Watering the garden this evening, I noticed a small patch of green at the base of my presumably very dead Cunninghamia lanceolata, languishing in the ICU. I lifted up some of the brown needles, and saw new growth. I grabbed the secateurs and hacked back the dead bits to see this:
I'm so delighted that it's come back from the dead - I was sure it had carked it over the winter (although it should be able to cope with USDA Zone 7 type winters!). One thing that has surprised me is that it has grown up from the base. I don't remember where I read it, but I was under the impression that conifers did not regrow from the base (although angiosperms will, as my parents' knackered bay trees demonstrate).
Any of you have any examples of conifers regrowing from the base? Is it a lot more common than I realised?
I'm so delighted that it's come back from the dead - I was sure it had carked it over the winter (although it should be able to cope with USDA Zone 7 type winters!). One thing that has surprised me is that it has grown up from the base. I don't remember where I read it, but I was under the impression that conifers did not regrow from the base (although angiosperms will, as my parents' knackered bay trees demonstrate).
Any of you have any examples of conifers regrowing from the base? Is it a lot more common than I realised?
The stuff in the broader redwood family (Cunninghamia, Taxodium, Metasequoia, Sequoiadendron etc etc) will usually reshoot although most modern conifers won't. It's another of their superbadass survivor skillz.
ReplyDeleteI've actually seen unwittingly coppiced Sequoia sempervirens specimens.
Thats great news Julia! :)
ReplyDeleteIve started up my blog again- been 2 years since I last was doing one- you've inspired me to try again!
http://lifeonstapletonhallroad.blogspot.com/
That's great news! OT: May I ask what you use for tagging?
ReplyDeleteYay Owen! Have subscribed of course, and will add you to the blogroll the next time I'm updating.
ReplyDeleteTai Haku - didn't know so many of the older conifers will do that, but it does stand to reason that they wouldn't survive as long as they have unless there was some super-duper regeneration power...
Bom - I use the Blogger tags option.