Garden Notes

New Dawn Redwood growing in our neighbor's yard, both summer and winter

In my efforts to become better at identifying trees and trying recognize at least the trees growing in our area, I came upon a new dawn redwood growing just a few blocks from our house. This local redwood is simply planted in a neighbor’s front yard and has grown into a huge landmark. It is by far the tallest tree in the area and has the odd habit of losing all of its needles in fall only to produce new ones in the spring. My tree book said that the dawn redwood is actually a deciduous conifer, that is, it sheds its needles for the winter months, just like a larch does. It is also regenerative; in fact if it is cut down, it does not simply die – rather it will grow new leaders in its attempt to survive.

This needle loss can be confusing to a new homeowner. Apparently sometimes after purchasing a home in autumn with a dawn redwood growing on the property, new homeowners have mistakenly cut the tree down thinking it was dead. However in the spring, when the “dead” dawn redwood sends up new leaders from the stump of the cut-down tree, they realize their mistake.

I spent quite some time researching this tree species because I didn’t believe that redwood trees could actually survive our cold Wisconsin winters, but had to admit that this tree was obviously doing just fine. It has grown into a beautiful specimen that totally dominates the landscape and in fact during the summer month, it obscures much of the owner’s house. To my eye, it actually looks too big for a suburban yard, however there is no denying that it is an impressive sight!

Research Results

Mature height: Tall, many dawn redwoods on the United States are more than 100 feet tall by the time they are 50 years old and the original shrine trees in China range from 115 – 130 feet tall with some soaring to over 160 feet.

Mature form: Pyramidal, however as they age, some tend to take on a spreading shape, much like the ancient bald cypress in this country.

Growth rate: Rapid

Sun exposure: Prefers full sun

Soil type and moisture: Widely adaptable. However it prefers acidic soil that is somewhat moist.

Foliage color: Green in summer with orange and yellow fall color

Zones: Hardy in zones 4-8