America’s Giant Redwoods are Thriving in Britain - here’s why
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 19 พ.ค. 2024
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A forest of redwoods in the uk? Got to be better than the endless lines of non native commercial pines in Scotland…
amen!
It's not just Scotland those are here too unfortunately, we're in East Anglia and the largest forest (Thetford forest) is largely just monoculture pine fields, obviously some nice bits but it must be majority monoculture. Or has small sprinkles of silver birch to look less monoculture.
Spruce, the planations we have in Scotland or Sitka Spruce also from the west coast of the US. Our native pines are the Scots Pine.
Look past the plantations and you will find we have awesome woodlands in Scotland , there are some fantastic heritage trees , plantations are just crop trees
@@bobbycrispy5459 absolutely, I’ve also seen new native plantations being planted. This doesn’t detract from the huge areas of commercial plantation remaining and new commercial plantations being started.
I'm a microbiologist in California who specializes on coastal redwoods, and I have been a huge fan of your channel since it started! If you'd like a tour of what the species is capable of, feel free to reach out to me as a resource/guide! My partner is an archeologist, and we are incredibly well versed in their local history, so maybe we could be helpful for your research. :)
Awesome thank you, maybe email me or if i ever put a post out about it, remind me!
So I used to live in the Redwoods and maybe you can answer this question. Often cut redwoods will send up fairy rings or root sprouts. Since it's from the original tree ( I assume) can the fairy rings count as the original tree just regrown or do you start the age of the tree from the rings on the existing root sprout? Like if it's genetically the same material as the 1,000 year old tree would it be 1,100 years old, just fresh growth? I guess this is the was what I tried to tell myself to feel better about the grief of all the lost trees.
Love the question Alexis! Tree age is determined in trees by the rings of the trunk. Birch are another example of trees that tend to reproduce through roots, and the trunks they send out will only grow to be around 10-35 years old, but the root system will live on for thousands of years.
I didn’t see any redwood saplings growing around the UK redwoods. Are they not reproducing? If so can they be thought of as thriving in the Uk if they are not reproducing?
@@saronite5236the root sprouting is in response to the tree being cut. In CA you'll have a gigantic stump and 10 -20 feet out you'll get a fairy ring. Which can be quite magical in thier own right. One of these was set up as a firepit/ glen at someone's campground I was at once.
As an American, I'm relieved to learn this. I'd no idea that they existed outside the US. It's good to know they have a second home.
Not just a second home in the UK, redwoods are all over Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Chile. Botanists and tree enthusiasts in the 19th Century collected massive numbers of discarded pinecones from the logging operations in California when word spread of the size of the trees being felled there.
Theres an estimated 1.1 million Coastal Redwoods and Giant Sequoias outside the United States and the oldest ones are still just half the height of the mature Californian trees.
I guess northern Europe in general would be a good place to grow Redwoods.
We have a few Sequoiadendron giganteum trees in southern Sweden too, they grow well here.
That's so cool.
Canada too.
Californian here. Never thought I'd hear a brit talking about Redwoods in Britain. Glad to see our lovely trees getting recognition and regular foggy mist!
I've often noticed little microcosms of fog and mist over an area in Northern Ireland called Kilbroney park and maybe that's due to the Redwoods, never really made the link but they are massive trees!
@@roundtowerproductions Yes, coast redwoods actually make their own fog (though the weather needs to be at least a bit foggy naturally). Their needles are designed to catch the fog and morning dew, and drip it onto the ground, and then it gets soaked up by their roots and released back into the air. Redwoods like this cool damp environment protected from harsh sun, and so grow best in large groves and forests where they can create their foggy home. Solitary redwoods are often drier than they'd like to be, and can start losing foliage in harsh sun. The loosely planted scattered trees you see in the video leave the redwoods too exposed, so they're not as healthy as they could be.
Had no idea Britain had redwoods. That's absolutely great to hear.
I had no idea it was half a million!
@@LeaveCuriousYeah I knew we had some, but I didn't have any idea it was 600 times the amount they have in California!
Me neither! ;-) @@LeaveCurious
@@PiousMoltar 600 times? It's not *that* much more.
@@LeaveCurious I know at least on other European country that has them, Romania has a few. I wonder how many other counties have them?
As a long- time supporter of Redwoods and the Save-the-Redwoods League, I'm very happy to learn about the Redwoods in Great Britain. I live in Minnesota, but we are growing Redwoods in the nearby state of Michigan. Wherever they can be grown, we should plant them.
I have them on my property in Washington state. They are much larger than ones of the same age in N. California.
The sempervirends funds was a complete scam created by eco scammers to extort money from the uninformed citizens. BLM much
They can be grown almost anywhere in the eastern US, but they may not grow as large as the ones in California. You can buy redwood seedlings online.
I'm almost sixty. When I was a kid, everybody in America had redwood outdoor furniture sitting on their redwood decks because they were so rot and pest resistant. Not anymore!
Fun fact: mature coastal redwoods are too tall to pull water from their roots to their canopy. They need the fog to survive. That means that we've had fog on the northwest coast of America often enough for long enough for trees with thousand-year lifespans to evolve to depend on it.
I think you are mixing up two different species of Redwoods. The Sequoia of the Sierra Nevada propagates by seeds while the Coastal Redwoods propagate by root stock similar to Aspen. The coastal trees are valuable as timber while the sequoias are not. The Sierra trees are used to hot summers and cold winters and grow slowly. The coastal trees milk the the fog from the ocean, so the ground underneath is always damp plus they don't get extreme temperatures. I could go on but I think you get the picture.
I think the ones in your video are sequoiadendron giganteum or giant sequoias. Those grow in the Sierra and are the largest (most massive) trees in the world. Sequoia sempervirens or coastal redwoods are as michaelogle1315 noted found on the coast and thrive in those foggy conditions. They’re not as massive as the giant sequoia but are the world’s tallest trees. General Sherman is the most massive tree and he’s a giant sequoia. The world’s tallest tree is a coastal redwood named Hyperion and researchers keep its location secret to protect it. Sure you could say that when you’re using the word “redwood” you’re referring to the subfamily Sequoioideae which includes both as well as the Dawn Redwood from China- but most Californians will think of redwoods as well redwoods (costal redwoods) and sequoias as Giant Sequoias which are a four or five hour drive away on a totally different mountain range. This seems like nitpicking I know but when you do visit you probably want to know which you’re doing because they’re not exactly neighbors :)
we have millions in Japan they planted them on the side of the road and the roots after 40 years damaged roads and after 10 years the money it cost to cut and take the roots up and repair the road enormous ,also a creeping vine from tsuru strangles many treas
Nice rundown but oldest tree, not even close. The high mountain trees like limber pine and bristle cone are older by thousands of years.@@LetHimEatCake
The Dawn Redwood _Metaseqoia glyptostroboides_ is a living fossil - known only from fossils until identified in China.
@@michaelogle1315 that’s right. There’s a bristlecone pine that they call Methuselah that’s generally considered the oldest I think. There are also some sacred trees in other parts of the world that are often overlooked.
There's a huge Redwood at Crathes Castle, Aberdeenshire. It is beautiful.
Think I’ve seen photos of this one!!
Castles and giant trees? Yeah y'all really live in a fairy tale land. Maybe I'll come visit sometime, North Carolina is great, but it's been a while since I've been on vacation outside of the country.
@@N0sf3r4tuR1s3nI wouldn't go to Londanistan.
@@yodasmomisondrugs7959 Please tell me where you reside, so I can be sure to not go near it.
There was one in (I think) the Forglen estate just north of Turiff. I remember it from a holiday there probaby 20 years ago.
Bay Area native here.. LOVE these behemoths! Just went to Muir Woods a couple months ago and there’s NOTHING like it ❤️ Glad to see they’re making their way to our UK brothers and sisters
Regarding the 80,000 redwoods in California - these are specifically for the giant Sequoias in the Sierra Nevada. The more common redwood is the coastal Redwood, which are the tallest trees in the world. These grow in people's backyards and parks all across Northern California and their numbers are well in the millions. But the difference is that they can only get super tall along the coast of California.
And even when it is in your backyard… there wasn’t a single day I didn’t say hello and feel something very special around those trees. Especially my albino favorite I would see often!!!
Think that’s because most redwoods you see in the suburbs are aptos blue redwoods. A variety propagated for the nursery trade several decades ago. These only grow to about 30-50’ and can tolerate heat more. They also have a blue tint to them
There’s a bunch of different redwood varieties. There’s even a bush/drawf one that maxes out about 5’ lol
I was born not too far from a redwood grove in California and have seriously considered moving to the UK. The idea of a forest of redwoods in a chosen home following me from where I was born is magical.
If you like , I’ll swap you. I live near London.
@@hoonaticbloggs5402 The relevant comparison would be with Los Angeles. Hardly better, rather worse.
@@Vingul I like hermosa 🙂. But where I live is on the outskirts of London. Biggin hill . It’s very green. Charles Darwin walked the same valleys I do when he wrote his theory of evolution.
I do love the wild areas of California.
@@hoonaticbloggs5402I was gonna say. Looking at the state of the UK I wonder if that person knows they are down grading. No offense, my great great grandmother was from Leeds and I wanted to go visit her home town and all of England one day. But seeing the foreign hordes that have taken over those cities it seems like a bad idea because I WILL NOT be getting the traditional "English" experience. Good luck to you guys over there, get those fekers off of your land and out of the country. The Irish people seem to be getting the right idea on how to handle it. My dads people have been in California for thousands of years and my moms all came from Europe. I wanna see the old world one day where she came from please clean it up and MAGA, MAKE ENGLAND GREAT AGAIN!.
@@Vingul I live on the Avemue of the Giants in California we are over 1000 KIlometers from LA (600 miles) We live in a temperate rain forest LA is in the desert.
I think a Redwood forest in Britain would be fantastic!! 🌲🌲🌲I live in California and have been to the Redwoods - I think everyone should be able to visit them at least once in their lifetime! 💪🏻👍🏻👏🏻🙏🏻🤗
Awesome :)
@@LeaveCurious In California, Sequoiadendron giganteum, which are native to the lower Sierra mountains, is known as Sequoia. These trees you are showing are Sequoia. Sequoia sempervirens, which are native to the mild Coast Range mountains, are called Redwoods. Sierra Sequoia are far wider trees and grow older than the taller Coastal Redwoods.
@@ydnei think he is just grouping both species, though to be honest the coastal redwood creates the more bio diverse forest. That's not to say that sequoia's don't allow for biodiversity but they tend to be in dryer regions.
They make amazing bonsai too
@@LeaveCurious Why? Personally I would rather we concentrate on re-establishing native old growth forests. I am not opposed to individual Redwoods, or stands or small groves, but I WOULD be opposed to entire forests of Redwoods in the UK when our own native forests are in such a poor state.
I would rather see us concentrate on setting up and sustaining native oak old growth forests for example.
I found this video extremely comforting. Now I know there is a backup reservoir of trees that exist independent of (American) man's folly insuring the survival of the species.
These trees in the uk wont help at all. Sequoiadendron is not reprodjcing naturally in the UK which means they die out if noone plants new one. Sequoia sempervirens might have a chance, but local tree species will probably supress them.
Redwoods also had a global distribution millions of years ago. These aren't Britain's first redwoods, just the first ones in recorded history.
There's a forest of them in New Zealand too, at a place unimaginatively called The Redwoods near Rotorua.
They were planted in the 1920's as part of an experiment to see what exotic wood tree could best replace the timber needs that were at the time being met by felling native forests. Redwoods, some Australian Eucalyptus species, Douglas Fir, and Monterey Pine, maybe others were selected for the trials.
In the end it was found that Monterey Pine was best suited for the needs, growing ridiculously quickly, today in plantations with 70 years of growing experience it's being found that they're getting 40-50 metres in height in just 30 years.
The redwoods were left where they were, and today the stand of them is a popular tourist destination in an already popular tourist town.
That's kinda funny because California had the genius idea of adding Eucalyptus everywhere around the same time for cheap paper pulp. And even though it's not New Zealand, your neighbor Tasmania might have had trees even taller than redwoods that were turned to timber too.
Having surveyed trees in the Pacific Northwest I would have guessed Doug Fir would have done the best because their range is bigger/further north than Monty Pines but I guess New Zealand hit the sweet spot.
@@inuendo6365 My parents planted Eucalyptus and Sequoias in a plot of land in Europe, the Sequoias are tall now, but all Eucalyptus died after 10-15 years. Too humid and cold winters I guess...
Redwoods and Sequoias are from the Cypress family, present on Pangea before the continents split, so at some point in time they were growing on all continents I suppose.
In the UK the Forestry Commission did similar research to investigate alternative timber trees, including Monkey Puzzle trees.
I know there’s a few Sequoia in Whanganui, I’ve seen the redwoods near Rotorua. They’re still babies
Same here in the State of Victoria, Australia we have a similar aged forest of Sequoia, Also many central Victorian botanic gardens have sequoia over 150 years old. Perhaps the Californian miners brought them over during the 1850s gold rushes to Ballarat, Bendigo and other nearby localities?.
The largest living tree by volume is Sequoiadendron Giganteum, the Giant Sequoia, the species shown in this video. Sequoia semprevirens, the California Coast Redwood, is the tallest of all trees. Both are called redwoods, but are not the same tree. A lot of the info in this video is a mix of facts about both trees interchangeably even though they are no more similar to one another than pines are to spruces. Still awesome to see them covered here!
Yes a very important clarification there. Ok so I've been lucky enough to visit Sequoia NP & Jedediah Smith Redwoods SP and a few others, but this is this guys subject, he should know and clarify the difference.
We have Dawn Redwoods here in the UK too apparently, although I'm yet to visit one
yeah spot on!
Indeed. I stopped listening at that point, because the creator has clearly not done their research.
@@MattRussellUK I wouldn't go that far, most sources conflate them and if you aren't from the united states you are unlikely to have ever seen the trees in person to differentiate them.
Well done. I traveled from Australia to California and saw the Redwoods. Unforgettable. The world's second tallest tree is Centurion - a Mountain Ash located in Tasmania.
I live in a Redwood forest in the northern, very foggy Santa Cruz Mtns in California. I have 4 acres of redwoods here that are approaching and/or exceeding 200feet tall, but they are only 100+ years old. This whole area of Kings Mtn was clear-cut up til 1925. These coastal redwoods need fog to feed the tops of the trees. As I am at1300 ft and 4 miles from the ocean, there are many foggy nights and some days. The problem in California has been the 5 year drought that just passed. Many fallen redwood branches are covered with lichen because the trees are weaker now. (Both of my cars have been smashed by these falling rockets called "widow makers").. I still love it here after 21 yrs.
Red woods get most their water from the air. They soak it up from the top branches. So if you want them to grow as much as they can, plant them somewhere that gets a lot of moisture in the air.
Umm, that is pretty much the whole of the UK, doesn't stop raining all year round :)
Ireland.
they grow really well in Norway too.
@@jogolock1190 not rain more like fog or mist . And I only say anything because the ones he shows are super small compared to what we have here in Cali
@@Raylen_Fa-ield coastal redwoods are as you say, but this video seems to be entirely about giant sequoias, which grown in a dry climate (hence the extremely fire resistant bark) and get their water from melting snowpack
I'd love to see our native temperate rainforest re-established, but there is surely enough land for a redwood forest or two as well. Maybe one day we could be sending seedlings and young trees to California to help restore the forests there.
They are not dying off. They cut them down 100 years ago. California still has stands of redwoods that could cover UK
@@Trash-Castle Even at their peak they only covered 8,100 km2 which is around 3% of the UK, since then of course their population has declined massively. So not even remotely close to covering the uk.
@@DavidCruickshank you are right. I was being facetious
But why would you do that? California is so bad at everything that they'd just wipe them out eventually no matter what you do. I'm surprised that California Red-Sided Garter Snakes aren't extinct in the wild already. Yeah the Redwoods would fare better over there. I don't think they'd acclimate very well to where I live, but I saw some of those
Giant Sequoias once, so those trees should be pretty impressive once they get big enough, and all the castles and megaliths make your country look like a fairy tale setting- enjoy the giant trees.
@@N0sf3r4tuR1s3nThe reason that the California red-sided garter snake isn't extinct yet is because it is a protected species. It is considered endangered by both the state of California and the government of the United States. The state of California will move the human race back two hundred years to save a snail.
The format of this video is top tier. The lack of unnecessary musical overlays and thematic editing is very refreshing to see on TH-cam today. The strength of your narration and the sounds of natural backdrops make for easy viewing and truly engaging content. Well done, and keep up the good work. Happy to subscribe for more of this right here.
Redwoods like damp ground and moist weather to some extent. Otherwise they perish. They tend to flourish in long lasting groves where they can find that.
I had one planted in front of my house in Folsom CA back around 2001. I occasionally go look at it on Google street view and it now about 40 or 50 feet tall. Doing quite well.
Did you know that there’s 3 types of redwood too- Coastal Redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) the tallest tree in the world, Giant Redwood (Sequoiadendron giganteum) the oldest tree in the world and the Dawn Redwood (Metasequoia glyptostroboides) which was previously thought to be extinct until 1941 when it was found in China and is also the only deciduous redwood
Yes
Now that is a person that loves redwoods. I learned more for your commment than I did in the video. I thoguht there was only 1 species of redwood (sequoia). I do think its cool Redwoods are in the UK. I hope everyone that sees this comment will also show my RedDog RubyDoo some love on Pawsuasive Dog Teaching. My RubyDoo knows over 60 tasks so far and for every 1000k subs she gets a steak dinner.
Yes I did, I have planted examples of each of them.
What you wrote is mostly correct. Sequoiadendron giganteium is not the oldest tree in the world. Check out the bristlecone pine. That is usually considered the species with the oldest individual tree.
Yes, and in California, sempervirens is located mostly in the north coast rain forest, while the big trees are usually grouped in the central and northern Sierra Nevada and foothills. Before the population explosion from the 1849 gold rush, even the hills surrounding San Francisco Bay were shaded by their majestic canopy. Demand for lumber soon brought that era to a close, with only a few groves remaining. (And a belligerent invader, the Eucalyptus, took possession of many of the wild hillsides.)
I was weeding near our local 159 year old redwood with a 6.5m girth today. It was being awesome as usual! At Dunollie House in Oban, right next door to our local temperate rainforest, Dunollie Woods.
Ooo nice, ill have to visit
We've got three of them ( S. giganteum) here at Leckmelm. Two from the 1870/80's and one self-seeder around 22 years old, now 3m tall. We also have a 5m Dawn Redwood, 25 years old.
I have a look for it one day when I'm on a mainland shopping visit from the island.
The "Oban" I know is in Southern New Zealand. I think it is the one and only, small town settlement where the ferry lands, on the small island of "Stewart Island" just off the South of NZ's 2 main islands. I have a funny feeling that the original "Oban" is somewhere in North Britain, perhaps the Orkney or Shetland Islands ? There are a handful of Californian Redwood trees hereabouts. One about 100 years old was planted outside a local primary school. When they demolished the original old building to re-build the school, they did indeed leave the Redwood tree intact.
@KiwiCatherineJemma Dunollie house is in Oban on the west coast of Scotland. Also a very important harbour with ferry services going to many islands. Very likely the origin of the name. I never knew there was an Oban in New Zealand. Although there seems to still be a strong connection between New Zealand and Scotland. I know of a few farmers who have gone between the two as it has a similar climate and sheep.
One maybe small correction or note, if you will: the Redwood is not the tallest tree in the world of all time, but is the current tallest living tree in the world. The Coast Douglas Fir that lives in the Pacific Northwest is in fact (or was), the tallest living tree in the world, prior to logging.
The tallest Douglas firs reached heights of over 400 feet, many of which that were recorded and measured at over 450 ft tall! The current tallest Coastal Redwood in the world is or was some 100 feet or so shorter than the tallest ever recorded Douglas fir! But the vast majority of the oldest, biggest, and tallest Douglas firs were cut down long ago around the same time that the Coastal Redwoods were cut. So currently yes, the Coast Redwood is the tallest living tree species in the world. We have a lot more old growth Doug fir left than Coast Redwood, but the issue lies in that the largest and tallest of them grew in lowland river valleys in or around the Willamette Valley and Pudget Sound, which were the first to be hit by early logging and settlement. Cities like Portland, Seattle, and Vancouver were largely built over old growth forests.
The remaining old growth Douglas firs we have left do not even come close to the sizes and heights the oldest ones once were.
The Redwoods to an extent had some advantage over the Douglas firs, in that they were initially harder to access growing in mountainous areas. Lots of old growth Douglas firs also remain in more mountainous areas, but the largest of them grew in the absolute easiest places to harvest early on, and they were so much more widespread than the Redwoods too, that we never got a "Save the Douglas firs" movement early on like the Redwoods did-it was assumed that ours would never run out. Doug fir is by far the dominant tree in the PNW and old growth Douglas firs stretched from the coast to the mountains and all across the inland valleys between the coast, coastal ranges, and Cascades.
I like the idea of preserving Redwoods in other places. I think that is a great idea. I would also suggest similar for other massive west coast species like the Douglas fir, Sitka Spruce, Western Redcedar, Western Larch, etc, but I don't think any of those can compare in dire need as the Redwoods. The Redwoods have a much smaller native range and generally far more threatened, compared to the wider ranges of the Douglas fir, Sitka Spruce, Western Larch, etc.
After decades of research, Dr Robert Van Pelt (aka “Big Tree Bob”) - an affiliate professor at the University of Washington, USA, and currently one of the world’s foremost experts in giant trees - is sceptical about many of the large tree specimens reported in the 19th century, as mis-measurements were rife.
In his opinion, the tallest Eucalyptus regnans from Australia that can be definitively believed was the Thorpdale Tree (aka Cornthwaite Tree) located in the Gippsland area of Victoria, which measured 114.3 m (375 ft) when felled in 1880. He believes that the tallest accurately measured redwood (including historical measurements) is the current tallest living tree - Hyperion, in Redwood National Park, California, USA - at 115.85 m (380 ft 1 in) as of 2017. For Douglas fir, the tallest measurements he is convinced by are those of the Mineral Tree, which grew near Mt Rainier in Washington, USA. It was measured by independent sources at 119.79 m (393 ft) before it blew over in 1930. A figure of 126.5 m (415 ft) for a Douglas fir in the Lynn Valley in British Columbia, Canada, is also described in Forest Giants of the World: Past and Present, and although there is no independent confirmation, it could feasibly be accurate, according to Dr Van Pelt.
I had the joy of visiting the Muir Redwoods, near San Francisco. Spent hours just walking around the Park, gazing in awe at these magnificent Trees.
In my hometown in Norway in the last few years, I've planted a lot of acorns from the oldest oak here. In various forests where there's been logging. And fewer horse chestnut trees(even if they're not native, they may be low thread). Some have grown, and it's really interesting to keep an eye on them, and see them get bigger each year, even if small yet.
Nemrai,
I do the same, here in Montana. Gather acorns as well as chestnuts in town ( Missoula ) and when i come upon a guĺley with water in the forests i toss a handfull or two out. I've done my part, it's now up to a higher power... ☆
I’ve done the same with an ancient horse chestnut over here in England, they’re not technically native no but they’re so beautiful and endangered!
That's awesome, well done all, you heroes with no capes, you. 🎉❤
Cali boy here. I love our Redwoods, and hope that in a few generations kids will still get to see these amazing trees in their natural habitat.
Yeah thats what it all about, ensuring these habitats can thrive for future generations to enjoy
Have you seen redwood bonsai? They’re not natural but they’re beautiful.
The story of trees moving from the West to Europe is interesting. I knew they had giant redwoods there but i had no idea as to how many!
In the 1980's I was behind a cabin in Ben Lomond, California sitting in a lawn chair surrounded by redwoods whose trunks were between three and four feet thick.
Suddenly my perception changed. I realized I was sitting on what would have been the stump of a felled tree perhaps some twenty five feet across and that what
I had thought of as trees were suckers from the stump of the original tree felled perhaps 90 years earlier.
I have actually thought of buying some land in Ioannina, Greece and planting a Redwood Forest. Ioannina receives a staggering 1000 to 1200mm of rain and then goes through the same kind of hot summer the redwoods would experience in their native range. I was thinking to do it next to the university campus ^_^
Sequoias (sequoiadendron giganteum) would do fine in that climate' coast redwoods (sequoia sempervirens) do well in hot summers only if they get sufficient fog at night. They need moist soil but that's isn't sufficient for them. they need the additional water from fog condensation.
@@jamesdoyle2769 Cheers I will keep that in mind! This is more of a long term plan as I am implementing a permaculture design on our own land at the moment.
@@futurecaredesign Why not plant a native forest instead?
@@thomasvan7738 For the exact reasons mentioned in this video.
Note that the giant sequoias in california are up in the sierra nevada mountains. Like 2000m above sea level and hence in a much cooler climate than california flatlands or greece. They are in area where there can be snow for over 6-8 months a year. They dont need this cold climate, i grow them in the netherlands, but i see that with the warmer summers with long dry periods here they are struggling. I would not bet my money on redwoods in greece....
If you go visit redwoods come to Santa Cruz my home town. Henry Cowell has some absolutely massive specimens and in some parts of the forest you can find very rare albino redwoods.
Noted! Albino redwoods, now I’m intrigued!
I am in the US, and have never seen a Redwood, much less an albino!
Owwwww albino redwoods have me intrigued too!...... 😀
The video is actually about Giant Sequoias, which are also called Giant Redwoods. Though I'm sure he'd also love to see the Coastal Redwood forests.
There is a Sequoiadendron giganteum in my local Arboretum and I happened to visit that tree just yesterday. It is truly a fascinating specimen which has been doing surprisingly well in the wet and sunless Dutch climate. Now some 120 years old it towers all the other trees in the park.
Now for some local lore - The very day that specific giant redwood was planted a boy was born right next door. And for the next 106 years they would be celebrating their birthdays together.
We've got some huge costal Redwoods in Grootvaderbosch nature reserve in the Western Cape South Africa.!! They will survive long past my lifetime ❤️
I've planted 10 of these along with 40 endangered black poplar trees.
All phantom planted in the community.
I've definitely offset my carbon footprint 😂
I wish I had the land to plant forests. I've added a few redwoods to my local woodland but we need a redwood forest.
The world is forever changing and so should we.💚
Good work Jordan, definitely offset your carbon footprint, lol! Are you in the US or UK?
🫡🇬🇧
Just think of maintenance when you plant. Services like power lines and drainage. Arborist work is expensive.
@@bennichols1113Thankyou for the advice. I say the community but they have been planted on land or field's left to rewild in the area. Woodland and my allotment. Mostly away from built up areas.
@@gaiavoice uk, Yorkshireman
I was fortunate to have been able to travel to California about 20 years ago. I absolutely fell in love with Muir woods, which has coastal redwoods, rather than giant sequoias. To this day it is one of the most beautiful places that I have ever seen. I would love to see a woodland with both of those redwoods thriving here in the UK, especially if I am still around in the next 2,000 years. In small enough pockets I really can't see how they would be a detriment to our ecosystem. Congratulations on hitting 50k, Rob.
Epic, made a note of this location. Yeah i think if it was deliberately created in a degraded area, it could only enhance what’s there. Natives would always be best though.
Fist time visitor to your channel. I was fortunate to live and work one spring, summer, and fall in Sequoia National Park. A few years later I spent a year living on the northern California coast, in close proximity to the Coast Redwoods. I would be delighted to be your guide when you make it over too see these magnificent trees for yourself! So happy to learn you have Giant Sequoias growing in Great Britain!
The three i planted near 30 years ago are doing well in SW Scotland , i even got a cutting off one . They wont grow super tall as the wind knocks the top 6 feet off every couple of years but their super stout and thick base . Birds love it as a look out and the nesting boxes on them are used . The leaf drops are slowly creating their own eco system beneath them much loved by birds like blackbirds and robins roughing through it for insects . I think nuthatches and coal tits hide seeds and nuts in the bark .
Thank you for holding a reserve of redwoods in the UK.. I would encourage you to keep a standing reverve for the next 3 centuries if possible. Now if you could convert those non-native pine plantations you have into native pine forests that would also be good.
england doesn't have native pine forests. only scotland.
@@EliotThexton of course I wrote UK not England and I was writing of the northern forests since there are reserves of redwoods in Scotland smal and isolated though they might be.
I'm from the UK but I lived in Humboldt, CA for a year when I was at university - best decision of my life. Living amongst the Redwoods was an experience I will never forget. Bigger than you can fathom until you're face to face with the cushioned orangey bark.
I'd recommend everyone to see them once in their life, incredible feats of life on earth.
If you'd like any pointers for your trip out there hit me up, I haven't been back for a few years now but spent ~2y exploring the emerald triangle and all that is within.
Do you see any sasquatch hammocks swinging in the canopies?
I live in Oakland, CA. I hike daily in large redwood (Sequoia Sempervirens) forests walking distance from my house. I've been doing this for over 30 years & am still blown away by these trees everytime. Hiking in a redwood forest sends one into a mental captivation, a reverie. I joke that they keep me out of prison!
I had no idea, until your video, that there are so many (6x over CA) redwoods in the UK (I'm guessing this # refers to Giant Sequoias rather than Coastal Redwoods).
Yes, I'm biased, but you can't plant too many redwoods. There are no downsides & everyone benefits.
I was talking to a local groundskeeper for a suburban wooded pathway who was clearing some downed trees. I forget the species but he mentioned that it was an invasive and then pointed out the incredible number of dead/dying trees in the immediate area. He mentioned they were all the same invasive species, and it wasn't that they were dying prematurely, but that WHEN they die, they stay standing FOREVER because none of the local insects or other decay-advancing critters feed on them. So you get entire chunks of woodland with dead tree after dead tree that won't fall and give up it's spot, creates a hazard anytime there's wind, is a huge potential fire risk and looks awful.
I'd never really thought of TREES as invasive before. It's always fish or birds or toads or cats or such. But don't sleep on the idea that invasive trees can be a problem too.
Not a fire risk. Redwoods have tannin which is a natural fire retardant. Redwoods fossilize. How do you think there are 2,000 year old redwoods? They resist fires.
Redwoods were native to Greenland at one time. Coastal climate change there is enabling the conditions for starting new forests. I think we should start there, if anything.
@ConontheBinarian Fossil fuels aren't the reason for climate change. It's a fraud.
A redwood forest in Britain sounds amazing.
And leads to another idea (that won't happen): a redwood forest in Iceland. Don't even know if they'd grow there. But had a few been planted there back when they were all the rage in Britain? could have been pretty cool.
Sequoias were present on Iceland before the Ice Ages... otoh after the latest glaciation around 40% of Iceland was still covered with trees, that's before human settlements, but mostly birch apparently, and not all were tall.
You could try to plant some Redwoods if you can find a place where trees grow well?
I want Redwoods on Iceland also! Right now it’s a mostly blank canvas.
This video is misleading, due to the fact that it's based on a news article that was incorrect (which has since been corrected, though as we can see, the damage has been done). The UK has 500,000 redwoods of all types (Giant Sequoia, Coast Redwood, and the Dawn Redwood, which is from China, not California), whereas the 80,000 number for California is just for Giant Sequoias, which are by far the most endangered of native redwoods in CA. CA has about 1.6 million acres of redwood forest (the vast majority being Coast Redwoods), and that amount of land can hold far more than 500,000 redwood trees.
I'd love to see more giant redwoods in Britain. I was blown away by the redwood avenue in Havering when I walked the London LOOP - you're so lucky to live nearby!
Love this video! General Sherman is one of the largest but, depending on how you define largest, there are bigger. The tallest tree is called Hyperion - another redwood in California. Its specific location is kept secret.
Sequoias don't struggle in California when they're in gardens or various other plantings.It's no surprise that they'd thrive in Britain, since that was part of their native range before the Pleistocene.
I wonder how and when they disappeared from Britain... considering that 95% of US specimens were cut down in 100 or 200 years, I would not surprised if they were still present in Europe when early civilizations appeared?
The Mediterranean sea was surrounded by a continuous belt of forest, mostly cedars I believe, until the bronze age development, then all the trees were then used for forges, building houses and ships, agriculture, cattle, etc.
DeRedwoods were actually native in most of europe, they only didn‘t survive the ice age (10.000 years ago) because the alpes were in the way, so they couldn‘t move south like in the US.
I recently was in Hungary, Kōszeg, they have a really nice redwood tree there, plantet in 1895 i believe.
I actually brought home a few seeds, but sadly i lost them.
@@DR_1_1 : The last glacial maximum, which ended a little over 10,000 years ago, scoured the British Isles. Essentially all of Britain's plant life is naturalised rather than native.
@@damonroberts7372 Of course the ice... now I see they did even grow on Iceland before that! In fact that family of tree was present on all continents, starting on Pangea!
@@Library_Of_Gurkistan There are different species, but I don't think this Redwood in Hungary is native?
You can find Redwoods and Sequoias in many public parks in Europe, or botanic gardens. Check in your area...
My parents planted at least 3 of them in a plot of land, they are tall now.
There's already a grove of Coast Redwoods in the UK called the Charles Ackers Redwood Grove, which is managed by the RFS.
The Giants Grove Redwood Forest, consisting of Giant Sequoia, is currently in development at Birr Castle in Ireland.
I always smile when people moan about the UK's rain yet expect trees to thrive on sunshine only and no moisture.
To get the green you need the grey. ❤
Really angers me how this channel doesn’t have more subscribers, after the first video I watched I really did leave curious 😂
Haha it’s building!
We can all play a part there and make sure we pass a link to someone we know a few times a year. Same goes for Mossy Earth too.
Dude, I joined when there was only a few hundred subscribers. It has been SUCH FUN to see the growth!
lmao grow up
angered?
in suffolk theres a redwood that was planted by a bloke who used the nearby flint mines to sell gunflints to the crown for the napoleonic war
As an American I was delighted to see this! I've never been to the UK, but I imagine everything would grow wonderfully there. Thanks for this video!
My concern with introducing non-native species is over how well we can predict the impact they'd have, especially long term. I'm thinking of the owls in Futurama and how the best intentioned plans can have long lasting negative impacts.
Personally, I'd rather bolster our native woodlands (including using native trees to restore woodland to an area that has been lacking it for a while) than to sow a new, non-native one.
Yeah for sure the long term impacts are always hard to predict. Redwoods would certainly outcompete our native trees regeneration. But I was thinking about being really deliberate where you plant them 🤔
I understand and appreciate your concern. However, history has already shown it is pretty easy to remove this one species (happened in its native place of origin and they can't run and hide).
@@apveeningThis is true. The most annoying invasive species to cull are small, highly mobile, and fast growing, which the redwoods are kind of the opposite of.
@@Heligoland360 In some places they have to compete with Leylandii :)
@@LeaveCuriousredwoods aren’t really invasive tho? They need fire to survive!
Been to see the Redwoods, both Sequoia and Coastal several times in California, they are mesmerising to walk amongst, so yes would be fabulous to have a Redwood forest in Britain, but it'll take hundreds if not thousands of years before they grow as tall and as massive as those in California.
We are planting Giant Redwood groves in the UK to safeguard the species - love your video, great job. We think there are far fewer than 500,000 in the UK, and this number includes coastal redwoods being grown for timber harvesting - such a shame as we need to be trying to grow them to old growth trees, in a1000 years :) - we should get in touch!
I’m amazed and delighted to hear of redwoods thriving in the UK. And some so old!
Agreed! Rewilding a mono-culture, clear-cut forest glen into a few new pocket habitats.
I can see the pros of having a small pocket of Redwood as a species backup, but do redwoods really fit into the local ecosystem well enough to justify a redwood forest?
Doug Tallamy's research indicates non-natives support significantly fewer insects (due to the majority of insect species being specialists of native plants). Insects are the primary method of transfering plant biomass to higher trophic levels, and it seems redwood trees thrive because they're not integrated into local food webs. disease, insect, or otherwise.
I am a huge fan of this channel and would be very curious what your thoughts are in this respect.
Glad I'm not the only one referencing Dr. Tallamy's work!
General Sherman is a "sequoia" redwood aka mountain redwood. They are different then the costal redwoods. Related but not the same exact tree. The costal redwoods get taller and the mountain sequoia variety are denser trees. Both amazing
The redwoods are definitely magnificent trees. I am also in California as one subscriber mentioned. I would highly recommend a visit to Roaring camp. It is in the Santa Cruz mountains here in northern California. The train rides are a wonderful way to experience the redwoods as the train passes thru the old groves. There is one that takes you to the beach boardwalk. You get an hour or so to enjoy till the train takes you back. I have fond memories of my visits there. Really enjoying your channel. Thank you for al you are doing for our beautiful planet.
Blessings to you & all. Liliane
I live in caithness i planted part of local golf course in thurso, grand fir, noble fir, larch, oak, hazel, rowans etc and a sequoia! (1980s)it is about 30ft tall now. (15 miles from john o groats. I am self employed gardener on a motorbike. Tree and nature lover grow my own trees, cuttings too. Sitka spruce has adapted well in scotland and if open grown live a long time (1,000 yrs in native canada) birds use them for seeds, shelter and foraging. I am planting trees in grounds of hotel where i work part time. Was spruce, larch in bits. Underplanting with oak, hazel birch, rowan etc. Doing it over last 8yrs or so.
Sitka spruce is an extremely important tree because it is used for piano soundboards. It is harder and harder to get the proper quality and quantity of sitka spruce. I hope Scotland plants a lot of them!
Great video! I recently published a paper with some colleagues in Royal Society Open Science about Redwoods in the UK. It's called "Giant sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum) in the UK: carbon storage potential and growth rates" if you wanted to have a read. It's so good to see other people interested in these amazing trees so good on you for telling their story on here. It's also a dream of mine to go and see them in California, hopefully I can get out to see them one day!
I totally agree with you about the redwoods being beneficial to the UK. We should embrace them
Grew up in California close-ish to the redwoods and the forests are like nothing else. :)
So happy to hear they are doing well elsewhere in the world. The really big coastal redwoods traditionally got a lot of their moisture from marine fog, which unfortunately there has been less and less of in recent years in CA.
There are two Redwoods in Builth Wells in Powys, Wales. They are lovely. A redwood forest may be interesting as they are thriving but could we concentrate on getting back our much needed raparian woodland in Scotland and Wales to save the Salmon and river dependant ecosystems. Plus we need our hedgrows re layed and woodland corridors regenerated.
Huge advocate for getting more trees and woodland on our rivers!
There are salmon runs in the redwood forests. Just sayin'!
We were from California and moved to West Sussex, outside Graffham. We rented the carriage house at the entrance to Graffham Manor where there was a medium sized Redwood. The entire forest there was glorious.
There are redwoods growing in New Zealand too.
Absolutely love your videos and as a native Californian it’s amazing to see our beautiful redwoods thriving elsewhere. Not all nonnative species are invasive. Another example that would be cool for you to showcase in a future video, while your in California would be the thriving parrot communities in Southern California!
Its been my lifelong dream to go and visit the Redwoods in California! I was meant to go last year for my 40th but didn't have the funds! I'm hoping to go later this year but will probably end up being next year as things are just so damn expensive now. There are some in North West London that I visit sometimes. I have a video of them on my TH-cam channel. I love all trees but being in the presence of such giants is magical
Oh I’m so happy to hear this. They are such amazing trees they should be preserved somewhere on the planet.
Excellent video! I very much enjoyed watching it, tysm for making it and posting!
Here in British Columbia, we have forests of giant and ancient western red cedars (a close relative of the redwood), and other spectacular trees and plants. But less than 1% of these forests still stand. And despite 90% of the province wanting to save these forests, and numerous blockades including the largest act of disobedience in Canadian history. The provincial government is still allowing the destruction of these forests from logging companies, and is also lying about how much is left and being cut down! It is such a shame that this is still happening , as the protesting has been going on for over 50 years. You should come see these forests for yourself, as this would help spread public awareness for we can finally protect these forests!
Like here in Washington, until the bust, a lot of it was being shipped "overseas". Money, money.....
@@dpeter6396 Yes that too, they are still being shipped overseas here. Which is causing the closure of all the local mills. At the end of the day, no one is winning from this other than the greedy logging companies and politicians.
My friend was just telling me today that we have more in the uk than the US, probably about 5 hours ago thinking about it. Fancy you uploading this while my curiosity is peaked
And that is complete nonsense. The number of trees in the uk is not even close. This whole thing is completely misleading because people talk about something they don't know the slightest thing about.
@PaddyPatrone I believe this channel knows what they are talking about, I mean, you can quickly corroborate what he's said in about 30 seconds perusing google
Come to Cali - the redwoods are AMAZING to see and a powerful part of the Universe 🌲 💫
We have planted a Giant Redwood in our poplar plantation in Norfolk, UK. It has struggled to get established with the recent drought years and our low rainfall but is about 8ft tall now and think it is going to really take off soon.
big redwood forest in the highlands wood be cool
There’s many empty hills where it might work, but I don’t know if I’d rather see Scot’s pines there 🤷♂️
I recognised Havering Country Park from the opening shot, I also love the view from the eastern end, down into the city. I made a pilgrimage to the redwoods there a couple of years ago and was blown away by their size.
American Californian here. Saving the redwoods and sequoias has been hard going in recent years, especially in light of devastating wildfires. I'm so glad to know they've found roots in a new home that may be better suited for them.
Great to see this video! I commented on one of your videos a couple years ago about sequoias i was growing in my window. Most I sold but a couple I planted out and they have already got to around 4 feet. I also managed to plant 3 remaining trees for my work at Severn Trent, where we have many 'mature' sequoia. It is always a pleasure to see such different trees!
Edit:also well done your channel has grown so much since tree talks!
There are some down in Spain too, it's odd how we planted them for wood for such a long term that it is no longer worth it and it's turned into a small redwood forest, the more humid climate if northern Spain might help, however I truly believe more that the fire, the drought and all that and it's logging, which is to say deliberate destruction which can be easily avoidable what will destroy our most massive humbling forests
I live within driving distance of redwoods. Even the "not very big" ones are huge. In one area where they grow, if you just basically stand there looking at a tree and examining the plants that grow under it etc, eventually, a deer will come by and just ignore you as it passes. So long as you look busy with something else and never look directly at them they think you are just another one of those dumb things with only two legs.
5:15 The Sierra redwoods you are walking past all live in the mountains in California above 5000 feet...they actually don't like hot dry weather too much. An equable, wet, cool climate like in the UK suits them just fine. They can also tolerate freezing conditions as it does get subfreezing every winter in the mountains of California, even if it doesn't necessarily stay ultra cold for long.
I think rewilding and habitat restoration should take into account the subfossil and fossil record of extant species and close relatives when determining what is native. Sequoias (Sequoiadendron) make a great candidate for this in the UK. Happy to talk more about this offline
Didn't you do this last week? Got a Cali Coast Redwood in the front garden, it's thriving and making a mess of the pipework. Think the Cali Coast version is actually taller than the giant although nowhere as massive.
Do what last week? Bold tree to have in your front garden!
I think they mean, isn’t this a repost? Certainly I’ve watched a very similar video recently, although I can’t remember where!
@@LeaveCurious MY bad, I saw similar on Sky News.
The biggest sequoia I've seen is probably either the ones growing in Hothfield common or the one growing in howletts zoo!
The specimens in Hothfield common are within a new growth forest!
Oh awesome! Yeah out of the half a million I wonder what’s the biggest!
@LeaveCurious if your down in Kent, give me a holler and I can show you a few good orchid patches :)
It makes total sense to me for these special trees to be a forest in the UK where it is so moist much of the year.
In the Black forest around Kandern Germany there are also many redwoods, sequoias… Sutter was from that area and he and others brought back many seedlings. I spoke with a couple of foresters recently while I was there and asked about them. Two had been cut down in Kandern, apparently they had been sick.
Near the Getränkmarkt/Liquor store, there is a wonderful Sequoia in front of a house, taking up the entire garden space. Others are here and there, one in Malsburg Marzell, another near the Sausenbirg… and a grove in the vicinity that I have yet to visit, but will for sure, now that I know about it!
I would love to see them thrive all over the world.
Some animal species have been able to repopulate themselves in their native wild lands after being totally lost from those lands. That is one good thing about zoos and these groves of the big trees of California.
We have many on campus where I work. I agree on the carbon capture point. Also they are home to many micro habitats for invertebrates. I have seen tree creepers in our trees. I don't think they should supersede the priority of native species. But they do have their place from a conservation point of view.
Unlike rhododendron or laurel which are endemic frankly
Others are right. This channel is under subscribed and under appreciated. I'm grateful for your efforts. Thank you.
"invasive species with no natural competition on new continent does surprisingly well"
I think the argument is that without fire the cones don't open, so they can't reproduce, hence they can't be invasive in the UK, even if they're non native.
But yeah, agreed, I can think of better things to do than encouraging planting of exotic trees..
Redwood planting is a statement of hope and trust in the future, and of course humility.
I for one as an American from the midwest who yearns for the day I can go see the redwoods in person, I am thankful for them "saving" whats left of the ones on the west coast and until just now, i never knew that there was such a large amount in england and am pleased to see them flourishing and I hope that you continue to cherish and protect the ones you have.
should concentrate on helping native species thrive
For sure! I’d be curious to see how UK native species responded to a redwood forest though
@@LeaveCurious that is the question!
@@LeaveCuriousredwoods, similar to other conifers, tend to block the sun and acidify the soil, having a small grove as an interest point does no harm but it isn't something we should promote to introduce in English forests
i wonder if the can even reproduce the barley do where the are native so i don't see them going against native plants
@@LeaveCurious we don't want to create a foreign landscape either way
Over the last 30 yrs I have planted 18 Giant Redwood, 15 Coastal ( Californian ) Redwood and 7 dawn Redwoods where I live in South East Wiltshire, UK.
They are growing happily in our heavy clay ground.
The first batch now have a 5ft diameter at their bases and are approaching 50ft tall. A forest of them would be fantastic.
A forest of them in the UK would be a fucking ecological disaster. Do you hate your local plants and wildlife so much you want to replace it with something as ecologically dead as a farmer's crop field, but just with redwoods instead of GMO corn?
Super cool, I didn't know this and thank you. I worked for the Dept of Resources elsewhere in the USA as a kid in forested areas. We, there, were concerned about the Great White pines, huge old Cedars and Swamp Oaks. Good news, Sir!
You've made me realise that the tree on my old school grounds I've struggled to identify was one of these! I loved the feel of the bark, it was like a cushion. I always discounted this species because I didn't think we had them. Thanks for solving the mystery!
Due to the upper canopy ecosystem I think redwoods would be a great choice for the UK. Sure it takes ages to get to that point but the amount of habitat you get for the footprint is amazing. Imagine how amazing a Caledonian redwood forest would look, it could even help save all the briophytes and what not by providing more space at different conditions to allow for more species to grow.
No, for redwoods to thrive in the UK, there need to be people around who cut (or burn) down other trees. It would be a very non-native, intensively managed kind of forest, though a spectacular one.
@eljanrimsa5843 Mt rational was purely for ecosystem per ground-space my guy so that doesn't factor into my statement in any meaningful way tbh
Unless you mean for the ferns and what not which would be unaffected by ground level burns due to the fact thay they ware hundreds of feet away from the reach of the flames.
I love the idea of a Redwood forest in Britain. Exactly because they are suffering so much in the US. It only makes sense to me. But truly I don't know the extent to which it may impact your native species there. I just don't ever want to lose these majestic trees!
Why are the trees in Britain healthier? Tha'ts an important question!
It can be for a multitude of different reasons. One can be for diseases that could have started spreading in the US but haven't arrived in the UK. Another could be because most redwoods in the UK are actually preserved in places like arboretums and exotic forests and so are protected and surveyed more often unlike in the US where they naturally grew in the wild and so wouldn't have been checked on as much.
It is damper here but they don't produce seed.
Cool video. I live in California and love the Sequoia Trees. I did not know there were so many in the UK. I’ve visited England once and loved it. Hope you come to see them here in CA soon.