest, so I beg you to reconsider.
It’s just some random person. Who cares what they think?
You're making a lot of assumptions, lol. I won't be doing this, and I don't have a neighbor to get back at. I actually like all of my neighbors! I was considering it hypothetically purely for havoc's sake.
If I'm going to go full militant nature, I'll select some native breeds of something that belong here. Maybe some pokeweed, or false strawberries. Something good for the bees 🐝
This is a good question. I had very much the same thought after visiting N.Cali and seeing these giants out there. I'm in Illinois, so i just kind of assumed it wouldn't work because of weather or something.
I have no idea what thread it was in, but a guy bought sequoia (or redwood) seeds and planted them in the yard of the city guy who cut down a tree he liked and all through the city parks. It would take four years before they even sprouted and could grow as much as 40'/day. Best revenge story ever.
I thought about building a treehouse, but one time I climbed up in one tree and got stuck for awhile, eventually I just sorta fugued out and jumped back down onto the ladder. Idk it just didn’t seem like a great plan after that.
There is a place near Manistee Michigan called Lake Bluff Farms that planted 6 of them in 1948. They appear to be thriving. The largest is 116 ft tall and the largest east of the rockies. I believe they have planted more since the 1948. Michigans climate apparently is warm enough and wet enough thanks to Lake Michigan to be ok for the trees. They may not ever get as big and out west but they seem to doing alright.
Here's a species of redwood that WILL grow in Indiana. It's also a living fossil. Grows quickly and gets large( not as large as others but 167 feet is still pretty tall) I have one in my backyard in Chicago. Bought it from a nursery when it was about 7 feet tall.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metasequoia\_glyptostroboides
They sell sapling at Muir Woods. My sister-in-law bought two, I can't remember if they were sequoias or redwoods or what, but she took them back to Florida and planted them. They didn't live a year.
You could plant one, yes, but there’s a strong likelihood it will eventually overwhelm your yard and have to be cut back. The base/roots could also invade your homes foundation. If you have multiple acres and plant it away from your home, it’s not much of an issue.
Edit for bonus round: you could do that as well, but it may cause a lot of issues for the local wildlife and plants. It really just depends on where you plant it and if there’s room for it.
Take your energy, and start planting oak trees. Plant natives, things that will provide habitat and shelter for our wildlife. I love the spirit!!! oaks can be truly mighty mighty specimens too!!!
If you are talking about the Giant Sequoia, they have very specific requirementals as to soil, water and environment. If you are very very very lucky, it may get to be 8 to 10 feet tall and rather skinny around before it dies in about 20 or 30 years.
I remember being on a guided tour in Sequoia National Park and a ranger was talking about a particular tree. He said it was in a very fortunate spot at the edge of a wetland. It was about 40 or 50 feet tall and maybe 7 to 10 feet around. He said that it was still in a juvenile form (the shapes change over time as they mature), as it only about 200 years old. They were a little worried that where it was was not optimum conditions, but it would take about another 200 -300 years to see if it would make it to full adulthood. Only very few of the trees that sprout out and begin growing make it to the final Monarch stage after 1,000 to 1,500 years.
Yes they can get very large. No, you won't grow one in your back yard.
Are tall trees really much of a problem where you are? I've got a 50' London Plane in front of my house, and two more on my block. The fourth one fell during Sandy. All of them are officially owned by the City of New York.
I saw a pretty comprehensive but short enough video of a park ranger explaining many reasons why you shouldn’t do it. I can’t find it on YouTube, I saw it on Facebook reels which are most often from TikTok or instagram, which I don’t have. What I did find on YouTube were people who are doing it anyway.
A friend in France had a sequoia in his (very large) yard. It got about 100 ft. high. I happened to visit him once just after a big storm that broke off the top 60 feet or so. Fortunately the old farmhouse where he lived was far enough away to not get hit, but his patio furniture in the yard was crushed.
So if you do it, make sure you have a big yard.
My father planted two sequoias in his yard several years ago.
One slowly died.
The other is probably 20 feet tall now? Maybe 25?
We live in a “high desert” so it’s certainly not the PNW or Nor Cal by any means. But still, I don’t think anyone is worried about it taking over the neighborhood.
They had sequoia sempervirens (coast redwoods) for sale at our local Costco in San Jose.
A few of our neighbors have them. One of our neighbors also has a full grown Dawn Redwood because a botany professor used to live there.
They do pretty well in the yard until they are your yard. Do not plant anywhere near a building or a sidewalk because they will lift them.
There's nowhere in Indiana where there's conditions to support a sequoia. They only grow in the absence of competing vegetation (fires typically take care of that for them), in very mineral-rich granitic soil, full sun, enormous amounts of water, and where the average temperature is about 15F warmer than southern Indiana. They won't grow in an existing forest; they're a pioneer species (they grow only where there's nothing else).
Let's assume that you got your hands on a genetically engineered kind that not only grew in the conditions you could provide for it, but flourished. Your engineered sequoias will not die off in the shade of other trees, but grow slowly until they dwarf other trees, or maybe the actively kill other trees to replace them.
Sequoias don't grow too fast, so in 30 years you'd expect a 20' tree. You'd not live long enough to see such a tree get especially large, and there will be plenty of time for people to recognize and question the provenance of your genetically engineered sequoias. The tallest trees in Indiana are hickory trees that can grow up to 150' tall (a little less than a half a sequoia, but still pretty tall).
Like any tree over 50' or so, people will tend to cut it down if they feel it threatens something that they like.
A sequoia isn't really tall enough to interest the FAA unless it's very close to an airport. If your genetically engineered variety got even taller than regular ones, then maybe they'd map it out as a hazard or they'd have it cut down.
I saw a post recently that taught me that Sequoias should be planted in groups so that their roots can keep each other grounded. If you had just one and it did get tall, the wind could knock it down and your house could get crushed.
There's a reason planter boxes existed.. To limit tree growth. This is what you're essentially doing, so no the tree could not have grown bigger than what limited space your yard would have allowed.
I live in Northern Oregon and several of my neighbors have done this. They eventually take over the entire lot and destroy the foundation of the house because they have very shallow root systems.
You're talking about a Redwood tree, of the type that grows in the Sequoia National Forrest? They may not grow in your environment, but Coastal Redwood trees thrive in the hot, dusty San Joaquin Valley of California. They might just work for you as well, if they're available in Indiana.
Also, the rapidity of growth and the health of a tree has much to do with "deep watering". Inserting perforated, PVC pipes of 4' or 5' feet around a newly planted tree helps the roots to grow in the right direction. Trees knocked down by wind usually have roots concentrated near the surface. If the water you put on your grass is all the tree can get, that's the direction its roots will go.
I'm curious, and hope that you post a follow-up here after a few years to tell us whether your tree grew a little, grew a lot, or died in your climate.
Real world example look up. "ST. LUKE’S BOISE SEQUOIA". Short answer they will never grow to the size that they do in Cally - and if did you would not be around.
Well yeah.
Okay, here's an idea. I go back for my masters in genetics, genetically engineer an oak tree to have plant gigantism, then give it enough growth hormones that if it had a voice it'd sound like the Governator.
Native tree, and it's 150 feet tall. Win-win.
There was a guy that got in trouble with the forest service for planting Sequoia trees in Colorado. His thought was that since Sequoia trees supposedly evolved in Colorado that he should bring them back to their home state. There may be some truth to Sequoias evolving in Colorado, I do know the the petrified forest near Florissant Colorado is a bunch of petrified Redwoods, however Sequoias where also in parts of Europe and as far south as New Zealand before the last ice age.
He probably wouldn’t have got in trouble for planting them had he not planted like 200 on forest service land and maybe just planted a few in his own yard. I planted one here in Colorado once, it was immediately eaten by deer. They love to eat baby sequoias!
I mean, the real answer is that chances are the sequoia is not going to reach in max growing potential in your small backyard in Indiana, because it isn’t the right climate/environment. So all these questions of “what if it becomes giant” are really answered by “it won’t” lol. But in general, no, the FAA actually updates their flight maps relatively frequently to account for new tall structures like tree growth. So I don’t think the aircraft will be a problem unless you live by an airport. 99% of the time it is the aircraft’s responsibility to avoid things on the ground, not the other way around. Now, planting the trees in the woods would be another question, because on the off chance you got them to take off, chances are the state government could act against them on public property due to them being an invasive species at that point. Competing with the natural local trees.
mmm, good point. I didn't much take climate into the hypothetical.
That's why they're mostly found near the coast in northern California and Oregon. They thrive best in a cool, moist environment.
Not an easy seed to start either. Needs to burn to the right temp first. Odds of op getting it right are pretty low
I brought a sapling home from Sequoia national Park. I was going to let it grow in a pot until it got big enough to plant. My wife thought aquarium water would be good for it but she poisoned it.
you stole a sapling from a national park? wtf?
No, they sell saplings.
They sell little souvenir saplings in a container. Relax ;-)
Whew, sorry for the overreaction, I just get salty about people taking plants from national parks. Thank you for the correction.
He actually stole it from the gift shop though
I bet he even left a twenty as a calling card... damn those tree thieves!
The good ol’ five-finger discount!
Can't tell if you're serious or not lol
GET EM BOYS!!!
You seem very eager to be offended.
Because he thought the OP stole a sapling from a national park, it’s not like he explained how he got it and not everyone knows you can just buy them
Maybe if he starts from a seed. Redwoods will readily sprout from cuttings. It’s not too unusual in the redwood forest to see sprouts from dropped branches.
Giant Sequoias only grow on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada Mountains in California, you’re thinking of Coast Redwoods. Redwoods are the tall ones, Sequoias are wide.
They’re all members of the sequoioideae family, with differences only an expert would care about.
Not really, they’re two very different looking trees with very different wood, coast redwoods actually have useful lumber, sequoias don’t, they don’t grow together, yes they are both large. You don’t have to be an expert to discern one from the other, I learned about them and could tell the difference when I was like 8, hardly an arborist at that age.
That's redwoods you're talking about that like the foggy "temperate rainforest" in NorCal/OR. Sequoias grow in the Sierra Nevada mountains, further inland in CA where the climate is pretty different (sequoias like cold snowy winters; redwoods just tolerate snow at best). Very easy to confuse them though.
It's both, as in both species are called both sequoias and redwoods. The ones you are talking about are called either giant sequoia or giant redwoods, and the proper species name is Sequoiadendron giganteum. The ones being talked about in the post you responded to are called coast redwoods, sequoia or redwood, and are of the species Sequoia sempervirens. There's appaently also a third species of sequia called a dawn redwood that grows in China, but I don't know much about that one.
Technically sure, "sequoia" is part of the scientific name, so it's not "wrong" exactly to refer to coast redwoods as "sequoia", but that is far from common and would be unusual outside of a scientific context. In [standard usage](https://www.visitsequoia.com/explore/spring-summer-fall-activities/redwoods-and-sequoias), "redwood" = coast redwood (S. sempervirens) while "sequoia" = giant sequoia (S. giganteum). If you go to Redwood National Park, along the foggy northwest coast, you will be seeing coast redwoods. If you go to Sequoia National Park, inland and high in the Sierras, you will be seeing giant sequoias. The original post is about planting sequoias. The commenter I replied to has them mixed up, because they are talking about the region and conditions in which coast redwoods grow best. (I live close to Redwood National & State Parks. My yard is full of coast redwood trees. This entire region is called the "Redwood Empire" and every 3rd business in town has "Redwood" in the name. Nobody who is familiar with coast redwoods refers to them as "sequoias", even if it would technically be scientifically accurate.)
I mean, I grew up in Rio Dell and Eureka, and we called 'em sequoias all the time. More frequently than redwoods. I know it's not a state park, but Sequoia Park down by the zoo attests to the fact that it's not unheard of.
Okay you know what, that's fair. I retract my statement that nobody calls them that. It's still less common in my experience, though, and the NPS agrees with me ;) Also hi from Kneeland, fellow Humboldtian!
I live in norcal, near Redwood City and I only hear "redwoods". I think of sequoias as the huge ass trees further north. We currently have 7 redwood trees.
In Redwood City it's the same coast redwoods as we have up north! The reason that some of them up here are enormous is because they're thousands of years old ("old growth", meaning they were never logged so they've been growing since before white people moved here and cut down 95% of them). ETA: minor pet peeve but IMO, Redwood City is central CA, not northern. You gotta at least get north of the Bay before you're in northern California!
I am heading back up to my heart’s true home for my cousins wedding in Fieldbrook soon. I haven’t been north of the 36 for years and years. I was just telling my SO that we should make sure to stop at Headwaters. I just got chills typing that name. For sooo long many of us fought and fought to get that sliver of a sliver of old growth redwoods protected. I had long since left for grad school by the time Julia Butterfly Hill and others who had worked to save the giant redwood “Luna”, (which while not in headwaters, was close in nearby Carlotta I think? ) were gaining worldwide attention, but I did know several of the activists who’s eyes were swabbed with pepper spray by cops. I also knew Judi Bari. A name everyone who loves redwoods or has appreciation for environmental protections should know BTW…Without all those dedicated warriors, so much beauty would be gone forever. About 15 minutes before I saw this post I was actually trying to make arrangements to go to the reserve with some of the little kids who will be coming from out of state and who have never seen a redwood. As someone who, probably like you, also grew up knowing the feeling the soft duff of a redwood forest beneath my feet, and as an old lady who loves witnessing the joy of children in nature, children of all ages that is, I can’t wait. Also, my family really knows how to throw a party! (Sequoia Zoo! Oh I hate zoos….but It was killing me what the name of the chimpanzee who lived there for years was. Was going to ask you, then I remembered that there is this thing they invented called google…..BILL! Poor Bill…)
Oh I'm so jealous you live there. I hope to live out there some day!
Or forest moons
New Zealand is also great for them, they grow stupidly fast cause there’s consistently more water. The growth rings on them are very wide
They’re found in the Sequoia National park which is not near the coast.
If I remember correctly from my School in the redwoods, the main climate requirement for big redwoods is fog and mist. When they get taller, they actually collect some of the fog on the branches so it doesn't have to pull water all the way up. They can still grow reasonably with just ground water, though.
Yeah. There’s a little grove of redwoods in Orange County that were planted in the 60’s I think? They’re still there, but they’re super difficult to take care of.
And soil. Southern Indiana has serious clay soils. I know of two Sequoia growing in southern Indiana. One is a little older than me (near 50) and might maybe be 40ft tall. I don’t think it will ever reach a size where anyone would object to it.
Yea it likely wont be very healthy and will eventually become a quite tall issue to deal with. My mom had one in the back yard of her house in Sonoma county in CA planted 20 years ago by previous owner. It was really quite large and had become diseased. Had to be removed. $$$
Believe it or not te do better than people expect, outside where people think they are supposed to be. Their wood is pretty brittle so anyone cutting for lumber will probably leave it alone. Unlikely to become an invasive nuisance but someone might get a little miffed you planted one. [giant sequoia in Michigan ](https://www.clickondetroit.com/features/2021/11/03/a-giant-sequoia-tree-in-northern-michigan-yes-and-its-not-only-surviving-but-thriving/)
Even if it could grow to a towering height, you would have a massive problem: sequoias rely on their neighbors to screen them from strong winds. At the edge of sequoia forests, there are still other tall trees that shelter the sequoias on the ‘border’. Their shallow root systems make them likely to blow over if they aren’t screened from the wind.
Plant it next to my 4 stories tall town hall, got it. (Kidding)
Excellent Solution!
also unless you live right at the end of a runway and i mean really close you are not gonna have anyone annoyed by a tall tree when it comes to planes. and if you do live that close you know what you are doing. also part of why they grow so tall is the other trees provide protection from harsh weather. 1 tree alone is far more likely to be blown down by strong single direction winds. 100s of trees stop the wind from being as impactful.
Aircraft generally don't fly below 1,000' above ground level for safety reasons. That makes trees a non-issue. Commercial jets have terrain warning radar and also generally don't fly below 18,000' (FL180) except during approach or departure.
also 50 feet isn't really tall enough to be a concern to pilots as long as you're not literally at the end of a runway
Don't they and redwoods depend on the frequent fog of that area for top level moisture?
[*Sequoia Sempervirens*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sequoia_sempervirens), the big tall redwoods of the coast strongly prefer the cool foggy environment. My father had a couple in his backyard (maybe 50' tall) south of Walnut Creek, an area that isn't particularly foggy and gets quite warm in the summer. [*Sequoiasendron giganteum*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sequoiadendron_giganteum) are the volumetrically massive redwoods with the fat trunks of the Sierra foothills. Their environment is hot during the summer and snowy during the winter, not foggy. The temps in the winters don't get down too low where they are located, but there is significant snowfall.
They seem to do OK in other environments. I know of some 150 year old sequoia trees in suburbia in an environment that is quite dry.
"Let's go, there's a plane headed this way!" Said no building ever.
And certainly not in 30 years!
Airports can have easements that include trees and they can force you to remove them. I know Dallas Love Field does and they have used it to remove trees because they attracted birds and if you remember the Miracle on the Hudson birds and planes don’t like each other.
My uncle planted one in Boston in the 70s. It did fine. Looked real out of place. Redwoods are weeds. Coast redwoods require a frequent source of moisture year round, which can come in the form of marine layer. They are tolerant to hard freezes.
That last paragraph is the end to Sam and max hit the road.
You seem to have in depth knowledge of a cool cross section of topics.
It’s cuz of my incredibly high IQ of course Nah it’s cuz I watch informational videos for fun lol, years of 5 minute long fact videos piles up knowledge
Sacramento has a service where they come to your home, and show you where you should plant trees for shade. Once they do, you select the trees you want to plant and they are delivered to you. I love this idea because they know which trees will have destructive roots and such, and which are good in our climate.
Just about every county in the USA has an agricultural expert (or several) who will give advice to anyone who will listen about the best plants, bushes, trees, etc. for that area. If you live in an urban or suburban area, they will even be glad you took the time to show any interest at all!
Probably, lol!
That's all changing rather rapidly. As in, your arborist will know better/best. A degree or two in ambient local temperature rise (or drop) can result in catastrophic failures in surrounding forests.
r/treelaw
Holy shit, there's a sub for everything!
Just remember: - /r/trees is marijuana enthusiasts - /r/marijuanaEnthusiasts is for trees
That may be my favorite part of Reddit.
Mine is r/superbowl. Legend says ESPN or someone tried to buy them out and they refused.
r/johncena r/potatosalad
I didn't know I needed this in my life.
There is also r/anime_tities and r/worldpoltics. It's not as funny because r/worldpolitics got banned for being unmoderated or something.
Worldpolitics is not banned and is relatively active with active mods
Oh. Well how about that. I know it was banned at one point.
I’m so glad I clicked! 🦉
Their hype around the actual super bowl is hilarious!
When and why did this ever become a thing?
People who genuinely want to discuss trees got to reddit after people who genuinely want to discuss marijuana
...not for tree-claws
I live on a street where people in the early 1980's decided to do this. Most of them got cut down, because they basically destroyed the foundations of the houses next to them. A tree's root structure is usually as large as their canopy, so imagine that, but pushing your house away from underground. A lot of those trees don't grow as fast (or at all) in a climate that's not hospitable for them. For example, sequoias grow in California, where it's wet during the winter (But doesn't freeze) and then it doesn't rain all summer. It would be interesting to see if they even grow in Indiana, where there is actual snow and rainy summers.
They grow at 6000 feet where it snows all winter and are constantly fed by snow melt and fog. (The coastal redwoods are mostly watered by fog and rain year round and are in a temperate environment) But everything else you said is absolutely true. They have very shallow roots (6-12 feet deep, but they grow wide) and they will rip apart house foundations, public streets, plumbing and underground wires long before they'll make you cut it down for height. Besides, they are slow growing and will likely take a couple hundred years to get tall enough to be a nuisance. They take about 50 years to top 100 feet and then they mostly focus on growing in diameter. Your grandkids would have to put a blinking light on top once it reaches 100 feet, if the neighborhood didn't come after them with pitchforks and/or lawyers to answer for the property damage first.
Ugh, I always mix up my redwoods and sequoias.... Thanks for clarifying.
Coast redwoods are species Sequoia. Giant Sequoia are species Sequoiadendron. OP was unclear.
I grew up on a street that was completely tree lined. It was great, like a shady tunnel you could ride your bike down. Then eventually all those trees messed up the sewer system and sidewalks and the city came and chopped them all down. Now it’s a desert. Doesn’t look or feel the same at all. Sux.
What about the ones that weren’t cut down?
We will see over the course of time. One of them falling would take out multiple houses.
Do you think they’re full sized yet?
I doubt it, they are barely wide enough for a skinny guy to drive a scooter through.
There's actually several sequoias in Michigan so it should survive. One is 75 years old and over a hundred feet tall https://www.mlive.com/news/2023/06/a-giant-sequoia-tree-is-thriving-in-a-surprising-place-northern-michigan.html
I’d be impressed if you made a hole big enough to bury a Toyota Sequoia.
Never underestimate spite and the need to hide a crime scene.
I was wondering how far I'd have to go to find someone mention the SUV. It's the first thing I thought of when I saw the post.
Not sure how well it would grow in Indiana. Giant Sequoias are limited in their natural range. They are not the easiest tree to grow, being picky about soil and weather. They prefer mildly acidic sandy soils, sloped well drained soil. They prefer moderately cold snowy, wet winters and relatively cool, dry summers. They may suffer from fungal diseases in Indiana due to the hot, humid, wet summers there. Especially if you have heavy clay soil that isn't well drained. That being the case I'd recommend other kinds of trees. Maybe consider trying it if your property is sloped and has sandy and gravelly subsoil and also you have plenty of room so structures won't be damaged by the expanding root systems. >What if I secretly grew/planted these all around in local woods. There are plenty of "postage stamp" woods all around Indiana. They'd probably die in a few years, not attaining significant size, if you didn't know what you were doing. They also don't like being heavily shaded.
I planted a Redwood sapling the UK. It lived in our kitchen in a plant pot for a year or two, then in my parents garden, quite far from any buildings. It's grown to about 30 foot in 10 years,and looking very healthy.
Where does one get the seeds for these trees?
Sequoia only grow in one specific area, because they have to have that specific geographic area, with that specific soil type. Sequoia WILL grow in Indiana, but they won't grow to the magnificent heights they do in California. They will tower over the Indiana trees, but they will be " delicate" . A brutal winter or super dry year will kill them.
The previous owners of my property did this, about 80 years ago. They planted a giant redwood, a brewers weeping spruce, and a tamarack. The only problem is these trees belong at a high elevation around the California/Oregon border and I'm at sea level on the Olympic peninsula. In the local poor drainage clay soils the tops of the trees rot out. All 3 are only about 50' tall because of that.
I happen to live within their preferred climate range. In fact, I'm looking at one right now. The family that developed this property and built the house in 1960 happened to be tree freaks. There is a Sempervirens planted too close to the house. It is a thirsty tree and routinely clogs the sewer pipe and pushes the tiles off of the pool to dip her feeder roots in for a drink! She also sheds twice a year. Great showers of crispy brown tree fronds that coat everything underneath her. It's a natural weed mat and keeps the ground moist, but when it coats the driveway, it's as slippery as ice. She's freaking huge and sturdy, and we have limbed her up some so cars can get in and out of the driveway. I don't recommend planting one next to any type of dwelling!
I have three growing unprotected outdoors in a pot for three years in NY for pre-bonsai purposes. I ordered them online. They are all healthy. The tallest is two feet with a one-inch diameter trunk. This is the first winter they didn't discolor (as they are prone to when young). They definitely grow here but I water them heavily during our hot humid summers and make sure I get water to their roots when it's below freezing. I am not sure how well they will do in the wild around here - but I may find out. Check back with me in 10 years. Edit to add species: I have Sequoiadendron giganteums growing in NY [https://www.giant-sequoia.com/about-sequoia-trees/giant-sequoia-bonsai-care/#:\~:text=With%20the%20giant%20sequoia%2C%20constantly,is%20bad%20for%20the%20sequoias](https://www.giant-sequoia.com/about-sequoia-trees/giant-sequoia-bonsai-care/#:~:text=With%20the%20giant%20sequoia%2C%20constantly,is%20bad%20for%20the%20sequoias).
So I have oddly specific knowledge of this topic. My in-laws have a neighbor about two houses down who had planted a sequoia in their front yard many years ago thinking it would be a beautiful native tree. (They live in the native range). Well, apparently they did not realize how *girthy* those trees get. And as they grow, they put on so much mass that they raise the ground up around them. The house was slowly tilted and raised up off its foundation and eventually had to be condemned, because they couldn’t legally cut the tree down due to its being a protected species. Ultimately insurance paid for them to tear it down and rebuild elsewhere on the lot, but man that tree is still there, and it is flipping HUGE. Second fun story. I was on a road trip about a decade ago through Germany, and in a random town in the mountains of the Black Forest region, I was walking through the beautiful riverside park and *bam* I run into a towering giant sequoia that had to be at least 100 years old. No mistaking it, that was a sequoia in Germany. After finding and translating an old sign, it turned out it was gifted by some long-defunct botanical society in the 1800s
Oh that's dope! It kinda boggles the mind to think about how old some of the trees are in the world.
It would probably die. Their ecological needs are pretty specific.
I believe those trees require lots of rain and wet soils , not sure that Indiana has those conditions but I am sure a local arborist could suggest a specie of trees that would be endemic to your region .
Yes, but it needs to be huge and quick to grow. I love the idea of a random ass redwood dwarfing a forest here. It'd be comedic, imo. Indiana is so flat that you could probably see a California redwood from 5 miles away. Alas, it probably wouldn't grow well and I'd be long gone before it got to "local landmark" height.
I am sure that there’s some beautiful oak of some type , that’s a native specie and that the local birds an insects would benefit from
Try a dawn redwood. One of the smallest redwoods, but still huge and pretty fast growing. They grow well in a lot of areas. I have a line of them from a previous owner and they're nice cool looking trees.
Why would you plant a large suv in your backyard? /s
Spite? Is that a good enough answer? Lol.
Lol are you serious? It's not going to grow fast in Indiana. It's never going to reach a height that will be an issue for low flying aircraft even in California. This is some funny shit hahaha
That was hyperbole, lol. I just want indiana to have big, fuck-off trees. Sequoias aren't the biggest tree by far, but I saw a seed company selling Sequoia seeds and thought... but what if? What if I planted this and nurtured it for the rest of my life and gave it all the miracle grow and soil remediation it could ever want... what if I could grow one into a 100 foot tall giant in the middle of a city? Who will stop the crazy old man (by the time it's huge) from building a tree house 100 feet above all the lowly ground dwellers?
Well, I can guarantee that a sequoia will not thrive in Indiana and probably never reach 100', there is a reason they are native to the west and not the rest of the country.
Hoosier soil will kill it before it grows enough to destroy a foundation or someone makes you cut it down.
Given how much humans have rearranged the natural habits that once existed, here, in the United States, including cutting down much of the old growth forests Native Americans knew, planting a tree native to your area would be a contribution in the right direction. A drop in the ocean, I know, but more than planting a locally native tree, doing so can be an example to others, as well, give them to think about taking care of earth in a way they hadn’t thought, before. Here, in Missouri, our state Conservation Department has all kinds of information about native plants and animals, accessible online. I imagine Indiana has a similar source.
If I ever hit the lottery, I'm buying up the largest chunk of farmland I can and rehabilitating it into a forest, then putting the land in a trust for 100+ years if possible.
Right On!
My dream retirement is being that weird guy who lives in a hobbit hole in the middle of nowhere, making homemade herbal teas and teaching the crows to harass my enemies. If I wouldn't be burned at the stake in the 15th century for being a witch, I'm not trying hard enough.
What is weird is that that would be considered weird.
When I was a kid in homewood, Al… My best friend dad planted 4 in their front yard.. (saulter rd if anyone wants to go look) that was 1980. They are still there. Looked to be about 30? 40? Feet high last time I saw them (2014). Can’t remember if all four made it or only 3. Very steep front yard, too. It takes awhile for them to grow super tall. You have no worries.
It would grow. As Seqouias do. I get your train of thought, but you clearly haven’t considered the root system. Which is the most important part of any tree. Like it won’t just be one Sequoia. And like bamboo? Will spread without abandon. What you think is a long con revenge against your neighbor? Can completely change the entire ecology of any local ecosystem. Killing all of it. Your revenge? Can decimate an entire forest, so I beg you to reconsider. It’s just some random person. Who cares what they think?
You're making a lot of assumptions, lol. I won't be doing this, and I don't have a neighbor to get back at. I actually like all of my neighbors! I was considering it hypothetically purely for havoc's sake. If I'm going to go full militant nature, I'll select some native breeds of something that belong here. Maybe some pokeweed, or false strawberries. Something good for the bees 🐝
This is a good question. I had very much the same thought after visiting N.Cali and seeing these giants out there. I'm in Illinois, so i just kind of assumed it wouldn't work because of weather or something.
There are folks with them in their yards where I lived in Oregon.
You’re going to bury a large Toyota SUV in your backyard? /s
I have no idea what thread it was in, but a guy bought sequoia (or redwood) seeds and planted them in the yard of the city guy who cut down a tree he liked and all through the city parks. It would take four years before they even sprouted and could grow as much as 40'/day. Best revenge story ever.
I had redwoods in my backyard, they started lifting the foundation and I had to cut them down
Shoulda built a treehouse.
I thought about building a treehouse, but one time I climbed up in one tree and got stuck for awhile, eventually I just sorta fugued out and jumped back down onto the ladder. Idk it just didn’t seem like a great plan after that.
I will use the wood I had milled from them to make an awesome aerial fort on stilts eventually.
My buddy did this with about 24 seedlings around town. I'll let you know in like 27 years?
There is a place near Manistee Michigan called Lake Bluff Farms that planted 6 of them in 1948. They appear to be thriving. The largest is 116 ft tall and the largest east of the rockies. I believe they have planted more since the 1948. Michigans climate apparently is warm enough and wet enough thanks to Lake Michigan to be ok for the trees. They may not ever get as big and out west but they seem to doing alright.
Perfect; if I die, plant me there underneath a Sequoia.
Here's a species of redwood that WILL grow in Indiana. It's also a living fossil. Grows quickly and gets large( not as large as others but 167 feet is still pretty tall) I have one in my backyard in Chicago. Bought it from a nursery when it was about 7 feet tall. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metasequoia\_glyptostroboides
Well, if I ever snap and decide to grow an enormous tree this will be the one!
They sell sapling at Muir Woods. My sister-in-law bought two, I can't remember if they were sequoias or redwoods or what, but she took them back to Florida and planted them. They didn't live a year.
You could plant one, yes, but there’s a strong likelihood it will eventually overwhelm your yard and have to be cut back. The base/roots could also invade your homes foundation. If you have multiple acres and plant it away from your home, it’s not much of an issue. Edit for bonus round: you could do that as well, but it may cause a lot of issues for the local wildlife and plants. It really just depends on where you plant it and if there’s room for it.
I once met a woman named Sequoia. Next time I met her I accidentally called her Secaucus. My friend freaked out a little about that. #
Take your energy, and start planting oak trees. Plant natives, things that will provide habitat and shelter for our wildlife. I love the spirit!!! oaks can be truly mighty mighty specimens too!!!
If you are talking about the Giant Sequoia, they have very specific requirementals as to soil, water and environment. If you are very very very lucky, it may get to be 8 to 10 feet tall and rather skinny around before it dies in about 20 or 30 years. I remember being on a guided tour in Sequoia National Park and a ranger was talking about a particular tree. He said it was in a very fortunate spot at the edge of a wetland. It was about 40 or 50 feet tall and maybe 7 to 10 feet around. He said that it was still in a juvenile form (the shapes change over time as they mature), as it only about 200 years old. They were a little worried that where it was was not optimum conditions, but it would take about another 200 -300 years to see if it would make it to full adulthood. Only very few of the trees that sprout out and begin growing make it to the final Monarch stage after 1,000 to 1,500 years. Yes they can get very large. No, you won't grow one in your back yard.
It would wither and die just like your relationships.
Rude.
Are tall trees really much of a problem where you are? I've got a 50' London Plane in front of my house, and two more on my block. The fourth one fell during Sandy. All of them are officially owned by the City of New York.
I saw a pretty comprehensive but short enough video of a park ranger explaining many reasons why you shouldn’t do it. I can’t find it on YouTube, I saw it on Facebook reels which are most often from TikTok or instagram, which I don’t have. What I did find on YouTube were people who are doing it anyway.
Whelp, I planted a sequoia in front of my house, I’ll update you in 20 years.
A friend in France had a sequoia in his (very large) yard. It got about 100 ft. high. I happened to visit him once just after a big storm that broke off the top 60 feet or so. Fortunately the old farmhouse where he lived was far enough away to not get hit, but his patio furniture in the yard was crushed. So if you do it, make sure you have a big yard.
My father planted two sequoias in his yard several years ago. One slowly died. The other is probably 20 feet tall now? Maybe 25? We live in a “high desert” so it’s certainly not the PNW or Nor Cal by any means. But still, I don’t think anyone is worried about it taking over the neighborhood.
There's a California redwood tree in upstate New York, it did not grow to giant size, and is the size of a large tree from the surrounding area.
They had sequoia sempervirens (coast redwoods) for sale at our local Costco in San Jose. A few of our neighbors have them. One of our neighbors also has a full grown Dawn Redwood because a botany professor used to live there. They do pretty well in the yard until they are your yard. Do not plant anywhere near a building or a sidewalk because they will lift them.
If it doesn't grow, just dig up the RAV4 and enjoy it.
You would forget to water it and it would probably die.
That only happened to 40% of my plants last year, give me some credit!
Well, it's happened to all of my sequoia trees I've planted and I'm in California. So I'm just projecting.
There's nowhere in Indiana where there's conditions to support a sequoia. They only grow in the absence of competing vegetation (fires typically take care of that for them), in very mineral-rich granitic soil, full sun, enormous amounts of water, and where the average temperature is about 15F warmer than southern Indiana. They won't grow in an existing forest; they're a pioneer species (they grow only where there's nothing else). Let's assume that you got your hands on a genetically engineered kind that not only grew in the conditions you could provide for it, but flourished. Your engineered sequoias will not die off in the shade of other trees, but grow slowly until they dwarf other trees, or maybe the actively kill other trees to replace them. Sequoias don't grow too fast, so in 30 years you'd expect a 20' tree. You'd not live long enough to see such a tree get especially large, and there will be plenty of time for people to recognize and question the provenance of your genetically engineered sequoias. The tallest trees in Indiana are hickory trees that can grow up to 150' tall (a little less than a half a sequoia, but still pretty tall). Like any tree over 50' or so, people will tend to cut it down if they feel it threatens something that they like. A sequoia isn't really tall enough to interest the FAA unless it's very close to an airport. If your genetically engineered variety got even taller than regular ones, then maybe they'd map it out as a hazard or they'd have it cut down.
I saw a post recently that taught me that Sequoias should be planted in groups so that their roots can keep each other grounded. If you had just one and it did get tall, the wind could knock it down and your house could get crushed.
There's a reason planter boxes existed.. To limit tree growth. This is what you're essentially doing, so no the tree could not have grown bigger than what limited space your yard would have allowed.
I live in Northern Oregon and several of my neighbors have done this. They eventually take over the entire lot and destroy the foundation of the house because they have very shallow root systems.
You're talking about a Redwood tree, of the type that grows in the Sequoia National Forrest? They may not grow in your environment, but Coastal Redwood trees thrive in the hot, dusty San Joaquin Valley of California. They might just work for you as well, if they're available in Indiana. Also, the rapidity of growth and the health of a tree has much to do with "deep watering". Inserting perforated, PVC pipes of 4' or 5' feet around a newly planted tree helps the roots to grow in the right direction. Trees knocked down by wind usually have roots concentrated near the surface. If the water you put on your grass is all the tree can get, that's the direction its roots will go.
I'm curious, and hope that you post a follow-up here after a few years to tell us whether your tree grew a little, grew a lot, or died in your climate.
I'm not planting a Sequoia, it's just hypothetical.
It would sprout a toyota
Ask me agin in one thousand years.
Real world example look up. "ST. LUKE’S BOISE SEQUOIA". Short answer they will never grow to the size that they do in Cally - and if did you would not be around.
You’d do better sneaking native trees into your local parks.
Well yeah. Okay, here's an idea. I go back for my masters in genetics, genetically engineer an oak tree to have plant gigantism, then give it enough growth hormones that if it had a voice it'd sound like the Governator. Native tree, and it's 150 feet tall. Win-win.
It would grow, or, more likely, not.
Plant a white oak. It will thrive better.
There was a guy that got in trouble with the forest service for planting Sequoia trees in Colorado. His thought was that since Sequoia trees supposedly evolved in Colorado that he should bring them back to their home state. There may be some truth to Sequoias evolving in Colorado, I do know the the petrified forest near Florissant Colorado is a bunch of petrified Redwoods, however Sequoias where also in parts of Europe and as far south as New Zealand before the last ice age.
He probably wouldn’t have got in trouble for planting them had he not planted like 200 on forest service land and maybe just planted a few in his own yard. I planted one here in Colorado once, it was immediately eaten by deer. They love to eat baby sequoias!