# Mountain Hemlock (Tsuga mertensiana)

> Mountain hemlock, Tsuga mertensiana: 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/mountain-hemlock/

![Mountain hemlocks with drooping tops beside a rocky clearing under a clear sky](https://bluewhaletrees.com/img/species/mountain-hemlock-1000.jpg?v=3182dfa5 "Mountain hemlocks near the Lassen Peak trailhead in Lassen Volcanic National Park, California, on September 22, 2016. One cross-dated on Vancouver Island was 1,059 years old.")
*Photo: Krzysztof Ziarnek, Kenraiz, [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) ([source](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ATsuga_mertensiana_kz04.jpg))*

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

| Fact | Mountain Hemlock |
| --- | --- |
| 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](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=AK), [California](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=CA), [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), [Oregon](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=OR) and [Washington](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=WA). 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](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/index.html.md?species=mountain-hemlock): the growth estimator
- [Whether it suits your zone, sun and soil](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/site-check/index.html.md?species=mountain-hemlock): the planting-site check
- [How far from a house, wires and a septic field](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/distance/index.html.md?species=mountain-hemlock&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=mountain-hemlock): the companion species tool
- [When to plant it where you live](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/planting-window/index.html.md?species=mountain-hemlock): the planting-window tool
- [When it sheds pollen and bears cones, month by month](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md?plants=mountain-hemlock): the bloom and fruit calendar
- [How to sow its seed, with dates for your place](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/index.html.md?species=mountain-hemlock): the seed sowing planner
- [Whether one you have can be moved, and what the move takes](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/transplant/index.html.md?species=mountain-hemlock): the transplant planner
- [How old one is, from its trunk](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/tree-age/index.html.md?species=mountain-hemlock): the tree age calculator
- [How a big one scores against the champion trees](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/big-tree/index.html.md?species=mountain-hemlock): the big-tree measurer

## For the same ground, we grow

- [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 in the wild.
- [Pin Cherry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/pin-cherry/index.html.md) (*Prunus pensylvanica*): small tree, 15 to 40 feet, zones 2 to 7. Shares rocky ground in the wild.
- [Chokecherry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/chokecherry/index.html.md) (*Prunus virginiana*): small tree, 20 to 30 feet, zones 2 to 10. Shares rocky ground in the wild.
- [More natives for this ground in the tree finder](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/tree-finder/index.html.md?size=large-tree&sun=full&moisture=average)
- [Every companion of mountain hemlock in the companion species tool](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=mountain-hemlock)

## 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.