Metasequoia, right? How long ago planted, Toro? Mine has absolutely taken off for the sky but I’m wondering when it will look like that!

I'd say mine at 17 yrs is as tall, but the trunk isn't as big as yours. I'd have to say metasequoia has to be the fastest grower at many locations of any conifer and even challenging fast hardwoods. On my lot it isn't the tallest (comparing those planted at the same time), but has the largest trunk at the base at least. It's a tree that would seem near impossible to uproot.

Fall of 2004, it was an Arbor Day foundation single purchase plant Indianagardengirl.

Bengz, I have paid attention to a few others and done some light reading on the subject. W/O using google again, it seems there are three general habits for Metasequoia growth and they're likely dependent on where the seed was taken from in China. My first Metasequoia is one of the fat, "medium growth" ones. My Ogon and another are skinnier in habit and presumably faster growing in height though I don't have THAT detailed of records lol.

I've been meaning to test the online theory to see if the habit was based on CURRENT growing conditions not where the seed came from. At least two of mine are in open yard spots and like I said, one is skinny, one is wide. Small sample size though.

Cool. I didn't realize it was so big, the scale was needed!

My Ogon is fairly upright. I keep waiting for the branches to splay out and make a more horizontal shape but no such luck.

I'd like a cool butressed trunk but the lower branches take up so much room so but by bit I'm cutting them back.

Yep, 'Ogon', for a plant weakened by variegation, is incredibly fast growing. It's been the fastest growing tree I've planted in the past 15 years. The 2nd would be Ulmus 'Allee', and the third, a tie between Pinus taeda (or quite possibly P. x sondereggeri) and Cryptomerias 'Radicans' and 'Yoshino'.

Dawn Redwood I drove by last week, towering above the house:

A good tree for that because mine has never lost a branch and that generally seems the case with bigger ones I've seen in arboreta. If there were a scientific evaluation of resistance to wind and storm damage, surely Metasequoia and Taxodium would have to be near the top of the list?

Here's mine's trunk at 17 yrs old from a mail-order stick. Ruler is 16 inches. Was necessary to limb it up some. No girdling roots here....