Cryptomeria japonica “Radicans”, or Radicans Sugi as it’s called in Japan, is one of my favorite trees in our little nature sanctuary, and one of the two tallest growing trees we have. This one will eventually get to 45 or 50 feet tall in time, and not too long a time really, as you can see in the following pictures. It grows very fast and loves the wet peat soil we have here in our garden. We got this tree in a big box from a nursery in Oklahoma. I couldn’t find it locally so I went on the web. It was 4’11” tall in this tiny pot it came in. It’s gotten a lot bigger since then. It’s one of the larger growing of the several hundred cultivars of Cryptomeria.
Cryptomeria, or Sugi, is the national tree of Japan, and grows well over 150 feet tall in its native habitats. One story of it I like is that of a feudal vassal who wanted to honor his Lord, but didn’t have the funds to do it the way he wanted to. So he planted an avenue of these trees that was several miles long. Today it’s a prized site of huge trees for visitors to marvel at. This tree is quite unique – the only species of its genus (maybe – there’s some disagreement among botanists). It used to be in the same family as the Redwoods, which it resembles – especially the Giant Sequoia. In fact it still is, but now it’s the Cupressaceae, instead of the more descriptive one of Taxodiaceae (my bias.) They use the bark to side temples and shrines, as well as using the wood for all sorts of construction.
This is taken shortly after we planted it in June of 2013. It looks so tiny there now but even in its first year it grew well over a foot and 1/2, not bad for a new planting. It replaced an old cherry tree that died on us, a very sad event, so we wanted a fast grower to fill the spot left by the cherries absence.
This was taken in November of the same year, 2013, and shows the growth it put on in that time. I left all the lower branches on at first to give the tree as much sunshine as it could get in its first year.
This is February 2014, after I pruned it up to begin the process of raising the skirt so we could eventually walk under it. I haven’t had to prune is since then, but will surely have to at some point in the next few years.
This was taken in July of the same year – 2014 – and you can see how much it’s grown. It actually put on 3 feet of growth that year. It totally amazed and thrilled me, as you can imagine. It’s living up to its reputation as a fast growing tree.
This is in the same year, but in October, after it’s put on even more top growth. It’s about 9 1/2 feet tall now.
I took this picture in May of 2015 – the year after the previous photo. It’s beginning to put on the seasons growth. It’s getting wider now and filling out more, and the skirt is still the same height as when I first pruned it up.
It’s much fuller now in August of 2015. Amazing how much it’s grown in just 3 months isn’t it? It’s beginning to look more like a real tree.
This is taken in late winter, February of 2016. It hasn’t grown much since the last photo but you can see the trunk better. It’s still pretty skinny for such a tall tree, but it’s getting thicker every year.
A few more months and it’s added more growth by the time this photo was taken in July of 2016. Look at it next to the light post and you can see it grow as the photos go on.
See what I mean about the post? This is just 2 months more growth in September of 2016. It’s starting to look a lot fuller now and the whole area is filling out along with it.
This is taken from a different angle and shows the undergrowth well. This is in July of 2017, just over a year or so ago. I’m being continually amazed by the growth this tree is putting on. It’s getting way too big for me to measure it with my measuring stick anymore, but I’d guess it’s at least 16 or 17 feet tall by now.
By October of 2017 it’s even taller – probably 18 or 20 feet now. That means it’s grown an average of 3 feet a year for it’s 5 years of life here in our garden. Wow… When I stand next to it and look up it’s starting to feel like the top is really far away now.
Here it is last month – February 2018. It hasn’t really grown much since the last photo but it has all sorts of pollen on it that scattered all over the place during the winter. In Japan it’s a prime source of allergies, so I hope it doesn’t do that too badly to us. Both of us have allergies to things like this, but that’s the price you pay for such sylvan beauty!
No, this isn’t our tree. It’s a specimen of the actual species of Cryptomeria japonica that’s growing in the lawn of the Quinalt Lodge in the Quinalt Rain Forest on the central coast of Washington. We were there just last week and of course I had to take a picture of this tree. The Lodge was built in 1926 and the tree was planted soon after, so it’s about 90 years old now. We figure it’s about 80 or 90 feet tall, maybe more. Not quite as tall as the native spruces and Douglas firs, or even the redwoods they also planted, but it’s still magnificent. Ours won’t ever get this big, more like half of it, I hope…
So that’s some of the story of this beautiful tree. I’m continually impressed with the beauty of it and how fast it’s taken its place in our landscape. The cherry was a big loss and now this tree is slowly filling that gap. It’s not that big yet but it will get even bigger than the cherry was so it’ll do it quite well in time. It’s only supposed to get 15-20 feet wide, and I hope that’s true, but it’ll probably get wider. You just can’t trust the labels, or even the descriptions on the websites. Not a problem tho. It’ll get the size it’ll get and that’s just the way it is. Might as well love it…
Some day I’ll do a post on all the Cryptomerias I have here in our little Nature Sanctuary – a dozen or so of them now – and show how varied they can really be. But this will do for now. Thank you for visiting me and I hope you enjoyed this exploration as much as I enjoyed presenting it.
For all the Sugis everywhere,
Steve
Gardening in Greenwood 