The Grand Tour and Wigwam Tree near the Hartshorne Woods and Twin Lights State Park, Navesink/Atlantic Highlands NJ. Largest Sequoia in NJ at 65ft. Heavy foliage. Appears healthy. Original top apparently lost (was apparently taller). Zone 7a/Coastal. This is very near the Atlantic coast and the Navesink river. Photos taken late April 2003.

One of the wildest looking trees in the state with sturdy trunk, dark green foliage and twisting, hanging branches that seem more like upside-down trees. On private property. Sandy soil on hilltop.

I talked to the homeowners. They said the tree was originally brought from California by the previous owners in a bucket in 1952 by car. It was probably 2' tall at the time (my guess), so that would make it about 53 years old or so. They said that people from the state "registry" come by regularly to measure the tree and that the homeowners are not allowed to do any pruning (I don't know why). I did not ask about the lost top.

The tree's top appears to either have some phomopsis blight or winter burn. The lower portion of the tree is surrounded by juniper bushes, which are hosts of Sequoia diseases. The tree is also shaded to the south at its base by tall pine trees across the street.

The tree may no longer be structurally sound after losing its original top several years ago. The reiteration is coming from the top of the snag portion of the tree along will all the major branches. The tree is leaning forward to handle the weight but the juncture is under a lot of twisting stress from the weight being so far off-balance. With a strong wind the whole top and all major branches could come off. This suggests that the tree is in decline. The homeowners may wish to cable the major reiteration to the trunk better to alleviate stress.

Here is the second HS at the NJBG. It is about 30' to 40' tall and looks healthy, with some diseased foliage near the base. It is not producing cones. It is about 100 yds away from the other HS but not labeled.

Here is one of the two remaining seedlings from my spring 2002 seed germination experiment as it appeared in April 2003 when it was 1 year old. It seems to be partially immune from fungal diseases but is somewhat slow growing. 2003 was a fairly rainy, cloudy and cool year, unlike 2002, but the seedling did not seem to mind. In fact, cool rainy summers seem to suit sequoias fairly well if not too extreme.

Here is same seedling in Aug. 2003 at roughly 17 months in age. It has a very bright red trunk! It will probably have to be transplanted fairly soon into a larger container.

Here are the two windowsill seedlings. The left is (or was) very slow growing and the right was very vigorous. Note the very blue foliage, which results from lack of environmental stress (retained wax on needles). The seedling on the right desperately needed transplanting in Aug. 2003 since its main roots circled the bottom of the plastic cup several times. It was transplanted into a much larger container with the roots in mineral soil. Photo taken in March 2003.

Even though the tubes are 18" long, the roots still grew out the bottom! By September they were growing from one tube to another! Trimming roots can work. The white is the polyester fiberfill that holds in the soil and provides "well drained" conditions at the bottom. A crisscross of wires at the bottom holds everything in place. When snipped, the soil would be free to come out the bottom into a planting hole. When using tubes, make sure the tubes have a split in them lengthwise to allow the soil to come out when transplanting. The split can be held together with tape or string until transplanting. A split along opposite sides will allow for maximum ease of transplanting.