Red Cedar?

[Dana]

Yesterday I dug up two seedlings from this tree in East Lansing. I am guessing that it is a Red Cedar. However, I was surprised that it has juniper like berries on it that taste like juniper.

Before I plant these I am wondering if it's really Red Cedar. I also recall Cedarman saying they had become a problem in certain states and that they are trying to control them? I don't want to introduce a new problem to my fields. Any thoughts on how badly they spread?

[sbhooper]

That does look like a red cedar to me.  They are good trees for shelter belts etc., but they are a real pest when they take off.  They grow like crazy and spread like wildfire here in Nebraska.  Many people are starting to do controlled burns as the only financially viable way to control them.  As long as it is in a controlled area, it will make a nice tree for you.  I am currently cutting them on river land that has not been touched for many years.  After they have been cleared, the seedlings come up nearly as thick as the grass in some places. 

They do have berries and that is one way they get spread.  The deer and turkeys eat the berries and you can figure out the rest.

[Dana]

Do the deer also eat the leaves? If so I won't have to worry about even these seedlings growing unless I protect them very well. The deer have ruined several of my young fruit tree's. Even though they were protected. The snow got deep enough that they reached over the fence top and ate the branches back.

[Dodgy Loner]

That is, indeed, an eastern redcedar.  The reason it has juniper berries on it is because it is a true juniper as well. The scientific name is Juniperus virginiana.  I'm not sure whether or not they will become invasive in Michigan.  They're not a problem in the southeast.  I've never heard of deer eating them before.

[WDH]

The deer do not eat them down here.  But, there are many other things to choose from, so if the deer were stressed for food, maybe they would eat them as a last resort.

[Dana]

Deer love White Cedar here but leave the junipers alone. So if Red Cedar is a juniper they may not bother it. Although if the winter is bad enough they tend to eat what ever they can find.

[SwampDonkey]

That's like saying they won't eat balsam fir tips, then in a hard winter with deep snow they are eating fir tips like rabbits. I don't know if they will eat red cedar, but makes sense to me.