Were they hit by frost in the early Spring which hurt initial bud growth? If so, it would take until Summer for them to put on much growth, and they would not grow as much.

Don't fertilize trees when planted, may actually hurt the roots. Leave them alone to get established. Give them another couple of years.

Wouldn't stake my life on it....but I would say no. I am very close to the ocean and rarely we get hit with a late frost and the leaves have come out I would say by April. One thing I forgot to mention. Is there anything that eats the young growth? One of them has had to regrow its leader about 2-3 times. I started to spray with Seven and probelm subsided but growth was still weak 6-8". Only started fertilizing the second fall.

I bought a dawn redwood last year (early spring). It lost its leader and a new one developed in its place. After that, the new leader grew another 10 inches or so. I think these trees need a couple years to establish, but once they do, they should grow rapidly. Nothing I know of eats these, or at least I have never had a problem. 2 -3 feet isn't a bad height increase. I would expect that to double in the next couple of years.
Best of luck!

J

How big were they when planted? Sometimes larger trees take longer to establish themselves while a 1 ft transplant usually takes off fairly quickly.

Hi Mgrab.

I'm happy to hear you are working to reforest an area of your yard. A couple things come to mind: As Noki has already stated, fertilization of new transplants has been shown in a number of studies to actually inhibit root development. As new transplants, these trees need to establish a root system before all else, so I would recommend not fertilizing any more, for at least a couple years. Secondly, I/we cannot condone EVER spraying a pesticide where the target organism has not been identified. There is simply no good reason to do this....ever. And as far as something eating DRs, hmmmm, just haven't heard about anything. Of course, they're not exactly common in N. America. In time, something may develop a taste for them. Thirdly, if by peat mulch, you mean that you added peat moss to the backfill soil, this too is not recommended. Better to just use the excavated soil to backfill. I or many others here can explain why, if you're interested. And finally, watering of new transplants should be done when needed, not on any kind of time schedule. Assess need by poking fingers into soil. If dry, it is time to water. Even in dry spells, it is far more likely that a once per week heavy watering will suffice than anything approaching daily.

To tell you the truth, this sounds like classic loving them to death. Trees are tough things. Just provide the basic conditions for them, and they will do the rest. Of course, feel free to continue this discussion if you wish.

+oM

Tom,

Mgrab used organic fertilizer which is entirely different from synthetic fertilizer so I don't see how it inhibited root development. Two entirely different things. I looked up Holly Tone and it sounds fairly decent organic fertilizer but using Sevin might have made things worse as it is the most powerful pesticide you can buy off the shelves these days. It kills nearly all of earthworms as they are important to nutrient cycling when it comes to organic fertilizer. In fact, according to Dr. Carl Whitcomb, synthetic fertilizer helps a lot but he was talking about trees grown in rootmaker containers which are ready to explode unlike the ones grown in smooth sided containers which is probably why they never saw anything useful with fertilizer at first for trees grown in smooths sided containers. Better stick with organic fertilizer as it improves soil around the tree. It's better to mimic forest soil that way...

Mgrab,

it could be anything... improper planting like planting too deep, mixing peat moss in the hole, etc, not providing large area of mulch keeping grass (I keep around 5 feet circle of mulch for trees) and weed out, terrible rootbound that you didn't fix. I don't know. It should be easy to grow when done everything right.

Hi. Peat moss in it's raw state is in itself a very nutrient-hungry substance.Especially trace elements are energetically aDsorbed and thus taken away from the surrounding soil. Deficiencies of elements like Boron will cause aborted growing tips and necrotic leaves.Things may improve when treeroots actually manage to grow OUT of the planting hole. T.

All,
Thanks for all the great help!
When I fertilized I used less than the recomended amount (about 1/2). Trees were planted bareroot about 1-2' tall (about 3-4' now one is still about 1-2' tall - gets the most shade). Typo: yes I used peat moss (ratio of about 1/3 to 2/3 native soil). Built a small berm about 3' in diameter and muched with native shredded leaves. Pretty sure they were not planted too deep. As for the pest issue...maybe I was seeing something but did look like something was chewing on the new growth. Almost looked like a very small grasshopper hanging out on them whenever I would walk by. The reason I watered daily is that my ground dries out...FAST. Maybe I'm just being impatient but everything I read about this tree.....just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing something big.
Thanks again,
Mike

With the info given, 2 of 3 seem to be doing okay.

Dawn Redwoods are slow to establish themselves. Once the root system gets established, usually after 3 or 4 years, the growth rate picks up. Between year 6 through 15 the rate of growth should be peaking around 3 to 5 ft per year given optimum conditions. Full sun and lots of water at all stages of growth from seedling on. Metasequoia will fight neighboring trees for water and sun and at some point will begin to dominate their neighbors.

I'm thinking it's a combination of things. Slow to get established, and probably tip dieback in the winter as well. I often see tip dieback over the winter (of the top 6-12 inches) where I am. Once established they should more than make up for that, but you're not going to see the 5 foot a year growth that you might see further south. Probably 2-3 feet a year is realistic. Since they are small, you should see them get established more quickly than if they were larger, and I'm guessing this year and the next their growth will start to pick up.

I would just be patient with them and hold off on any further pesticide or fertilization treatments.

Lou, I agree with you that a modest application of organic fertilizer at planting time is A-OK. We in fact have a lively debate about this every spring and fall planting season at my job, where we plant thousand of street trees a year. On one side of the debate are some of my colleagues who, armed with plenty of "book-smarts", decry ANY fert. application. On the other side is our supervisor who seems to want to fertilize the new trees as a matter of course. I have always been right in the middle, namely that we use organic fertilizer, Milorganite in this case, and don't get our undies in a bundle over it. By the time soil bacteria have broken that stuff down and made it available to the plants, they will have become somewhat established. And at 6% N, it is not a harsh dose by any means.

+oM

"Dawn Redwoods are slow to establish themselves. Once the root system gets established, usually after 3 or 4 years, the growth rate picks up. Between year 6 through 15 the rate of growth should be peaking around 3 to 5 ft per year given optimum conditions. Full sun and lots of water at all stages of growth from seedling on. Metasequoia will fight neighboring trees for water and sun and at some point will begin to dominate their neighbors."

I disagree with this statement to a point. When I have put DR in looser soils like my yard or even gasp, in pots they do fairly well. The ones I have planted in new subdivision compacted dirt w/o top soil or pots where the soil became compacted have died or grown slowly.

Just a theory still. My experience is limited to four 2' to 3' seedlings and dozens of freshly germinated seeds.

In my yard when mine was a new arbor day tree I watered 1/2 gallon every three days w/o rain the 1st year. Then 1 gallon every four days w/o rain the next. I used my wife's indoor watering can so the water came out slowly and I DID NOT just pour the water in at the base of my tree but rather in a circle at the edge of the mulch around it to encourage the roots to grow out. For the last 2 or 3 years I've probably only hit it with the sprinkler MAYBE 3 times a summer.

I cannot stress enough... it is impossible to overwater measequoias. Full sun, lots of water. Holly tone or any organic ("non-salt") fertilizer is great for them. Could be your plants are from cuttings and not very vigorous. Also, metasequoia is VERY PRONE to injury from road de-icing salt. If planted on a parkway this could be trouble. If plant was rootbound or suffered injury while young it could be slow to recover, but you should be getting two to three feet a year easy out of this species.

the forest primeval said: it is impossible to overwater measequoias.

Yes, but it is possible to get a plant too used to being watered heavily that when you stop, it dies because it can't adjust to a LOT less water.

What I would recommend it weaning the plant(s) off manual watering so they get used to the actual water provided by rainfall. That is what is in the best interest of the trees, in the long run.

And the trees likely will only get 2-3 feet when they get fully established. Probably 2 feet a year is more realistic in your climate zone.

I'm sorry but that I dont see any basis to support te dwa that by "weaning" a plant off of water, especialy one thats used to growing in flood plains and marshes, youre going to do anything but restrict and limit its growth. Ive had a few years experience growing this species from seed and planting it out and have never seen anything but health and vigor from too much water. This tree is hardy in times of low rainfall once it is established, not at all when young. It is one of the most moisture and humidity demanding conifers available. Ill advice, riconifer. Water the heck out of it.

It's not good practice to water the heck out of any plant if you ever plan to stop watering it. I understand what you're saying about Metasequoias in general liking lots of water. But any plant that gets too used to supplemental water can be at risk of not adjusting if that supplemental water stops. That's all I'm saying.

Maybe it's just a philosophical difference, but my goal is to get my plants used to growing on the annual water provided by rain so I don't have to water anything once it's established. I see browned up plants all the time when sprinkler systems fail or people stop using them when their plants get too used to depending on those systems.

My unscientific opinion supports riconiferman. Metasequoia isn't quite Taxodium distichum but it seems to enjoy a very good amount of water. One of the reasons I put it near the edge of a frequently damp spot in my yard.

Trees seem to get used to certain environmental patters. If the water table is always high there isn't a need to grow roots so far out or down. If the creek is always to the west of the tree it's gonna get water from that direction.

I feel there is a potential to shock the tree by changing the water level too rapidly.

I guess I shoud clarify...Once a metasequoia vis stablisd, uness you live in an arid climate, supplemental waterjng is completely unnecessary but certainly not harmful. But, until a metasequoia becomes established (this can take two to four years depending on tree size- smaller, container grown stock will become established faster) and its roots have grown extensively, holding back on water only has the potential to harm the plant. The more you water, the faster its roots and shoots will grow, and a wider, deer, larger and more extensive root spread area is what we are concerned about in terms of susceptibility to drought.