Of course, redwoods are not native to Europe but were imported from California where there is now a Sequoia National Park that is home to some of the most spectacular and largest living organisms on our planet. They are not considered to be the oldest trees in the world but, when you consider that many of them are clones growing from the roots of their ancestors, perhaps they could be. They can be three thousand years old, 80 metres tall and almost 8 meters across the trunk.
Driving around the countryside here in the UK you may spot a few more Sequoias. They always seem to be in the grounds of manor houses and stately homes and owning one must have been quite a status symbol among the landed gentry. No doubt the Brampton redwood was part of Olivia Bernard-Sparrow’s estate. The National Trust has quite a few redwoods on its properties and I turned to them to get more information about how the trees first came to Britain.
The crooked redwood |
Fortunately for the trees’ survival, the timber is too brittle to be of much use in joinery or ship building and so the value lies purely in their magnificence. If you want to experience the wonder of a redwood grove, Anglesey Abbey has some fine ones and the Quaker John Dollin-Bassett planted a grove in Leighton Linslade in the Ouzel Valley (Beds) where redwoods still dominate the skyline today.
If you meet the tree up close, go and give it a hug. It will take several people holding hands to measure its girth. The largest ones can be 24 meters round. In the process you might notice that the bark is thick, soft and warm, even a bit spongy. My wife, who is American, tells me that another name for redwoods is “punch-bark”. Go on, give it a punch! The soft bark is only a feature of the first three to four metres of the trunk.
The churchyard redwood. |
Being non-native, redwoods don’t host many of our insects or fungi and so their value for wildlife isn’t great. Even so, you may find small birds like goldcrests and blue tits gleaning spiders from among the branches or you may spot crows and pigeons nesting high up. Like all tall trees, Sequoias make good lookout posts for raptors like buzzards and kites but it’s the bark that holds a special ornithological secret.
Around the trunk, just out of your reach, you can spot some neat excavations in the bark. These are often made by tree-creepers and they provide a snug hollow to spend the night in. Long tailed tits and other small birds may use them too.