Urban Landscape, Native Landscape: Redwood in Lincoln Park

Friday, February 6, 2015

Redwood in Lincoln Park

Redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) in Lincoln Park October 2011

If you have been thinking about planting Sequoia sempervirens (Coast Redwood) in Seattle, take a look at Lincoln Park in West Seattle. There are at least 2 groves at the north end of the upper area of the park. Redwoods are fairly common in Seattle parks, usually as single specimen trees. It is unusual to find them in private gardens. Oddly enough, it is more common to find Sequoiadendron giganteum (Sierra Redwood), a tree that takes up much more horizontal space, in private gardens here. There is a 3rd redwood less commonly found in Seattle, the deciduous Metasequoia glyptostroboides (Dawn Redwood). Sequoia sempervirens can live more than 1,500 years & grow to a height of more than 300 hundred feet. They are unlikely to grow to that size in a garden environment, even if left alone for 1,500 years. But don't plant them too close to the house. Young trees grow quickly, a big plus for gardeners in a hurry. The Sunset Western Garden Book says that Coast Redwood can be planted 7 feet apart. But I would give them more space, maybe 10 feet apart at a minimum. Sequoia sempervirens are native to northern California from the Oregon border to the San Francisco Bay Area.

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About This Blog

This blog began in 2008 as Metropolitan Gardens to provide information on gardening in Seattle & places like it. Click on Gardening in Cascadia. The blog expanded to include Parks P-Patches Public Gardens in the US, Canada & Europe. Then Nature was added. (The difference between nature & gardens is intent. Nature happens. Gardens are planned.) Many recent posts are not about Seattle, or even Cascadia. They are Urban Landscape: streetscape & architecture. Cascadia is the region including the Cascade Mountains of Washington & Oregon. If you want to contact the blogger, leave a message in comments. Comments are moderated & private messages will not be posted.

Our Land & Climate

The city of Seattle rests between 2 bodies of water: Puget Sound & Lake Washington. Puget Sound is a substantial part of the Salish Sea & a very small part of the Pacific Ocean. The Salish Sea is set apart from the Pacific by the Olympic Peninsula in the state of Washington & Vancouver Island in the province of British Columbia. The dense, wet clouds of the Pacific Ocean travel as far as the Cascade Mountains, near the Salish Sea & not very far from the ocean. East of the Cascades lies the desert of the Columbia Basin. The moist, temperate climate of Seattle extends south to northern California & north to southeastern Alaska. The Pacific Northwest Coast from San Francisco Bay to Cook Inlet shares a flora dominated by evergreen coniferous forest. The central portion, west of the Cascade Mountains, is called Cascadia. The climate is cool & wet from fall to spring, warm & dry in summer. The Olympic Mountains block Seattle from much of the Pacific rainfall. Seattle is drier than the Atlantic coast of North America & northern Europe, cooler in summer & warmer in winter. It lies near the latitude of Paris & Quebec City.