Buy Sequoiadendron giganteum

Luckily, this fantastic tree can be grown in medium sized landscapes because, although it will always be a large tree, it doesn't reach excessive sizes until several hundred years. Just be careful not to plant this tree right against buildings or power lines that will cause headaches a generation or two from now. Here in the Rogue Valley, this is a very common tree seen in various parks, roadways, and home gardens (in fact there is an excellent 100' tall specimen across the street from our nursery) and is popular because of its strong wood, fast growth and large trunk diameter.

Another difference between the Giant Sequoia and the Coast Redwood is that the Giant Sequoia is far more drought tolerant (being native to inland Northern California, it has to be!). The first time I ever realized that this species was more drought tolerant that I originally thought was finding a row planted near a forest access pull off in the woods in Union Creek, Oregon. The trees are about 40 feet tall and are growing happily with no summer irrigation in a climate where temperatures often near 100 degrees with very low humidity and infrequent to non-existent summer rainfall. Years later, a far more impressive testament to the Giant Sequoia's drought tolerant was found growing alongside a logging road in the hills above the Applegate River. It appears that a Sequoia was planted with Douglas Fir after a clear cut - perhaps an errant seed got into the wrong bed at the Forest Service seed nursery and the seedling was put there by planting crews. But it grows happily on a steep hillside in the full sun in conditions far drier than in Union Creek. So if this tree grows here, it is at least as drought tolerant as Douglas Fir and can be planted in very dry landscapes.

Why do these trees stay smaller in landscapes?

Although the Giant Sequoia gets massive anywhere it is happy, it will typically stay closer to 70 feet tall as opposed to 250 feet or more. First of all obviously it takes quite a long time for a tree to grow hundreds of feet tall, but even old trees seem to hit their height limits early in landscapes. This is primarily due to the isolation of a single large tree. By 70-100 feet above ground level there is little shelter from wind provided by other trees and ground topography. High winds at the top of the tree can easily damage the fragile growing tip, causing it to have to re-develop several times each year which causes the growth rate to slow down significantly or even stop. In their native environment there are many other large Sequoias of similar heights that provide wind shelter and allow each other to attain much larger heights.