I don't know much about growing redwoods but I think that clay isn't good for them and from my experience I have learned that they need lots of water but dislike poor drainage.

Marko

Hmmm... need to know more about your site to be sure. Are you on the coast or inland? Do you get lots of summer fog or very little/none?

Coast Redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) needs all the moisture it can get in summer. If it doesn't get it through fog, then it needs plenty of water.

Zone 8 sounds a bit warm for Giant Sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum, what you incorrectly refer to as Sierra gigantus). I think they prefer cold in the winter; after all, in their natural habitat they are buried under many feet of snow every year! They may also be suffering from lack of summer water; normally the snow in their habitat doesn't melt until May and all that meltwater sinks into their soil, keeping them wet for a while. If you are inland, it might get too hot for Giant Sequoia during the mid summer.

food will not make a transplant become 'established' ... and is not the solution IMHO ...

a 3 by 3 foot hole is a bit extreme ... what did you throw in the hole after the backhoe worked it??

did you plant high in clay, like we like to recommend for heavy clay ...

and IMHO .. just about the only thing a recent transplant needs.. is PROPER WATERING for 2 to 3 years.. until it grows the root mass necessary .. to get fully established.. at which time it can be considered free range ...

it appears.. that you considered it free range .. immediately .. because they grow in the area ...

ken

Nancy Jane I'm north of SF, too, although in a warmer zone than you are...the S. sempervirens that are planted inland around here really need water. Sounds like, as others have pointed out, they haven't gotten well established, and if you're hot in summer they will do better with irrigation even once established. Some genius decided to plant them as freeway trees along here and they have languished and died due to lack of water and reflected heat (and probably smog). The Sequoiadendron giganteum (you gave it its old name) needs even more water - most of its water in its native habitat is snow, which takes a while to melt and the cooler mountain temps mean that the soil holds moisture for most of the summer. I have three S. giganteum 'Pendulum' and several nursery people have told me that they might not survive here, but I have them in the wettest spot (where irrigation water flows downhill to them) and so far, so good, but they're only coming on four years in the ground and our last two summers have been cool. Despite the fact that they are both our state tree, they don't necessarily adapt to garden culture here, especially low-water gardens.

Here is a link that might be useful: Form and Foliage

Climate suitability can be checked in Sunset WESTERN GARDEN BOOK or on gardening part of Sunset Publishing web site. Both species are familiar landmark trees in my part of USDA 8.

Especially in the dry summers of the Pacific Coast all new plantings can be expected to need watering during rainless periods for at least one year. And results with trees and shrubs is consistently enhanced by effective mulching, regardless of where you live.

Sonoma County, foggy AMs in summer, warm afternoons. The 3x3 ft holes were filled back in with our own clay soil. I'll set up a drip system before the summer. We are in the process of adding mulch. The giant sequoias have actually grown more than the redwoods. I was told they grow well here. I guess I was wrong. Ken, no need to yell, I get it. WATER!
Thanks all. Nancy

Nancy I got my S. giganteum pendula at Urban Tree Farm and then just about everyone else at the specialty conifer places told me that they didn't do well around here due to not enough water. So far, I'm proving them wrong; you may, too. The first year or two on both of them you might want to augment the drip with some deep watering. Good luck - water may well make all the difference. And bboy's point about mulching is really important - it not only retards water evaporation but keeps the roots cooler in the hot weather.
Sara

Sara, I like Urban Tree Farm. We also have a newish tree farm just around the block from us called R-Trees. They've been very helpful since we lost our massive Chinese Elm to Dutch Elm Disease.
The redwoods we got at the Jail sale up by the airport. (you do know about that don't you?) for a few bucks each. Those sales are SUCH a good deal! Nancy

It's not hard to find retail nursery workers who spout rubbish. Any topic where you have no real inkling what to do, check multiple sources - including different types of sources - before investing much time and money in an operation or project. Asking at several nurseries won't save you if they are all nurturing the same disproven falsehoods, like amending of planting hole backfill. This one has still not died out despite beginning to be seen as unhelpful over 40 years ago.

Your planting holes should have, if anything been 6' across and 6" deep instead of 3' x 3'. Roots respond to the aeration resulting when soil is dug, but few will grow deeply into a heavy clay soil. This is well revealed when tall trees growing on shallow soils blow over.

There is no benefit to digging much below the level the roots are at when the specimen is first planted. And you don't want it to sink into a layer of settling soil beneath it after planting.

Often when Americans say Chinese elm they are really talking about Siberian elm. Although not immune this is DED tolerant. It is the common, often trashy looking small-leaved elm of dry climates in this country. English elms grow tall and "massive", and are currently being taken out by DED on the west coast - about the last place left where there were numbers of these still present.

Actually, Urban Tree Farm is great. And I did not mean to suggest that they did not know their business; rather, it was the conifer geeks at the specialty nurseries who went a bit 'overboard'.
Nancy, of course I know Jail Industries well - I'm the Sonoma Master Gardener website editor and you may well find some useful info there; the MGs are the workers at all of the JI sales. It is hard to find a better deal than at JI, but buyer beware! Many times the plant is not completely identified, but most people don't care because the price is so good.
Sonoma County is blessed by having as many good nurseries as we do. Our local resources are, by and large, really good. Most recognize the microclimates and the differing conditions that they produce, and guide accordingly. I wouldn't say that the majority are nurturing any falsehoods and most understand the the soil and climatic conditions differ widely across the County. That is one of the most interesting aspects of gardening here in Sonoma.

Here is a link that might be useful: Sonoma County Master Gardeners

OK, if its foggy most mornings then it shouldn't be too dry for Coast Redwood and shouldn't be too hot for Giant Sequoia. Just make sure they get plenty of water and hope for the best. Extra water might help for a year or two.

Well, I thought 3x3 would be OK for 1 gal plants. My BAD. Not alot I can do about that 2 years later, or is there?
The coastal redwoods are from this area, and the neighbor's trees took off like crazy in just a few years (same clay soil). That is why I'm confused about the slow growth of ours. He probably had a watering system hooked up that I didn't see. I'll have to check it out.
The Chinese elm was indeed a Chinese elm.ID'd by several tree guys when it got sick. They are DED RESISTANT, but not immune to DED. Nancy

Me and my wife bought a coastal Redwood in a Seattle last year in June 2019 and we planted our Coastal Redwood shortly after getting home and it's only at 2ft. It's been at 2ft for a while will it get bigger? I'm North of Charlotte North Carolina and it's planted in my yard, is there anything I can do to help it grow faster? Need help?

Give it time. Everything can take a while to get well established. Consistent water helps though, in case you have let it go dry at all. Assuming we don't have any severe winter damage (which can occur up here in NoVA), mine is poised, after 5 years, to make some big headway up next year. Its about 5 feet now and I got it at 1 foot. It had one year (2017) it grew well but the following winter knocked it back hard and its only just recovered from that year.

My coastal redwood is sitting at 2ft and been there since midway last year and hasn't grown since, do you think it will continue to grow? We are in North Carolina North of Charlotte, I water it twice a week when we go with out out rain but I don't water it when we expect a lot of rain, do you think it will grow soon?

Has it put out any new growth at all?

A tree that puts out no new growth is dead or at least there's something seriously wrong with it and most likely close to dead.

Can we get some pictures?

I surely have more experience growing cultivars of coast redwood in the eastern US than almost anyone. Granted due to non-cold weather or climate related mishaps, at the moment, I only have one 'would be called a tree by a layman' specimen in the garden. My 'Soquel' that is about 15' now. The others will have to catch up. For example: the flooding of a part of my yard due to intensive grading on higher elevation property that I've talked about killing my beloved Larix mastersiana, also killed my Sequoia semprevirens 'Atlanta' - a clone that has done the best for David Parks at Camellia Forest and grown super fast. IIRC I think he said it got to 30 ft. after 10 years from a cutting? I was able to reorder it in 2019. Proof that they like adequate moisture, but NOT being in boggy ground. Even my 'Soquel' got moved once after planting, when I decided it wasn't in a good location. That was around 2011 IIRC. Had been a thin, mangy 3 footer from Greer Gardens in fall 2008. Oh wait - that Soquel lost about 2-3' of its leader in one of the polar vortex winters...but amused me the next year by aggressively replacing it. One branch clearly took dominance over the others without any intervention. So yes, being in a marginal climate did check it once, slightly.

Anyhow...the majority of trees worth growing aren't Jack in the Beanstalk...they don't take off a mile a minute when planted. I think, with coast redwoods, they might take even longer to "get used to their surroundings" lol. Whether this also happens in their native habitat I cannot know. It is definitely what I've seen with mine. It's absolutely normal for them to stay roughly the same size they were when planted, for 2-3 years. So Michael you have nothing to worry about...although...see next paragraph

...just curious, did you buy a named cultivar or a seedling? I ask, because for reasons I won't go into, I think this problem is slightly more likely with a cutting/burl grown plant. But...In either case you really should have checked it for circling/girdling roots when you planted it. If you didn't, there is still time to cautiously excavate one quadrant of the root zone to check. You don't need to entirely dig it up. If you find some, just cut them. Better to fix it now. Wait a month before doing it.

I can see from MB's previous posts that the tree has grown, at least several inches to a foot since he planted it. And yes, the initial couple of years of a transplanted tree is spent growing mostly under the ground, making roots.

Michael,

The tree in the pictures from your other post looks very healthy and should begin to grow well after this season. Just don't go overboard with fertilizer and too much water bc you might end up killing it.

Yeah, unless it's really hot and dry, watering twice a week, even in Piedmont NC, is over doing it. I don't think I've watered any of mine after their first or at most, second year. They form a deep, strong root system in my experience. Water deeply once every week.

Bill_minn_3b yes it has been sprouting new branches it's just not growing upwards since last year, Davidrt28 we bought our sampling at a science museum/gift store in Seattle and it's was about 6" Tall it's 2'ft tall now what do you mean cutting/burl? What is circling/girdling?

This is the container it came home

Bill_minn_3b yes it has been sprouting new branches it's just not growing upwards since last year, Davidrt28 we bought our sampling at a science museum/gift store in Seattle and it's was about 6" Tall it's 2'ft tall now what do you mean cutting/burl? What is circling/girdling?

So what do you suggest because I do? I didn't understand anything you said except that the dirt is dry which we get a lot of rain here so I try a different not water it as much especially when we have a week full of rain coming, so should I water it more or should I up root it move it to a new spot with some fertilizer in the ground?

The point of this forum is for information to be shared to a wide audience so I don't think phone consultations really fit with that modality.

Give it some mulch, 3 inches of wood chips, etc. would be fine. (don't use sawdust) You are a little stingy with the area set aside for it, at least a square yard would be better.

Most people over-fertilize, so you are probably doing that. But then you didn't say so, so maybe not! Like embo says, it does look a little anemic. Give it a balanced immediate release plant food PER LABEL INSTRUCTIONS, only in the spring. You don't want to feed it in the fall before winter or it could be pushed into new, soft growth that will get burnt. So this would be like, 1/4 tsp of miracle gro or similar in a 1/2 gallon of water. Spread over the square yard you have mulched in late March. Background vegetation looks like typical Carolina woods so no reason to think your soils are insufficient.

And be patient! Even the worlds tallest growing tree...like I said, doesn't start out like Jack's beanstalk. Looks basically ok and I wouldn't worry about the roots, it would grow past any knotting.

Thanks for all your advice, I will do all you say to do and when you say to do

I'm worried that this tree nay not make it, the branches are a bit discolored and I have put MiracleGro spikes in the ground and nothing has changed, I hope it's not

Most likely fertilizer burn.

When did you put in the spikes? As mentioned by others, they are kinda not helpful and probably way too much for it. Its late winter in any case, and while I know you are in NC, they typically don't "green up" until a month or so later than now, when its reliably warm. Anything you do now fertilizer wise is virtually useless til it comes out of dormancy. Its fairly clear from the photos that your area is still pretty dormant overall.

@famartin thankyou

So I decided to move my tree today because I figured if it stayed there it would die, so I uprooted it and this is what I found, what y'all make of this???

New growth at the bottom of the tree, is this normal?

I cleaned a new spot out and removed rocks and removed tree roots from the new area, but is new growth at the bottom of my tree normal???

The sprouting is in response to the fact that so far your site has been trying to kill it - coast redwood trees can even be grown from burls because these sprout also. Along with stumps.

@Embothrium what does all that mean? Our years has lots of gravel and tree roots and the dirt about 1ft down becomes just hard red clay will it still be ok as long as I clean the gravel and tree roots from the grow site?

I feel like you are going to mother the tree to death.

you could have just carefully scooped up the tree spike debris

it's best to avoid subjecting small plants to root disturbance unless absolutely necessary

mulch the new spot as directed above and make sure the soil stays moist but not too moist this summer with deep, infrequent waterings...in a normal to wet summer in NC, that means, you won't have to water it very often if it all...maybe a couple times during prolonged dry spells...that's the last I will have to say on the care of this one!

Exposing roots of woody plants is not generally harmful

Microsoft Word - B&B #29 - fragile roots.doc (wsu.edu)

although of course those specific kinds that are more sensitive to drying out than usual should be kept moist while denuded and replanted as quickly as possible. With one experiment investigating effects of bare rooting using a set of much used deciduous tree species finding a range between quite intolerant sweetgum through intermediate in tolerance ash to little leaf linden apparently being able to sit out of the ground for an extended period and then grow away again pretty much as though nothing had happened.

Regarding small transplants of forest conifers in particular there is a history of those kinds being used for timber plantations to be carried through the site in a bare rooted condition by workers doing replanting by hand. With of course there not being any home gardening style aftercare like watering immediately after planting involved.

After digging in my yard I have discovered that about 2ft down from the top of the dirt is straight red clay, not sure how this affects the growth of the tree, I won't mother it to death I just want to make it will grow, living in California as a child seeing the giant Sequoyah, and Redwoods were a big part of my growing up, I just want it to grow

Word of advice... relax. It will grow or it won't. If it dies, plant another one. They're not hard to buy. The conditions it likes are well documented... sun and moist (but not waterlogged) soil. A clay layer 2 feet down won't affect it much, most tree roots are within the top foot.

I think my tree is no longer alive, I think I killed