# Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii)

> Douglas-fir, Pseudotsuga menziesii: its height and zones, when it sheds pollen and bears cones, how fast it grows, and the natives we grow for the same ground.

Blue Whale Trees, a native tree nursery in the United States. Web version: https://bluewhaletrees.com/species/douglas-fir/

![Two massive Douglas-fir trunks with deeply furrowed bark in a green old-growth forest with a leafy understory](https://bluewhaletrees.com/img/species/douglas-fir-1000.jpg?v=b27f7f50 "Old-growth Douglas-firs in the Mount Hood National Forest, Oregon, on March 9, 1990. Coastal trees often live about 500 years, inland ones up to 400.")
*Photo: U.S. Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Region, [Public domain](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AMt_Hood_National_Forest%2C_douglas_fir_old_growth_%2837051406541%29.jpg) ([source](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AMt_Hood_National_Forest%2C_douglas_fir_old_growth_%2837051406541%29.jpg))*

Large tree, 40 to 90 feet where planted, zones 4 to 7; full sun or part shade; dry or average ground.

We do not grow Douglas-fir, and it is not in our shop. This page gathers what our tools say about it and the natives we grow for the same ground.

## At a glance

| Fact | Douglas-fir |
| --- | --- |
| Other names | Coast Douglas-fir, Rocky Mountain Douglas-fir, interior Douglas-fir, Oregon pine, Douglas spruce |
| Form | Large tree |
| Height, feet | 40 to 90 where planted; up to 327 in its native stands |
| Spread, feet | Up to 60 |
| Zones | 4 to 7 |
| Sun | Full sun or part shade |
| Soil moisture | Dry or average ground |
| Growth | Medium |
| Leaves | Evergreen |
| Traits | Wildlife value, hedge or screen, erosion control |
| Pollen | March to June |
| Fruit | Cones, July to October |
| First crop | 7 to 20 years (appreciable crops from 20 to 30) |
| Pollination | One bears; a second improves the crop. Each tree carries both male and female cones and the wind carries the pollen; seed set by a tree's own pollen is more often empty, so trees in a group set more good seed. |
| Lifespan | Usually lives 400 to 500 years and can live 1,400, and the oldest dated one reached 1,350. Only a tiny share of trees has ever been ring-counted or cross-dated. |
| Transplanting | The Morton Arboretum's page on Douglas-fir marks it as one that transplants well. |
| Black walnut | Not named on the Morton Arboretum's lists |
| Ground | Rich moist slopes, dry uplands and rocky ground |
| Native in | 12 states |

Douglas-fir is native in 12 states: [Arizona](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=AZ), [California](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=CA), [Colorado](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=CO), [Idaho](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=ID), [Montana](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MT), [Nevada](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NV), [New Mexico](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NM), [Oregon](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=OR), [Texas](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=TX), [Utah](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=UT), [Washington](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=WA) and [Wyoming](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=WY). The states are the USDA PLANTS Database's records, with the native range read from Silvics of North America and the Fire Effects Information System. The USDA PLANTS Database also records it growing wild beyond that range in [Minnesota](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MN), [New Jersey](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NJ), [New York](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NY) and [Pennsylvania](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=PA), where it is naturalized, not native.

## What our tools say

- [How fast it grows and how big it gets, by site](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/index.html.md?species=douglas-fir): the growth estimator
- [Whether it suits your zone, sun and soil](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/site-check/index.html.md?species=douglas-fir): the planting-site check
- [How far from a house, wires and a septic field](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/distance/index.html.md?species=douglas-fir&near=house,septic,pavement,wires,boundary,tree): the planting-distance tool
- [What grows with it in the wild and in a yard](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=douglas-fir): the companion species tool
- [When to plant it where you live](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/planting-window/index.html.md?species=douglas-fir): the planting-window tool
- [When it sheds pollen and bears cones, month by month](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md?plants=douglas-fir): the bloom and fruit calendar
- [How to sow its seed, with dates for your place](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/index.html.md?species=douglas-fir): the seed sowing planner
- [How many to plant for a crop of seed](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/index.html.md?plants=douglas-fir:2): the pollination planner
- [Whether one you have can be moved, and what the move takes](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/transplant/index.html.md?species=douglas-fir): the transplant planner
- [How old one is, from its trunk](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/tree-age/index.html.md?species=douglas-fir): the tree age calculator
- [How a big one scores against the champion trees](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/big-tree/index.html.md?species=douglas-fir): the big-tree measurer

## For the same ground, we grow

- [Pignut Hickory](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/pignut-hickory/index.html.md) (*Carya glabra*): large tree, 50 to 80 feet, zones 4 to 9. Shares rich moist slopes, dry uplands and rocky ground in the wild.
- [Mockernut Hickory](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/mockernut-hickory/index.html.md) (*Carya tomentosa*): large tree, 60 to 80 feet, zones 4 to 9. Shares rich moist slopes, dry uplands and rocky ground in the wild.
- [Black Cherry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/black-cherry/index.html.md) (*Prunus serotina*): large tree, 50 to 80 feet, zones 2 to 9. Shares rich moist slopes and dry uplands in the wild.
- [Common Hackberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/common-hackberry/index.html.md) (*Celtis occidentalis*): large tree, 40 to 60 feet, zones 2 to 9. Shares dry uplands and rocky ground in the wild.
- [Black Oak](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/black-oak/index.html.md) (*Quercus velutina*): large tree, 50 to 80 feet, zones 3 to 9. Shares dry uplands and rocky ground in the wild.
- [White Oak](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/white-oak/index.html.md) (*Quercus alba*): large tree, 50 to 80 feet, zones 3 to 9. Shares rich moist slopes and dry uplands in the wild.
- [Every companion of Douglas-fir in the companion species tool](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=douglas-fir)

## Read from

Its figures come from Silvics of North America, the Forest Service's Fire Effects Information System, the Woody Plant Seed Manual, the USDA PLANTS Database, NC State Extension, the Missouri Botanical Garden, the Morton Arboretum, Oregon State University's Landscape Plants, Cal Poly's SelecTree, Calscape, the Wildflower Center, the Gymnosperm Database and Rocky Mountain Tree-Ring Research.