I have two in my woods and I'm on PEI (Gulf of St Lawrence). Some years they really struggle. I haven't tried them on the home place yet, but the soil and amount of water are different here, so I might. Our woods is wet. I'm zone 5/6, meaning on the border of those two zones.

This is one of my favorite trees. Here is a description of the tree that should answer any questions you have about the tree. http://gibneyce.com/archive-62.html#Redwood

I love it. They grow great here and Ohio.

They dislike compacted soils, drought, and early and late freezes.

The trunk growth is different depending if u limb them up or leave the lower branches on.

Here they grow fast so I would never pay extra for a big one.

The cultivar Ogon grows fast as well and doesn't burn in my sun.

Thanks everyone...........it appears to be hardy for my area but I have read about the late and early freezes..........being in SE Michigan that sometimes happens but I really don't know what dates that means specifically in relation to Dawn Redwood.

where in SE MI ... its a giant area ...

they have no problems whatsoever... in Adrian MI ... and suspecting you are metro detroit.. i doubt you will have any ...

IF you follow the planting guide at the link ... have you ever perked your soil .... if drainage is questionable... read that part of the link closely

ken

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

I think an random freeze in the spring or fall will catch them unprepared. Hasn't happened to mine yet.

Thanks Ken and toronado.

Yes Ken, I live just north of Monroe in Ash Township about 5 miles from Lake Erie so I am in between Zone 5 and 6. It fluctuates.

I ordered 5 Dawn Redwoods based on all of your answers and will be planting them on our newly purchased home/land (moved in in October, 2014). They are young trees about 1-2 feet tall. They'll be delivered this spring (I assume bare root?)

It is an old agricultural lot (2 acres roughly). It is clay soil with some loam but it is rather "tired" old agricultural soil. There is also a creek easement that goes for miles beyond my property that the Township said "go ahead and plant whatever you want along it and clear out as much as you want........just don't plant anything in the creek". So I planted some stuff in that area also close to my property line.

I have amended the heck out of it this year with A LOT of bulk topsoil, wood mulches and compost along with A LOT of hand spread 40lb bags of composted manure as topdressings this past growing season. Mowed in both straw and autumn leaves in MASSIVE quantities also.........you get the idea. (My new neighbors think I am nuts.....LOL.)

Things are growing very well, Planted 35 trees and 15 to 20 shrubs. Seeded a lawn over the two acres also.

The trees are , apple trees and peach for fruit, maples, sycamores, white pines, flowering crab apples, couple of Cleveland Pears in an area a ways from the home on the side, willows, river birches, flowering cherries, plum and an oak along with a 4' by 16' raised bed for some veggies. This is a big lot and none are close to the actual home except for one flowering apple.........about 30 feet away from where I sit on the patio.

All were very young trees about 5 feet tall and all have grown well. But these were very young trees and that is the best way to go IMHO. A lot of people disagree with me but I have always had better luck with younger trees.

Drainage is about a 5 on a scale of 1-10 so not great but not bad. But this soil NEEDS MASSIVE amounts of organic matter, the clay soil DEVOURS it and it will be something I will do every year. But I think I kinda "switched this soil back to life" so to speak with all the stuff I did this spring, summer and fall. Pleasantly there are more worms than I thought there would be when planting the trees and shrubs, etc.

I have to plant high and consistently top dress the soil. This will be ongoing.

Sorry for the long post and thanks again for all the info.........I feel pretty good that the last area to tackle will handle the 5 Dawn Redwoods I ordered...........they will border a long stretch bordering the creek collection pond located at the back of the lot. I top dressed the heck out of it this fall with organic matter and leveled it out with topsoil and newly dormant planting of grass seed.

The Dawn Redwoods are supposed to be very fast growing and that is a GOOD thing considering I am 62 years old...........LOL!

toronado, I keep hearing about spring freeze damage to DRs, and, yes, they leaf early & are subject to frosts. But mine has weathered hard mid-May freezes and, tho needles were yellowed, always returned to green w/the worst frosts resulting eventually in only curled, browned needle-tips. I guess YMMV.

Rdak, you have quite the project going on. Ya gotta post some pics. I like your plantings except for the Cleveland Pears. Down here they are invasive weeds. Maybe they aren't an issue uo there.

Beng, I tend to agree. Especially in the fall my Metasequoias hold their foliage later than most. I wonder if its them once in a 100 year type October freezes after two warm weeks that will catch them. They're reportedly very long lived trees so I suppose if they stick around long enough something is bound to come up.

Here in central Ohio (zone 6a) our three dawn redwoods have done very well on average soil (moderately high in clay, not especially blessed by organic content). Compared to some other trees, they have not been inhibited by unexpected freezes.

Apart from being munched to a limited degree by Japanese beetles early on (we have been spared major infestations in recent years) there have been no bug, disease or climate-induced problems. Very nice color in fall.

I am near Cincinnati OH in zone 6 and have a redwood in my yard- I bought it about 5-6years ago at a reputable garden center. It has done very well. Unfortunately I let a nearby weigela get out of hand and it damaged the tree at the bottom where it was being crowded. Now I am a little paranoid- it is leafing out but looks sparse. Is it still early for the redwood or should it be looking fairly full by now? I forget from year to year!

I know of some good-sized dawn redwoods in Kirkland, OH (Holden Arboretum) and Oberlin, OH, in Lorain County.

Mine all are pretty completely leafed out. What type of damage? They rub against eachother?

I've given up on them in this neck of the woods. We're simply too cold up here and further north. Have a few in parks in this city that look OK, not great but they're still living. Mine up north did not perform well.

I believe the Crescent Ridge site which makes no money selling Metasequoia only lists them as zone 5 hardy.

Nope. Spoke too soon. I see a zone 4 there also.

Ours here in Z5 are the ones I rated as "OK"....not great, but hanging in there. Mine up at my land, which is now back in Z4, did miserably. One is still hanging on to life, but it's a real dog.

In my limited travels the best "cold zone" ones I have seen were at Secrest. Thats probably a 5/6 on the hardiness map?

If I recall in Denver they did grow but there were not any impressive ones due to age or climate I don't know.

A buddy of mine has two I gave him in Chicago. He claimed good results from the first after a few years so I gave him the 2nd. They arenvt old though and he lives in an older part of town.

Either rubbing or just totally blocking the sun from that portion of the tree. But the whole tree looks sparse- now I am wondering if something has been eating it. It has done so well- now I am afraid I am going to lose the tree.

Kay, mine's been leafing out for some time but nowhere near fully leafed -- not even halfway. Z6 west MD.

Ok thank you-good to know!