Why in spite of being widely planted in the UK, does the giant Sequoia (Sequoiodendron giganteum) not naturalise and spread?
A At the time of writing I know of not one plantation of Giant Sequoia in the UK, only solitary trees, small clumps or avenues. I would suggest that planting a large grove of these trees would be the only way to see whether they might be able to propagate freely in the UK. I wish I had the land to carry out this grand experiment! The first point to note is that the Giant Sequoia has only been in this country since the 1850’s and one could perhaps argue that most of the trees have not yet reached their peak in the production of mature and viable seeds. We have been collecting cones for quite a while now but have only succeeded in germinating a couple of UK seedlings, and yet have had a great deal of success with imported seeds. Another point is that, apart from a few exceptional examples, the Giant Sequoia will only reproduce from seed, unlike the Coast Redwood that will sprout from stumps, roots or burls. (see Longleat) Another aspect to this is that, in their natural groves, I underst
