Metasequoia defoliating in the drought, bet if it will make it?
Toronado3800 Zone 6 St Louis
11 years ago
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hortster
11 years agoWell, seeing as both Metasequoia and Taxodium are in the Cypress family and may have the same drought reactions, I'd lean toward it making it through. Last summer, a summer of 53 days over 100 degrees, my baldcypress went dormant in late August and came back just fine this year. Still looks good in a non-irrigated situation this season after over 25 days above 100 degrees.
Never grown Metasequoia but would bet that defoliation is their natural protection, too.
hortster
denninmi
11 years agoRelated Discussions
Ficus Trees in Containers IV
Comments (329)The first bend in the trunk is result of a previous pruning. I noticed that when I was looking at the first images. Looks like the trunk bifurcated (split to form a 'Y') at that point and one side of the bifurcation was pruned off. In mid-June, the lowest branch marked in yellow should be cut back to 4 leaves. The long branch moving left/ marked yellow in the image above, and the branch moving right/ marked yellow should also be pruned back to 2 leaves. The leader, above these 2 branches and marked in yellow, should be pruned back to a leaf that points in the direction you want the leader to grow. This is called 'directional pruning'. Example: With the above pruning cut made, the new branch (shows as a leaf only, but it's a new branch) in the axil of the leaf on the right will want to grow to the right. If you wanted the new leader to move left, you would prune lower, to just above the leaf on the left. A cut above the leaf attached to the severed part would give rise to a branch growing away from the grower. Because there are other forces in play, like phototropism (tendency for plants to bend toward the brightest light source), there is no guarantee the branch will grow where you wish, so you might need to encourage the new branch that forms in the axil of the leader's top leaf to grow where YOU want it to. I mentioned this already, but I'll reiterate that your tree will respond to pruning with a much higher degree of enthusiasm if you do the pruning A) while the tree's energy reserves are highest, and B) when the tree's current ability to carry on photosynthesis is peaking, both of which will occur during the summer solstice (21 June). 'Father's Day' is easy to remember. If you intend to repot, do it at the same time you prune. While you could probably remove a little soil to cut through (2 cuts) the kinked root that emerges from and returns too the soil, I would do it at the same time you prune the top. Reason: Pruning the top decreases the volume of foliage the roots must work to keep hydrated. It also makes it less likely that a branch on the same side of the tree where the kinked root is attached will die. When a tree is unable to keep certain parts hydrated, it sheds those parts. Unfortunately, they seem to always choose to shed parts the grower feels are essential to the o/a composition/ shape/ style of the tree. Some trees, like junipers/ yews/ arborvitae/ .... , develop a dedicated relationship between individual roots and branches, such that damage to a particular root will kill a particular branch. Notice the live veins connecting roots to individual branches below: This tree ^^^ has 4 branches and 4 live veins. Other trees lack the direct relationship between particular roots and branches. For the genus Ficus, the relation is moderate, but the lower a branch is (and the shorter the tree is) the greater the likelihood that death of a branch or root will result in the dieback of it's counterpart on the opposite side of the root to shoot connection. When serious about earning a green thumb, the largest step a container gardener can take in that direction will come from understanding how water behaves in container media and what that means to the health of your plants' root systems; this, because issues with root function and/or health cause the most problems by far, with some of them seemingly unrelated to root health. Two examples that lend support to the later contention are infections by disease pathogens and insect predation due to a less than robust metabolic rate, caused by limited root function or poor root health. A healthy plant will remain forever elusive unless and until we are able to maintain root systems in an elevated state of vitality (health). Al...See MoreWanted: Metasequoia glyptostroboides 'Snow Flurry' information
Comments (45)this post.. is a nomenclature nightmare ... lol ... NJ ... plant tissue transpires... gives off water ... sweats .... white tissue gives off more water.. than the plant can process.. hence it burns ... i also like to think of chloropyll as sun tan lotion .... no green.. no pf 60 .. lol ... two NONSCIENTIFIC explanations for why white .. and yellow tissue can burn ... the best siting for such.. is NO SUN IN THE HEAT OF THE DAY ... when they would sweat most ... and water is usually not available ... also ... some plants .... in some zones can handle it.. because cool nights give them time to recover ... the hotter your nights are.. the worse it will be ... aljo.. conifers are trees.. they NEVER stop growing.. at some magical height ... they have an annual growth rate.. and will grow at the rate for decades ... once established... ALL size estimates are at 10 years ... and you can presume.. at 20... they will be twice as big ... ken...See MoreMetasequoia glyptostroboides 'Ogon' coloring question
Comments (14)Interesting tale. I've been mail ordering plants for 25 years and I really feel like nursery standards have fallen in the past 5-7 years. How hard is it label a group of plants as one thing and not another? Some at least try to make up for it when they are caught making mistakes. But for example a nursery recently admitted to me that I got a fully dead plant, that the entire crop was a failure, but they are still touting it on their website, which I know they frequently update, 2 weeks later. It would not have been hard to know it was dead, I could tell the instant I took it out of the box. And this is someone with good Dave's garden feedback. No, I'm not going to say who. Ellen Hornig was the most straight-up nurseryperson I ever dealt with, and she's no longer in the biz....See MoreGardening around Denver/drought question
Comments (10)Hi Lucy, Welcome to the RMG Forum. I live in Thornton, just east of Westminster/Broomfield and I like it up here a lot. But it is DEFINITELY not lush! If you fly out for a visit, get a window seat and watch how drastic the change is shortly after you cross the Mississippi River. If you truly love the lush greenness around you, you may not like our dry, high plains desert climate. I LOVE it out here! I've lived in Denver since 1964 and wouldn't even consider moving back to a humid area. Grew up in Illinois, and when I get back there now the air feels like it's too think to inhale! And I hate being sticky all the time. Don't like soggy cookies and crackers either! ;-) We have been in a drought condition for several years now. Last winter we got a LOT of snow in the mountains which filled up almost all of the reservoirs, but then we had a very dry spring and summer, so they're back down and there are watering restrictions in much of the Denver metro area. Mostly the restrictions apply to lawns though. You can usually water veggies, flowers, trees, bushes, etc. whenever you need to, though, depending on your town, you may not be able to water some things with an overhead sprinkler except on your watering days. It just depends on each municipality. You really do get used to it, though it would be a bigger adjustment for you, where I'm guessing you almost never need to water your lawn now. In Thornton (this is the first year we've had restrictions--depends on what reservoir each city gets its water from) I can water the lawn 3 times a week--which is more than enough since a properly watered, established lawn only needs a good deep watering about once a week. Also, most areas allow more frequent watering of newly sodded or seeded areas (seeding grass is difficult out here because of the low humidity and most people put in sod.) Learning to garden out here would definitely be an adjustment, but it's very doable. If you don't want to have to water a lot, there are lots of xeric plants--trees, bushes, perennials--you can put in that will require very little watering once they're established. I have lots of different perennials, not just xeric, and they almost all look great. There's a couple I have in too much sun--the sun is much hotter out here--that I need to move to a little more shade, but moving stuff is part of perennial gardening. And I have a small (only because that's all the space I have) veggie garden, and it's doing really well too----and I expect it to do even better each year as I keep improving the soil more. If you move into a new house, or one where there hasn't been much gardening, you will need to add a lot of organic matter to your soil when you're planting things. The one thing I do miss from growing up in Illinois is the LONG thunderstorms we'd get back there. I love to lay in bed at night and listen to the thunder. We do get thunderstorms out here, but they usually move over very quickly, so I have to enjoy them very quickly! And they almost never happen after dark. (And we do get hail with the thunderstorms pretty often. That's one of the cons!) But there are SO many positives that lack of thunderstorms is a trade off that's well worth it. The low humidity is a primary one. We're supposed to get some, possibly heavy, rain in the next couple hours and my humidity in the house right now, with all the windows open, it 50%! It most often runs around 20 to 30-some percent. And because of the low humidity, we almost always cool down into the 50's or 60's overnight--even on the hottest summer days. My house is air conditioned, but I've only used it a couple time his summer--and it's been a hot one. I leave all my windows open overnight, then close them in the morning when the house is all cooled down and reopen them in the evening. If it gets too hot in the afternoon I turn on the AC for a couple hours until I can open the windows again. Sure saves on electricity, and I don't like being in a closed up house all the time anyway. And lots of people think we're buried under snow all winter! We don't want too many people to find out that that's just not true! Because of the high altitude, the sun is much hotter, so when we get snow--even if it's lots--it almost always melts off within about 48 hours--on the roads at least--and on the grass within a couple more days. We almost never have "dirty" snow because it just isn't around long enough to get dirty! And then there are the mountains! Need I say more! Next week I'm going out to spend a couple nites in a secluded cabin on a stream I found near Bailey just southwest of Denver--can hardly wait. If you're ever feeling too stressed, you can head out to the hills and walk or sit in a quiet place for a while---and it all goes away! Anyway, you can tell that I'm prejudiced in favor of Denver, but if it turns out to be your kind of place, I think you'd love it too. I lived in Manhattan for a year back in '63/'64, and while I wish I were rich and could afford to fly in for plays and stuff, I would never want to go back there to live. If you move out here, I think you'll see an amazing difference in the people too. Very laid back and friendly for the most part. VERY different from the east coast. Anyway, you get the idea! Let us know what you decide, Skybird...See Moreken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
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11 years agoToronado3800 Zone 6 St Louis
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