i wouldnt buy any of them ...

the things.. conifers.. grow like weeds .. its simply not worthwhile to buy a disfigured large one.. when a perfect one.. could be mail ordered to your house .. and out grow the larger specimen.. within a few years ...

now.. if they were on super discount.. like 50 bucks ...

walk around the things many times.. pick the most vertical ... cut off the other two .. and rub out the three small ones there that you didnt seem to notice ...

the plant will take care of making the one left.. take over upright...

ken

ps: did you take them to the river???

I have a discount, they would be $70. Take them to the river?

I bought worse looking ones for $80 since they work themselves out more so than most other trees. "If" you can find one mail order you'd be looking at $40 + shipping for a 1 gallon.

Unless there are roots issues the choice is easy, buy what you're showing.

My Ogon and species metasequoia habe lost their leader probably a dozen times between them. Maybe wind storms blow them sideways. Maybe hateful birds lol.

Finally this year my Ogon at 15 foot hasn't really releadered. Maybe next year.

Two reasons not to buy these.

1. They are big and hacked for no reason.

2. Ogon grows FAST.

See if they have a 4 footer.

Tornado, everything in your first paragraph screamed "buy them, they will be fine".. And than you gave me two reasons I shouldn't lol..They don't have a 4 footer.. Only these..

instant gratification with size.. in trees and conifers.. is often ... not worth it ... usually related to an 6 or 8 foot plant.. in a 5 gallon pot ... by the time you do root surgery ... to avoid winding roots... you will have cut off more than half the root mass ... and your tree will sit there for 3 to 5 years.. growing roots... when a smaller plant.. will get re-established in one year.. and outgrow the crippled plant ...

will you answer any question asked.. how much do they want for them/it???

ken

Like I said a few posts above....I can get it for $70.

I can give reasons to or not to but not the answer for that lies in your situation.

Consider Sam Bradford the oft injured quarterback. $70 is not as significant for him as for I.

He also does not seem the bitter sort where I would raise a stink and demand the reasoning behind the tops being cut until their "arborist" cried. All this for a tree that will likely shrug off their mistake.

Sam also can hire a professional to plant then baby his large transplants or figures he will be injured and home to water them.

Do though pay attention to how much sun they and their pots get in the nursery then their watering schedule. I would at least consider leaving them in a similar situation until the heat of summer breaks. HOT DRY Augusts can be difficult on water loving plants which were just transplanted.

I wish you luck finding the answer which best suits your situation.

After seeing T and Ken's posts it will boil down to whether its a container rootbound plant or a b&b plant. If the former I would personally skip it. If its b&b I would have already bought and planted it. The thing looks rather healthy. Its lush and not showing burn which is impressive for this time of year at a nursery.

As for the leader that should not be the reason to buy or not buy it. You'd leave it and see which dominates next year. It will straighten and you will not see any aftermath as this plant will put on caliper rather quick.

If you see that another leader it trying to co-dominant, you can remove it or cut it back, then remove it. At least in my zone DRs commonly have leader dieback and then simply re-leader easily.

Hm....I was under the impression that container plants were better than b&b plants? It is a container plant, not sure what size. I can go look, the place is like 5 mins away from here at work..

And I'd love to buy and and plant it already, but I'm holding off because it's pretty hot, and I can't plant it until Fall anyway, I assume..

If you like the root-system which it always the first thing I look at (physically pick the plant up and out of the pot) then it's worth buying. An eight foot grafted tree for 70$ is a very fair price.

To solve the leader problem, all you have to do is tie a bamboo stake to the trunk beneath the leader damage with stretchable tape. Go down about a foot and secure it strongly. Choose the strongest leader and then tie it to the stake. Remove several of the weak leaders at planting time and keep a couple of the others.

Next spring you evaluate how the leader you chose grows. If you think all is fine, cut the other competing leaders to a bud that is facing the outside of the tree at about 3-5" from where it branches. That competing leader or leaders will now become a branch.

Remember, the most important part of a tree is its roots, always. Personally, I do not purchase B&B plants anymore.

Dax

Hmm.. Tornado, although I'm not 100% sure what Sam Bradford has to do with a dawn redwood, I am a diehard eagles fan, lol..

So I went back out there.. Here is a pic of the container it's in.. No idea what size.. It's probably 2' across, not quite 2' high... But there's more.. Upon further inspection.. It's ALSO in B&B, and then stuck in the container.. What gives? There is really no way for me to "inspect the roots"...

Shipments come like that all the time to stabilize the tree and keep the ball moist.

Thats a pretty darn healthy tree for b&b. I bet it has a mat of roots at the bottom of the pot pumping the needed moisture.

You'll have to make the call if you're comfortable working the roots come early fall.

I've gotten antsy with leaders before and set up the trick Dax mentions above plenty of times and found that most times its a waste of time. The tree ends up sending up a different leader or in case where I didn't stake they ended up working themselves out. Its more about being diligent about removing co-doms before they attain too much caliper. You should do this with decurrent trees as well when they are young so you maintain a dominant trunk in at least 1/3rd its mature height. Some say up to 2/3rds. This plant is excurrent anyhow so not too much to worry about so staking this plant is even more a waste of time.

I would never buy it because regardless - it's B&B.

I've been burned too many times to count.

Dax

Hmm...I'm a little confused....don't most larger trees come B&B? The casual homeowner, unwraps the burlap, smacks the root ball a bit to loosen it up, and throws it in the ground....95% of the time the tree is probably fine? Am I missing something? I don't have near the knowledge of you guys, so yes, I probably am missing something.

I've had the opposite experience and have wasted an incredible amount of money on container plants and it doesn't matter the genus or species. Its down right embarrassing to tell you the truth. I will only buy containers from local sources or from a select few mail order sources.

With regards to deciduous b&b I've mainly had nothing but incredible growing plants.

I always select a plant with a visible rootflare and good symmetrical lateral branching. Remove burlap, remove cage, plant flare to soil level and do not ammend soil. It helps that I have one of the premier b&b nurseries around though, Johnsons Nursery.

I will say in general b&b for evergreens has been hit or miss.

I've never bought a big tree B&B. The largest I've bought B&B were Rhododendrons in like 10-gallon pots... they died. I remember I bought a 4-5' Picea omorika 'Pendula Bruns' in burlap in a pot that crashed after a year or year and 1/2 in the ground. So my experience is much less limited to whaas' - but I have bought several. A bit of an exaggeration perhaps on my part.

I've also worked as a nurseryman and planted 10+' B&B deciduous trees and while I never got a chance to see if they survived, I will say the other trees in nursery beds at the nursery.... and I'm talking over a hundred of each type always thrived under enormous mounds of mulch. So... I'm probably wrong.

Dax

guaranteed thru winter.. and next summer.. for 70 bucks.. go for it.. live and learn.. win or lose ...

i was thinking 2 to 300 ... and i wouldnt go for it ..

ken

I'd go for it too. The tree looks like it's been well cared for.

It would require ample water until the needles fall off in the Fall.

The M.g., 'Ogon' is one of the most desirable trees out there in my opinion....if you have room for it.

Mike

The tree looks good. Buy it if you want it and let it work itself out.

I know it may not be as practical, but for me anything other than a real Coast Redwood is a cheap substitute. These are majestic trees, and I think the foliage looks a little better too. Sure a Coast Redwood is not as fast growing, but why can't people be more patient?

Probably because real coast redwood will not grow in parts of the country where dawn redwood will.

Ditto. Metasequoia = a virtual lock for 100 feet here.

Coast redwood = kindling for the fire after winter.

If I could plant both I would. Metasequoia has a neat extinction / rediscovery story as well.

Not the same tree - but a season or two after I planted small bald cypresses, the leader on one died over the winter. I selected the strongest and most upright remaining top sprout, pruned off the others, and the new leader didn't skip a beat. Result (about nine years later) - a tall, symmetrical healthy tree.

I'd expect Metasequoia to respond similarly.

Hi, I'm new to this forum. I have been growing Dawn Redwoods from seeds for years and they do great in pots. The one that I planted in the backyard, however, is not doing so well. I have been trickling water to it daily, feed it every Spring/Fall and added fertilizer spikes this year. The tree is around 8' tall and is around 4 years old. It has dropped it's needles early each year that it has been out of it's pot. We live in Rhode Island and there are a few other Dawns in town that are thriving.

Any advice? Thanks!

Too much fertilizer and not enough water. The little bit of green grass around the tree tells me you're lightly watering the tree and just getting the grass wet. Your tree needs more water. It's from SE Asia where the monsoons are in the summer. That's when it likes water.

Those fertilizer spikes do more damage than good. Would you put a double handful of fertilizer in a pile under a tree? Of course not, You would burn the roots in the nearby area and no fertilizer would get to the rest of the roots. dig up and remove the fertilizer spike. Crush it up and use it on the lawn.

On top of that, your tree doesn't need any fertilizer at all unless a soil test confirms the need for it and that's not very common.

You're lovin' the tree to death.

Nice woodpiles!

Mike....with dozens of Dawn Redwoods.

Thanks so much Mike! Is there any hope then - if I do as you advise? Also, due to prevailing winds from the West, its got quite a lean. Should I also address that.

I hate to quit on it, but have another large tree in a pot that I am trying to figure out what to do with.

Mike

That's a nice plant.

Purchased and not a seedling?

I'd plant it.

Water it in good and watch it grow.

Mike

i dont see what your questions have to do with the original post.. please feel free to start a new post.. next time ...

plant in dormancy ... see link on proper planting.. watering.. mulching... etc ...

ken

https://sites.google.com/site/tnarboretum/Home/planting-a-tree-or-shrub

oh.. as to the ugly one ... see how it buds out in spring.. and then get rid of it.. if it doesnt please you ...

i doubt it will

ken

Sorry Ken - will do a new post next time. Good advice on planting dormant, as I did not, and thanks for the url.

Oh, I thought the Dawn Redwood with the yellow appearing needles was a 'Ogon'.

That's a really fine tree. All those kids are going to know how fast a tree can grow and all the unlimited possibilities from there. Who knows where the seeds you plant will eventually end up.

Thank you very much.

Mike

Thought I'd update, since I always wish people updated their threads. I did buy that and planted it last August. Here it is today.

Thanks for the update. Good looking fellow. I am enviojs of your grassless area!

With it being a bigger transplant how much are you watering it?

i would get up there.. and shorten one of the leaders by half ... ken

Yeah, here is a better pic. The "leader" (no. 1) is attached to the old leader, the one that got cut back last year in the original post. But from there, the new leader kind of branches out again (no 2.)...not really sure if that's what leaders do, or if I should trim one of those or what. Also, I drew in red lines on cuts that I'll probably make on it as suggested by you Ken?

I would let it sort it out by itself rather than chasing it to the top all the time.

My Ogon always does stuff like that then sorts itself out.

In my vast (not really) travels I think I have seen 1 multi leader Metasequoia and a rabbit has made one of my rooted cuttings multi leader. They really like to be pyramidal.

Thanks for the update. How has it been doing late in the year.

Does great. Really almost a pale yellow some August.. sometimes alittle sunburn. This thing gets full sun all day.