I don't see much of it planted commercially even here. I see it used for native riparian restoration and that's about it.

I understand the Quinalt Indian Tribe out on the coast is growing commercial stands.

Mike

Plenty of it - including forestry plantations and frequent natural regeneration - in Britain. Tallest reported is 48 metres tall.

Actually of all the Cupressaceae it's the one that regenerates most readily here, even more so than native Juniperus communis.

Resin

Thanks fellows. Not at all surprised to here of its fairly heavy use in Great Britain, climate-wise. More generally, I find Thuja as a genus to be very good at colonizing land. All it needs really is seed to soil contact and a not-too-dry condition for long enough for germination/root radical expansion to take place, then off and running. After that, pretty much bullet-proof.

+oM

Resin, if I'm not mistaken, is not western hemlock-Tsuga heterophylla-also quite well-adapted to life and reproduction in Britain?

+oM

the one or two i have tried here in south MI ... did not last for long .. subject to severity of winter ...

dont recall offhand.. if they were foo foo ones [probably were] ... as compared to species ... which are usually more hardy than the foo foo...

FWIW ....

ken

Resin, if I'm not mistaken, is not western hemlock-Tsuga
heterophylla-also quite well-adapted to life and reproduction in
Britain?

Yes; even more aggressive regeneration, can be very invasive. Starts off as a solid carpet of seedlings, and gradually becomes an impenetrable wall of foliage and stems.

Resin

Despite the heavy percentage of my professional life that deals with invasive plant species, I enjoy the process of these trees in a new land. And after all, most successful and shade-tolerant tree species put out far more viable seed than will actually exist as living trees twenty years hence in any given stand. Like fish eggs, nature way overproduces with only tiny percentage actually making it all the way to maturity.

+oM

Reproduction of northernmost coast redwood grove is being inhibited by hemlock seedlings along Chetco River in extreme southern Oregon. I see the same thing in my own back yard, where both species come up but the redwoods are comparatively wimpy, do not have the horsepower and bushiness of the young hemlocks.

But the hemlocks don't come up here like they do on the rainier outer coast, and many of the existing larger hemlocks on occupied properties this far inland are dying out - particularly after the hot summer we had this year.

Both the hemlock and the Thuja are climax in this region generally, often taking over from Douglas fir given enough time - rather than colonizing recently burnt sites themselves. But here in the more populated belt around Puget Sound - where it is not as wet as the outer coast and west slopes of the Cascades - Douglas fir may dominate indefinitely.

Interesting....correct me if I'm wrong...but are there not hemlock groves and stands doing well much further inland...but at higher, cooler and moisture elevations? Seems that tree remains an important component of a group of forest types all the way to sections of Idaho panhandle/extreme western Montana.

I hate to hear of whole age or size classes of an iconic plant like that dying out. And now of course, more rain than you can deal with, I'd imagine.

+oM

Hence not as wet as the outer coast and west slopes of the Cascades. But the outer coast is where you see it coming up like cress on clear cuts. Out there is where it will be the most similar to Britain.

"but are there not hemlock groves and stands doing well much further inland...but at higher, cooler and moisture elevations?"

At lower to mid elevations in the wet valleys of interior British Columbia, both Thuja plicata & Tsuga heterophylla do occur naturally. Depending on the burn (& avalanche) frequency, they may form old growth climax stands. At higher, cooler, and wet elevations, Tsuga mertensiana takes over (w/ Abies lasiocarpa).

Thanks smivies. Was just reading about the "Idaho Mix", which evidently is that region having stands that wants to turn into the shade-tolerant Thuja/Tsuga climax, but which contain-through legacy events-large remnant western white pine/western larch from when the stand was much more open. That is, of course, a gross oversimplification, Doulas fir and grand fir also being key components there. Heck, I've seen that forest, albeit it was a long time ago! Remember where Montana and Idaho meet as being a very "heavy" forest zone, especially well-viewed from the seat of an Amtrack railroad car. More years ago than I care to mention!

+oM

One advantage Western Hemlock has over Douglas Fir here is that the Hemlock seedlings can handle shade a lot better. In the long run, if there are no disturbances, Western Hemlock can supersede a Doug Fir forest because of it's shade tolerance.

Tsuga heterophylla doesn't have the extensive root system as a Pseudotsuga menziesii and is more sensitive to changes to the root environment. Standing alone it's a disaster waiting to happen, but like corn, in a stand it can survive.

Mike

There are some thuja plicata planted in Cincinnati.

http://www.botanyshop.com/Gallery.htm

"There are some thuja plicata planted in Cincinnati."

There is some discussion that they are actually T. plicata x standishii rather than straight T. plicata. There is also a named cultivar on the market - T. 'Grovpli' (Spring Grove) or T. plicata 'Grovpli'. The taxonomists/botanists support the former while the nursery trade supports the latter.

Interesting discussion. Thanks guys.

+oM

I've been growing Thuja p. 'Whipcord' and 'Holly Turner' for over 5 years and the only issue was 'Holly Turner' got hit by rabbits one year (since fenced in come winter).

tj

Yes TJ, I think where you are is just within the range of plicata. Seems to do okay in Chicagoland if I'm not mistaken, although that may not be everywhere. I'd be growing a bunch if it was cold-hardy enough. The occidentalis though sure are tough, and not as slow-growing or wimpy as some might think either. Up in our woods, actually a portion of which is "cedar swamp", full of springs and such, are some that must be close to eighty feet tall. Still a shrimp by west coast standards, but a nice big conifer all the same.

+oM