landscaping - where to get redwood seedlings?

[countryborn]

We are building our home on 5 acres outside of Portland, OR.  we want more trees on the west side (about 300 feet from the house) to block the view from the road & to provide more shade in what has been pasture.  We are thinking about a few redwoods - have heard they grow pretty fast.  Is there anywhere within one day's drive (400 miles or less) where we can buy redwood seedlings?
I am thinking road trip - over to the coast & down 101, past Cresent City.  Ought to be trees down there.  Buy some baby trees, find somewhere to camp, drive back the next day.  (I like N Cal, but have to use most of my vacation time to build.)
Does anyone know of sources for trees?  I know I could buy them on e bay, but where's the fun in that?   
And, any warnings about planting redwoods?  I know they will need water til well established, & I know I have to consider the root system when deciding on location.
And I know this could be considered "off topic,"  so I won't be surprised if this gets moved to "Off Topic "etc.

thanks for your helpful advice! - Mia

[glenn kangiser]

I think you are headed the right direction, Mia, but I don't know where you would look.  Info seems scarce on the net for redwood seedlings.

[MikeT]

Mia,

Where are you building?  As you know, just outside the urban growth boundary there are many, many nurseries.   I bet you could contact some of them and get leads on where to get redwood seedlings.  If that does not get you anywhere, you might contact OSU School of Forestry or the county (Clackamas) extension service.

Best,
Mike

[considerations]

Mia - funny you should bring this up.  I recently took a similar road trip, only started on the Olympic peninsula.  Drove down the entire Oregon coast, and into Northern California.

Just past Smith River, we hung a left, real sudden like, and headed back.  We went through the Jedediah Smith Redwoods State park. 

Just past the intersection of 101 (the coast highway) and either 197 or 199 (I dont remember which, but they end up merging into 199, I found the Fire Fern nursery.   They don't seem to be on the web, nor in the yellow or white pages.  I'm pretty sure it was the junction of 101 and 199. 

In any event, I came home with 3 - 3' tall coastal redwoods in 1 gallon pots for just under $25.

They are all doing great.  I live in a cedar forest, about 2 miles from the official boundary of the "rainforest".

They are conifers, like cedars, so they probably like acid soil....and they seem to like the moisture here.

It was a beautiful drive, and getting the gallon pots instead of seedlings may have lowered the risk of mortality.

There is another tree that lots of nurseries sell that grow extremely fast and looks very similar to a redwood.  Its called a Lelonde(sp?) Cypress.   That may not be exactly correct, but they grow 3 -4' a year under optimal conditions.

You may want to consider not planting them close to your underground water, electric etc......or road - the roots often stick out of the ground. You may also want to consider planting them back from your property line a long way...like 25 feet or more....as you know, they get huge.

[cholland]

little known information on Coastal Redwoods.  They can re-sprout from the stump when cut AND they can readily clone from pieces of a branch.  Sometimes you will see them send up a clump of suckers from near the base of the tree, Im sure you've seen this with other trees (lilac, privit, etc).  If you cut these suckers and stick them in the ground, a good ways, and keep them moist, they will take root.  I have had pretty good success with this in the past.  I think a piece about 3 feet long, about 1/2 to 3/4 inch across at the big end works well.  Stick them in the ground a good 8 inches.  Redwoods grow well with lots of water.  If you've ever visited the largest ones in Northern California, you will notice the Champion trees are in the bottom of the valley, near the creek.
Spring time, when they are growing new shoots and would have a full season to get established before winter would work best.

Im not condoning this type of activity, but its pretty easy to collect some from the Forest.  Technically its illegal to take things from National Forest and probably State lands without a permit.

If someone you know, like a neighbor, has a redwood in their yard, and its sprouting, lots of times people just cut those off an toss them but, a person could just as easily plant them.  I have also seen redwoods trained into hedges as part of landscaping.

This works with Coastal Redwoods only as far as I know... in terms of conifer trees anyway.