25 votes

Hidden giants: how the UK’s 500,000 redwoods put California in the shade

19 comments

  1. [6]
    boxer_dogs_dance
    Link
    If anyone wants to see Giant Sequoiahs in California, I highly recommend Calaveras Big Trees state park. Coastal Redwoods are a different matter. I like the parks near Eureka. I'm happy that there...

    If anyone wants to see Giant Sequoiahs in California, I highly recommend Calaveras Big Trees state park.
    Coastal Redwoods are a different matter. I like the parks near Eureka.

    I'm happy that there are sequoiahs in the UK. I hope they find a way to reproduce.

    11 votes
    1. [5]
      teaearlgraycold
      Link Parent
      There was a beautiful time in April and May 2020 where I was hiding from Covid in the mountains near Big Trees. They'd mostly closed the park but I guess stayed open in a limited capacity to keep...

      There was a beautiful time in April and May 2020 where I was hiding from Covid in the mountains near Big Trees. They'd mostly closed the park but I guess stayed open in a limited capacity to keep people on payroll. So all cars were turned around but if you arrived on bike/foot you could get in (for free, too!). I went 4 or 5 times, cruising past the line of cars getting turned away, with the swagger that you can only get from cyclist privilege. The trees are beautiful. The pinecones are insanely large as well. Walking around the park as one of the only people to visit in 2 months was an interesting experience. They'd stopped maintaining the elevated boardwalks. Every 30 or so feet there was a giant Sequoia branch to scramble over. It felt exactly like the scenes in The Last of Us where they visit an abandoned zoo or park.

      That 3 mile uphill ride conditioned me for much greater things. Later I did 30 miles to Lake Alpine, then the 30 miles back. Coasting downhill for 75 minutes straight is definitely an experience I'd recommend, especially when the road is bordered by 100 ft redwoods on each side.

      11 votes
      1. [4]
        boxer_dogs_dance
        Link Parent
        Are you still in California? That sounds like an amazing experience

        Are you still in California?

        That sounds like an amazing experience

        1 vote
        1. [3]
          teaearlgraycold
          Link Parent
          Absolutely! Just got back from an afternoon ride. The SF suburbs place you a couple miles from quiet, winding, hilly roads that lead to amazing views. It’s probably one of the best places in the...

          Absolutely! Just got back from an afternoon ride. The SF suburbs place you a couple miles from quiet, winding, hilly roads that lead to amazing views. It’s probably one of the best places in the US to do road cycling as daily exercise.

          1 vote
          1. [2]
            boxer_dogs_dance
            Link Parent
            We are loosely speaking neighbors lol.

            We are loosely speaking neighbors lol.

            2 votes
            1. teaearlgraycold
              Link Parent
              I’ll look for your name tag at the Tildes West meetup!

              I’ll look for your name tag at the Tildes West meetup!

              2 votes
  2. [5]
    OBLIVIATER
    Link
    I had no idea the UK even had redwoods! They're beautiful trees, I wish they grew where I lived.

    I had no idea the UK even had redwoods! They're beautiful trees, I wish they grew where I lived.

    6 votes
    1. [4]
      boxer_dogs_dance
      Link Parent
      Are you in the UK? Can you buy a seedling?

      Are you in the UK? Can you buy a seedling?

      1 vote
      1. Chiasmic
        Link Parent
        I’m in the uk, I’ve never seen them for sale, only old(Victorian) ones described in the article. Maybe there are more I have missed!

        I’m in the uk, I’ve never seen them for sale, only old(Victorian) ones described in the article. Maybe there are more I have missed!

        3 votes
      2. [2]
        OBLIVIATER
        Link Parent
        I live in NC, USA haha; I don't think they can grow here.

        I live in NC, USA haha; I don't think they can grow here.

  3. [3]
    valravn
    Link
    It's a bucketlist item of mine to visit a proper redwood forest at some point. It's wild that we still live alongside these ancient, fantastical things. Some of the pictures I've seen point to a...

    It's a bucketlist item of mine to visit a proper redwood forest at some point. It's wild that we still live alongside these ancient, fantastical things. Some of the pictures I've seen point to a scale that is difficult to comprehend - how cool is it that you can hike into a forest that seems to shrink you with every kilometer, walking past roots at first thicker than your thighs, then your torso, then your car...

    5 votes
    1. [2]
      Chiasmic
      Link Parent
      I would love to see the huge ones. It feels like it would feel similar to going to the avatar film planet.

      I would love to see the huge ones. It feels like it would feel similar to going to the avatar film planet.

      4 votes
  4. anadem
    Link
    There were three giant sequoias at the house I grew up in, in Yorkshire, England. I loved them because two were easily climbable, with branches down to ground level; the third was surrounded by...

    There were three giant sequoias at the house I grew up in, in Yorkshire, England. I loved them because two were easily climbable, with branches down to ground level; the third was surrounded by other trees so had lost its lowest branches, but had a neat feature where birds had excavated small cups in the bark for roosting, which I've never seen on trees here in California where I live now.

    The trees were the mountain sequoias not coastal redwoods, and they weren't extraordinarily large; they were about the same height as the mature beech, sycamore, and walnut trees they grew beside. They were probably all planted in the early 19th century, when the house and its grounds were established.

    3 votes
  5. [4]
    updawg
    Link
    Can redwoods really be invasive? That would strongly influence how I feel about the insurance companies trying to remove them.

    Can redwoods really be invasive? That would strongly influence how I feel about the insurance companies trying to remove them.

    1 vote
    1. OBLIVIATER
      Link Parent
      I feel like they grow too slowly to be invasive, but that's just a hypothesis.

      I feel like they grow too slowly to be invasive, but that's just a hypothesis.

      2 votes
    2. anadem
      Link Parent
      If your property is in coastal redwood territory they do seem to spring up pretty much everywhere, or at least they did while we lived there: the old trees had been felled in the early 1900s, but...

      If your property is in coastal redwood territory they do seem to spring up pretty much everywhere, or at least they did while we lived there: the old trees had been felled in the early 1900s, but the offspring were big and flourishing and babies kept popping up. They weren't quite as invasive as acacia but would certainly out-compete acacias; they might not win against the even more invasive eucalypts though, as those sprout up so high so fast, and make their surroundings desolate with their shed bark.

      1 vote
    3. tanglisha
      Link Parent
      I haven't yet gotten used to where I live now, I seem to be constantly surprised by the plants that are invasive/noxious here. It seems to be that anything can be invasive when it can outcompete...

      I haven't yet gotten used to where I live now, I seem to be constantly surprised by the plants that are invasive/noxious here. It seems to be that anything can be invasive when it can outcompete everything else. And how do you even know that until it's already done it?

      The only thing I can think of that's been predicted as inside around me is murder hornets. I feel like the name may have been a clue, though.

      1 vote