Re Redwood circles (was: (2) Lifespans)
At 03:05 PM 9/13/00 +1000, you wrote:
>>theryans@xtra.co.nz writes:
>>An interesting thing about the redwoods, they grow quite fast and also
>>live for a long time. They definately dont fit the fast growing quick
>>dying category ;).
Redwoods are interesting from a lifespan point of view. They do grow fast
(I have one adjacent to my garden) and are very hard to kill (other than
digging out the entire bulk of the monster!!!). They also tend to regrow
from their burls when damaged or fallen. A fallen giant can even sprout
along their length optimal circumstances. So it can be very hard to
actually put an age on a specimen as it can be a remnant of a very old ring
of trees, all of which ultimately came from a single specimen many
non-seedling generation before.
My wife and I were married (23 years ago) in a natural redwood ring in the
hills behind Saratoga, California. The trees, each an identical clone to
the others in the ring, were very closely spaced together, almost a perfect
circle, forming a cathedral-like space inside, with only a couple of wide
openings for entrance and exit. Inside, there was enough space to hold 200
seated people easily. I remember that the guest were a bit surprised when
they arrived at the park in their nice clothes and good shoes. They
thought we were going to make them hike into the hills!! But this redwood
'chapel' was next to the parking lot and they all couldn't believe it as
they entered the space, a close circle of probably 15 trees, each with a
soaring unbranched trunk at least 75ft before the foliage began. And it
was so much more quiet within. After years of visitors, the ground was
mostly level and easy to walk, covered with a natural mulch of redwood
needles and branchlets. It was truly impressive.
Sean O.
h o r t u l u s a p t u s - 'a garden suited to its purpose'
Sean A. O'Hara fax (707) 667-1173 sean.ohara@groupmail.com
710 Jean Street, Oakland, CA 94610-1459, U.S.A.
