A native we do not grow
Giant Sequoia
Sequoiadendron giganteum. Large tree, 40 to 120 feet where planted, zones 6 to 9; full sun or part shade; average ground.
We do not grow giant sequoia, 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
| Other names | Sierra redwood, giant redwood, Wellingtonia, sequoia, mammoth tree |
|---|---|
| Form | Large tree |
| Height, feet | 40 to 120 where planted; up to 316 in its native stands |
| Spread, feet | Up to 50 |
| Zones | 6 to 9 |
| Sun | Full sun or part shade |
| Soil moisture | Average ground |
| Growth | Fast |
| Leaves | Evergreen |
| Traits | Wildlife value, winter interest |
| Pollen | April to May |
| Fruit | Cones, August to September |
| First crop | 10 to 20 years (large crops from about 150 to 200) |
| Pollination | One bears; a second improves the crop. Each tree carries both male and female cones and the wind carries the pollen; trees mostly cross with their neighbors but sometimes pollinate themselves. |
| Lifespan | Typically lives 2,000 to 3,000 years, and the oldest dated one reached 3,266. Only a tiny share of trees has ever been ring-counted or cross-dated. |
| Black walnut | Not named on the Morton Arboretum's lists |
| Ground | Rich moist slopes and rocky ground |
| Native in | 1 state |
Giant sequoia is native in 1 state: California. 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.
What our tools say
How fast it grows and how big it gets, by site Whether it suits your zone, sun and soil How far from a house, wires and a septic field What grows with it in the wild and in a yard When to plant it where you live When it sheds pollen and bears cones, month by month How to sow its seed, with dates for your place How many to plant for a crop of seed Whether one you have can be moved, and what the move takes How old one is, from its trunk How a big one scores against the champion trees
For the same ground, we grow
These trees we grow share the most of giant sequoia's natural communities in the wild, by the companion species tool's rules.
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, Oregon State University's Landscape Plants, Cal Poly's SelecTree, Calscape, the Wildflower Center, the Gymnosperm Database, Rocky Mountain Tree-Ring Research and the International Tree-Ring Data Bank.