There’s an old stately home near me (in the UK) where a few redwoods were planted some time around 1900. The scale of those things is genuinely bewildering. They’re so much bigger than every other tree that it messes with your sense of perspective a little
It’s also weird how squishy the bark is. It’s like a giant funfair plushie tree
The other cool thing about that squishy bark is that it’s flame retardant.
I finally went to go see the California redwoods as a bucket list before they burned down and learned they don’t tend to.
There were almost as many lightning struck redwoods around, still alive and kicking not giving a fuck, as there were undamaged.
Very cool opportunities to stand inside shed sized hallowed out areas and admire.
Growing up in California (especially Southern) you learn about “Fire Ecology” and how wildfires are a normal and natural part of the ecosystem and that many California-native flora are dependent on semi-regular burns. The problem with the fires lately isnt that they’re happening, it’s that they’re happening too frequently.
Basically, don’t worry, those sequoias will outlive us all
I get all choked up seeing them a year or so after a fire, the limbs burn off and they start sending thousands of new little baby limbs out, most will die back and the ones in the best positions will grow. The the whole upper part of the tree is green with new life and I’m just so proud of them.
We’ve had some pretty devastating fires here, so the emotions are high.
Nature is amazing, thanks for the photo
The problem with the fires lately isnt that they’re happening, it’s that they’re happening too frequently.
I thought the problem was that they weren’t happening frequently enough, allowing too much undergrowth to build up and make them worse than they’re supposed to be?
(But I’m not from California, so you probably know better.)
Depends on where it’s located.
In some areas with very active fire suppression, they allowed massive buildup of material to burn. This is what happened to Yellowstone and a bunch of national forest around the west and into Canada.
In other areas drought is causing more frequent and hotter burns. This is what is is happening in the Southwest now with the mega-drought.
I really hope that you never get a proper storm. Someone tried to grow redwoods in KY. He was trying to have a way to legally harvest the wood. Grew the couple acres of redwood trees to over 80 feet in height by year 20. Then a thunderstorm came through, and knocked all the trees down. The root systems don’t have a massive taproot, and spread horizontally.
I’m not sure what qualifies as a “proper” storm for you - the UK never gets anything like the cyclones in India or the Caribbean - but we did have one of our worst on record at the start of this year. I actually haven’t been along to the place since then. If I get a chance this weekend I’ll go have a look, see if I can get some photos for shalafi elsewhere in this thread too
I’m talking about the high wind thunderstorms that frequent the US. Not as big as a cyclone or hurricane, but just as destructive.
https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/y8xcnjxrg24.jpg
I’m glad to report that they’re still standing! These photos aren’t great, but they do at least show how much taller they are than every other tree in the area and the incredibly confusing presence of an old phone box is a helpful comparison for how chunky they are
However, I also found out that these are dawn redwoods, the smallest variety of redwoods. These don’t even get to half the height of the giant ones in California and they’re still the biggest trees I’ve ever seen in person
Also tagging @shalafi@lemmy.world
Neat to see. That one looks to be about the size of the Norwegian Pine in my parent’s front yard. It and it’s sibling are on the top 10 list for largest Norwegian pines in the world
How do they fair in their native western US?
They really do better in groves with lots of root systems entangled, providing each other mutual support. Quick-growing them plantation style reveals the weakness of the root systems.
Similarly, when the naturally grown redwoods were logged in the us west, the ones that were intentionally left to serve as seed stock for reforestation often fell down without their tree-bros.
Modern practices dictate leaving small groves intact rather than isolated individual trees.
We don’t really get that in the UK. If they survived the “hurricane” of 1987, chances are they’re still there.
They grow really well in the UK climate.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-68518623
Better than in California, it turns out.
Oh holy shit, we have half a million of them‽ I was under the impression it was just a few scattered around the place
There are redwoods in the UK?! I’d love a pic, how fascinating.
Not naturally, but a fair few of our landed gentry got really into trees while we were doing the whole empire thing and brought all sorts of them to their grounds. Since we have a wet temperate climate here the trees seem to like it
I’m afraid I have no pics of these specific ones. I genuinely couldn’t get a good line of sight with my little phone camera
Loads of them, apparently.
https://www.redwoodworld.co.uk/locations.htm
Most of the ones on this site have pictures. Been to several of these places myself. Most of the trees are fairly young still, so not at the “towering over everything for miles” level.
I really hope I get the chance to see them in person before I die.
Having done Redwoods national park and Sequoia national park within a few days of each other early this summer, here’s my advice:
Redwoods contain a lot of California Redwoods (Sequoia sempervirens), and they are super impressive. But Sequoia contains a lot of Giant Sequoias (Sequoiadendron giganteum), and those just boggle the mind. It’s like being on another planet. I very highly recommend The Congress Trail, which starts at the largest tree in the world (by volume) and continues through multiple groves.
So do Sequoia second, or just Sequoia if you have to choose.
Yeah California redwoods are kind of all over Northern California, they’re commonish in backyards. Giant Sequoias on the other hand you’ll basically only see in a park.
I won’t.
I’ll for the both of us then.
Funny how I was able to get the pun even though I was not familiar with “je ne sais quoi”
I have this strange suspicion that this will not be the last time I am told this joke.
STAAHHP
/c/dadjokes
