Sequoia sempervirens Adpressa

The Sequoia sempervirens Adpressa is a compact, bushy, highly decorative form of this giant conifer, well suited to small spaces. This needle-leaved sequoia produces very beautiful young shoots of cream colour in spring that illuminate its lovely green-blue foliage. The whole bush emits an extraordinary resinous fragrance, which adds to its charm. Resistant to the sun, it thrives in a cool, well-drained and somewhat acidic soil, and prefers a humid climate all year round, hot in summer, quite mild in winter.

The Sequoia sempervirens is a conifer from the family of taxodiaceae, a cousin of Yews, native to North America, more precisely from a narrow strip along the Pacific coast of the United States, from 0 to 900 m (1 to 2953ft) altitude. The most imposing subjects are those found in very rainy valleys, often drowned in fog. Fossils attest to the presence of sequoias in Europe before the great glaciers of the Quaternary. In natural environments, it will reach a height of 80 to 110 m (262 to 361ft) and a width of 10 to 15 m (33 to 49ft) under good conditions, and develop a fairly narrow and airy conical habit.

The 'Adpressa' needle-leaved sequoia has very slow growth, around 20 to 30 cm (8 to 12in) per year. At the age of 10, it will measure approximately 3 m (10ft) in height and 2 m (7ft) in width. Ultimately, this conifer can reach a height of about 6 m (20ft). It develops several very short trunks that support a wide, dense and bushy conical foliage. It has flat needle-like leaves, green-blue in colour, horizontally carried on lateral twigs inserted themselves on the main branches. The remarkable young spring shoots are cream in colour. This plant is monoecious, meaning that there are male and female subjects. When the female cones are pollinated, they take on an ovoid shape, a reddish-brown hue and an upright posture. They mature in two years.

The bark of the Sequoia sempervirens is superb, both in its reddish colour, its resistance to fire and pathogenic fungi, and in its powerful balsamic fragrance and the deep decorative crevices that form with age. The Sequoia is the only conifer equipped with a lignotuber, a kind of swelling that forms on the roots and underground stems, capable of producing shoots, for example after the passage of fire or lightning. This plant has a fairly shallow root system, which makes transplantation a bit delicate, but allows it to draw on the soil's nutritional and water resources easily.

The Sequoia sempervirens Adpressa is suitable for gardens of all sizes, even modest ones. If the conditions are met, it will become an exceptional small tree, which will be the pride of the gardener who planted it, and will undoubtedly survive, fully integrating into the history of a family and a garden. It can be planted as a standalone tree, or in the centre of a bed as a focal point, or even in a large, not too dry rockery. It requires little to no maintenance after the first few years, and pairs well with large stones, geometric lines of swimming pools, and masonry works. The real architectural qualities of conifers naturally impose themselves in the design of a contemporary garden, which prefers the aesthetics of shapes, silhouettes and textures to the waltz of flowerings. These plants with reassuring permanence structurally shape the space for a long time.