Sequoia Redux

In the last issue of the Whatcom Watch, I related my personal search for Bellingham’s giant Sequoias. In the process of traversing the city during the past 29 years, I’ve encountered these magnificent trees here and there and decided to bring this project to the fore by publishing a guide, as it were, to where big tree aficionados might have an opportunity to gaze upon one of nature’s finest masterpieces. The map that was published to accompany the article was a sampler of sorts and meant only to point out the location of the majority of Sequoias within the city limits.

I’ve been delighted to receive at least two dozen phone calls and e-mails about specific trees that I might have missed in my search, as well as further comments on some of the trees that I mentioned in the article. At the time of publication, I listed a total of 76 individual trees. As of this update, I have added seven trees to the list and I just know more trees are out there, lurking in the mist and shadows, waiting to be discovered.

One call that I received enlightened me to the proverbial other side of the story. The caller related a tale of a giant Sequoia that basically “took over” her yard. This particular tree was apparently claiming all the water for itself and shooting out roots that made for hazardous walking anywhere near the tree. The tree was cut down after it was determined to be “too big” for the yard. As the story was related to me, when the trunk of the tree was cut into, a veritable fountain of water erupted, proving that the tree was apparently in a storage mode.

As I stated in the article, Sequoia seedlings are available and do quite well in the climate of the Pacific Northwest. However, if you’re interested in adding one of these beautiful trees to your own backyard landscape, you should be prepared for rapid growth and make sure you have ample room for what could someday become a giant in your own time. This story is a classic example of that admonition.

In all, the exercise of “Searching for Giants in Bellingham” has been well worth the effort, especially since I did nothing out of the ordinary to come up with the results. I merely paid closer attention to the neighborhoodsI drove or pedaled through everyday, looking for the distinctive and symmetric Sequoia shape. Keep in mind that I fully expect to find more as time goes by and more callers/readers respond, so stay tuned.