# Western Red Cedar (Thuja plicata)

> Western red cedar, Thuja plicata: a large tree of 50 to 90 feet where planted, for zones 5 to 8, 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/western-red-cedar/

![The massive, fluted trunk of an old western red cedar in old-growth forest, with ferns and young trees around it](https://bluewhaletrees.com/img/species/western-red-cedar-1000.jpg?v=10c18d52 "An old western red cedar on the Twin Firs trail in Mount Rainier National Park, Washington. Old trees often reach 800 to 1,000 years.")
*Photo: Steve Redman, National Park Service, [Public domain](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AWestern_Redcedar_%28Thuja_plicata%29%2C_Twin_Firs_trail%2C_Mt_Rainier_%28ae6b86a6cb1941149a83b6fb04627cd4%29.jpg) ([source](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AWestern_Redcedar_%28Thuja_plicata%29%2C_Twin_Firs_trail%2C_Mt_Rainier_%28ae6b86a6cb1941149a83b6fb04627cd4%29.jpg))*

Large tree, 50 to 90 feet where planted, zones 5 to 8; full sun, part shade or shade; average or wet ground.

We do not grow western red cedar, 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 | Western Red Cedar |
| --- | --- |
| Other names | Pacific redcedar, giant redcedar, giant cedar, canoe cedar, shinglewood, giant arborvitae, western arborvitae |
| Form | Large tree |
| Height, feet | 50 to 90 where planted; up to 234 in its native stands |
| Spread, feet | Up to 30 |
| Zones | 5 to 8 |
| Sun | Full sun, part shade or shade |
| Soil moisture | Average or wet ground |
| Growth | Medium |
| Leaves | Evergreen |
| Traits | Wildlife value, hedge or screen, winter interest, erosion control |
| Pollen | February to June |
| Fruit | Cones, August to November |
| First crop | 10 to 20 years (trees in stands 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. A lone tree sets seed with its own pollen, but self-pollination leaves about a third fewer filled seeds, so trees in a group set more good seed. |
| Lifespan | Usually lives 800 to 1,000 years and can live 1,460, and the oldest dated one was at least 664. Only a tiny share of trees has ever been ring-counted or cross-dated. |
| Transplanting | The Morton Arboretum's page on western red cedar marks it as one that transplants well. |
| Planting season | Fall or spring. Its sources speak of nursery seedlings set out in fall or the next spring; Silvics adds that container stock planted in spring did better than bare-root stock inland. |
| Black walnut | Tolerant, on the Morton Arboretum's list |
| Ground | Stream banks, floodplain forests, rich moist slopes, swamps and wet flats |
| Native in | 6 states |

Western red cedar is native in 6 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), [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.

## What our tools say

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

## For the same ground, we grow

- [American Elm](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/american-elm/index.html.md) (*Ulmus americana*): large tree, 60 to 80 feet, zones 2 to 9. Shares stream banks, floodplain forests, swamps and wet flats in the wild.
- [Balsam Poplar](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/balsam-poplar/index.html.md) (*Populus balsamifera*): large tree, 30 to 100 feet, zones 2 to 5. Shares stream banks, floodplain forests, swamps and wet flats in the wild.
- [Peachleaf Willow](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/peachleaf-willow/index.html.md) (*Salix amygdaloides*): medium tree, 35 to 60 feet, zones 2 to 8. Shares stream banks, floodplain forests, swamps and wet flats in the wild.
- [Tamarack](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/tamarack/index.html.md) (*Larix laricina*): large tree, 50 to 75 feet, zones 2 to 6. Shares stream banks, swamps and wet flats in the wild.
- [Bur Oak](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/bur-oak/index.html.md) (*Quercus macrocarpa*): large tree, 60 to 80 feet, zones 3 to 9. Shares floodplain forests 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 in the wild.
- [Every companion of western red cedar in the companion species tool](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=western-red-cedar)

## 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, the Morton Arboretum, NC State Extension, the Missouri Botanical Garden, Oregon State University's Landscape Plants, Cal Poly's SelecTree, Calscape, the Wildflower Center, the Gymnosperm Database, the City of Seattle and the International Tree-Ring Data Bank.