We Planted a Sequoia This Weekend

I wrote a note to the people who will be living in our house a hundred years from now explaining why we planted that redwood tree where we did. The sequoia will grow to at least 100 feet tall and have a 40-foot spread. The people in our house in 2108 will probably wonder why we did it. Here’s my note to them:

We bought that sequoia for $35. It’s about 8 feet tall right now — just a wisp. We wanted to create a frame in front of the hawthorn trees, which won’t last more than a few years. The sequoia is perfectly situated on a flat spot on the hill. The way I figure it, the hill rises 30 feet behind it, so it will be quite a few years before that magnificent tree pokes its head above the rise. By the time you’re reading this, the tree will be towering over the hill, the tallest tree in the area.

We’re underplanting the sequoia with crepe myrtle. Three of them, in fact. The variety we got, Red Burst, will grow to 10-12 feet with an equal spread. Probably by the time you read this in 2108, those crepe myrtle will be huge with a gnarly trunk. You’ll marvel at plants 100 years old.

There are lots of other trees we planted, too. The red maples. The weeping cherry. Two other cherry trees. White pines. Austrian pines. Crabapples. Cedars. Those three river birches that are already 30 feet tall now. Bradford pears. And this year I’m going to plant a grove of apple trees.

I hope you thank us. We were thinking of you.