Dawn Redwood

[Dan_Shade]

A friend of mine planted a Dawn Redwood in her yard, it's growing pretty fast, and I mentioned that it may cause her some headaches down the road if it gets too big. 

There seems to be a lot of conflicting information on how fast these things grow, and how big they get.  Do any of you guys have any experience with them?

Also, is there any way to slow their growth down?

[Texas Ranger]

One of the timber companies here in Texas planted a couple of acres worth of the Dawn's back in the '50's.  Saw them in the late '60's and they were some 16 inches in diameter and 40-50 feet tall, putting on girth, but not height.  Have not seen them since and the company is gone.

[SwampDonkey]

I tried a redwood one time about 25 years ago. It promptly died long before winter.  :

So, I have experience with redwood, just not so good.  :D

[metalspinner]

A lady here in town planted a Dawn Redwood in the early 60's.  She had it cut down a couple years ago with the log measuring near 3'DBH.  The stump at ground level was over seven feet.  The growth rings were very wide, maybe 4 or 5 to the inch.  She removed it because of the litter it produced each fall.  The needles clogged her gutters and made a mess of her patio.

The tree was very pretty. With soft, light green leaves and a perfect pyramid shape.  I've considered planting a couple myself.  But the winter leaf shedding has me holding off.

[Clark]

The Gymnosperm Database to the rescue!  Check under the "Big Tree" heading, I think you'll find that they get plenty big.

Clark

[Ron Wenrich]

There's one near me.  I talked to the owner, and they said it was planted in the early '70s.  It was one of those bets where someone said they wouldn't grow in this area.

The tree has plenty of height.  Its taller than most of the hardwoods in the area.  It is probably an 18-20" dbh tree.  I'll have to see about getting a picture.

[Reddog]

May look into root pruning each year.
My mother inlaw keep two spruce trees about 30' tall for years. She would go around them every summer with a hand spade and cut the roots at the drip line.

[Dodgy Loner]

I've found one planted in a river bottom that was 120' tall and 3' DBH.  There's also one on the UGA campus that's 80' tall and about 2.5' in diameter.  The get very big, very fast.  It's actually one of my favorite ornamental trees.  I've thought about planting a few to saw into lumber in 20 or 30 years since the heartwood is red just like a Coast redwood.  I'm curious how long it takes to form a significant amount of heartwood and how rot resistant the wood is.

[Dale Hatfield]

I have sawn some of it . Its  lacks in strength more like a rubber band. You can  pick up  true 2x lumber and watch it bow. We  tried to build picnic table from it worked for kids not much for  big kids. I still have some out in the barn

[Left Coast Chris]

I cut one up last year.  It is alot like a cedar but much weaker and much more elastic.  Dale's decription of a rubber band is a good one.  It is almost not like wood but rubber when green.  When dry it is ridged but it shrinks and warps wildly.   It is very beautiful though because it is very red and redish pink.  I used some for siding on a shed.  Not sure how rot resistant it will be.  It could be used for decorative wainscoating also.   Drying is a trick.  Lots of weight and slow drying or a kiln woud be best.

[SwampDonkey]

Low lignin content I suspect, great for pulp making, not so good for lumber.

Lignin makes wood more stiff and rigid and also allows less shrinkage as it does not take on water.