A native we do not grow
Mountain Hemlock
Tsuga mertensiana. Large tree, 30 to 100 feet where planted, zones 4 to 8; full sun, part shade or shade; average or wet ground.
We do not grow mountain hemlock, 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 | Alpine hemlock, black hemlock |
|---|---|
| Form | Large tree |
| Height, feet | 30 to 100 where planted; up to 194 in its native stands |
| Spread, feet | Up to 25 |
| Zones | 4 to 8 |
| Sun | Full sun, part shade or shade |
| Soil moisture | Average or wet ground |
| Growth | Slow |
| Leaves | Evergreen |
| Traits | Wildlife value, hedge or screen, erosion control |
| Pollen | May to July |
| Fruit | Cones, September to November |
| First crop | About 20 years (20 to 30) |
| Pollination | Not known whether one bears alone |
| Lifespan | The oldest tree dated by its rings reached 1,059 years. Only a tiny share of trees has ever been ring-counted or cross-dated. |
| Transplanting | Silvics of North America says: "Mountain hemlock is easily transplanted and propagated by seed and cuttings." |
| Black walnut | Not named on the Morton Arboretum's lists |
| Ground | Rich moist slopes and rocky ground |
| Native in | 7 states |
Mountain hemlock is native in 7 states: Alaska, California, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon and Washington. The states are the USDA PLANTS Database's records, with the native range read from Silvics of North America, the Fire Effects Information System, the Gymnosperm Database, NC State Extension and the Jepson eFlora.
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 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 mountain hemlock'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 Wildflower Center, Cal Poly's SelecTree, Oregon State University's Landscape Plants, Oregon State University Extension, Calscape, the Gymnosperm Database and Oecologia.