Mark McCaughreanMar 13, 2024

Who knew? 😳

While there are only 80,000 of those iconic giant redwoods left in their native California (I blame all those rubbish speedbike riders in Return of the Jedi), there are 500,000 now growing in the UK.

Smaller so far, given that they’re much younger, but apparently the warm wet weather conditions suit them well & the largest are already over 50 metres tall.

Story & pix by my lovely friends Becky Morelle, Ali Francis, & Tony Jolliffe at the BBC: https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-68518623

Giant redwoods: World’s largest trees 'thriving in UK'

A survey of giant redwoods growing in the UK reveals the trees are doing well - and growing fast.

Show threadksircombe

@markmccaughrean Looks like they are doing much better than the surviving redwoods that were planted in Canberra 100 years ago against all advice (basically Canberra is fairly dry, 500 mm a year about a quarter of what a redwood tree really needs).

I pass the forest frequently and always feel sorry for them. They have recovered a bit since this video in 2020 - somehow they hang on!

https://www.gardenhistorysociety.org.au/publications/pialligo-redwood-forest/

Mar 13, 2024 at 9:54amWeb