the redwoods

I love nature. Sometimes I get curious enough about something and will look it up.  Redwoods.  I wanted to know more about redwoods.  And, now I do.

We had to have a large pine tree cut down.  It made me sick.  It had provided me shade for years.  One of the guys explained how pine tree roots behaved.  Then he asked me if I knew how deep redwood roots were.  I knew they were tall, tall, tall.  I guessed they were about a half mile.  Wrong answer.

This is what I learned:  Redwoods have no tap root and the other roots are only 6 to 12 feet deep.  Considering their enormous height, that’s some shallow roots. The major roots are about an inch in diameter and they typically spread out 50 to 80 feet. The California redwoods are the tallest trees on earth.  They can reach 350 feet high, can weigh as much as 500 tons, and live between 500 to 700 years. 

How do these giants stand for so many years? Their shallow roots, seriously.  Redwoods grow close together and their root systems intermingle and intertwine and entangle and interweave and interlock, resulting in strong support for each tree. 

Working together for the common good.

Author – the Redwoods