The Sequoia sempervirens or coast redwood is among the more than 65,000 trees that call Redlands home.
The coast redwood is a California native from California’s coastal ranges and is one of California’s two state trees.
This tree is a member of the Taxodiacae family, and the genus Sequoia is named for the Cherokee Chief Sequoyah. Also known as George Guess, Sequoyah was the son of a British merchant and a Cherokee woman. He became a Cherokee chief and established and published the alphabet for the Cherokee language.
Sempervirens comes from Latin and means “always green.”
This magnificent evergreen tree is among the tallest living species in the world. Some specimens are more than 350 feet in height. The coast redwood can live many hundreds of years, and some live several thousand years. The coast redwood grows very rapidly to 40 to 300 feet high with a spread of 25 to 35 feet.
If you plan to plant a coast redwood, be sure to allow plenty of space for its proper development. They don’t enjoy competition from other trees and structures.
In Redlands, the coast redwood — with its rich reddish brown bark and soft green foliage — does well in both full sun and shade. It is resistant to oak root fungus and will grow in a wide range of soils, but it is not happy in soils containing large amounts of magnesium and sodium.
Due to its leaf anatomy, which allows large volumes of water to be lost from its foliage, it is relatively drought sensitive with high water needs. It likes lawn water in the summer.
This tree appreciates deep mulch over its roots, and its red-brown needles can make a carpet of fragrant mulch so you don’t have to rake up tree litter. The coast redwood grows naturally in groves and since a new tree may start as a sprout from an existing tree, regular pruning of trunk sprouts is required.
The wood of the coast redwood can be used in a number of creative ways. The unique qualities of the wood — the presence of acid and the absence of pitch and resin in its composition — makes it resistive to fire and therefore a safe wood for building. From Eureka to San Diego, this is the material of which many houses have been built.
In Redlands, a number of beautiful Heritage Homes were built with coast redwood from the initial harvesting of the redwoods in the late 1800s. That wood — both the structural members and the finish millwork — is still as beautiful in those historic Heritage Homes today as it was when the houses were built more than 100 years ago.
Even today, the recently harvested wood’s rich color, wonderful graining and beautiful finishes continue to make it valuable for cabinets and finish woodwork. Parts of the tree are also used in dyes, insulation, paper, soil conditioners, basketry, landscaping, fence posts and construction. Even though it is not edible, the coast redwood has used for medicinal purposes and its crushed foliage is used to scent candle wax.
For information, call 909-798-9384.
Source: Joyce Dean, a member of the Garden and Floral Arrangers Guild
