Any larch and dawn redwood cultivation in the southeast advice?

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I purchased a larch and dawn redwood mid-October last year. I'm told that I'm going to have to really keep an eye on them as they won't like the hot and humid summers here. My plan is to treat them like part-shade plants. I probably won't prune the larch as often as ppl would in the northern/colder parts of the world. I just don't know what that schedule should look like. I was thinking once mid-spring and then once late fall. I worry that a late fall pruning won't buy me much besides less solar panels for fall vascular accumulation. :/

I've accepted the fact that I probably won't get the kind of ramification one could get with more frequent pruning. I just want to give them the best chance to live a happy life here.
 

WNC Bonsai

Omono
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I live outside Asheville and have Japanese and American larch here. They seem to be doing OK, plus there is one in the bonsai collection here that has been grown here for almost 50 years. That said, I am in the mountains whereas you are not—expect your larch to lose vigor over the next few years and die. We also have dawn redwood up here and they grow like weeds. Your experience may differ and you might want to look for bald and pond cypress instead. Also golden larch may be a good alternative for you as they reportedly can take the heat and humidity better.
 
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Messages
141
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107
Location
Coastal South Carolina
USDA Zone
8b
I live outside Asheville and have Japanese and American larch here. They seem to be doing OK, plus there is one in the bonsai collection here that has been grown here for almost 50 years. That said, I am in the mountains whereas you are not—expect your larch to lose vigor over the next few years and die. We also have dawn redwood up here and they grow like weeds. Your experience may differ and you might want to look for bald and pond cypress instead. Also golden larch may be a good alternative for you as they reportedly can take the heat and humidity better.
Bonsai sad face. I guess I'll just try to enjoy them as much as I can. I'll look into the golden larch that you mentioned. Never heard of those.
 

Mash

Yamadori
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The Dawn redwood likes to stay wet. If they dry out they die. Its a zone 5-8 tree should grow just fine.
 

flor1

Shohin
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I have a Japanese larch that has done well in N Georgia I keep it out of direct sun and water like most everything else.
 

rockm

Spuds Moyogi
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Japanese larch and American larch do not do well south of Maryland over time. They fade and die. Had a Japanese larch sourced from the National Arboretum for about six years. It did fine for the first two years, started to get a bit weak in three. Lost branching in the fourth and by year five and six it was a ghost of its former self.

Larch may do OK IF you are at elevation and colder in the winter. American Larch is not native much south of Northern Ill. and Indiana. It is present in WVa and Va. mountain ridges, but it's not common. Hot humid summers with prolonged heat above 75 at night are the issue.
 

WNC Bonsai

Omono
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Japanese larch and American larch do not do well south of Maryland over time. They fade and die. Had a Japanese larch sourced from the National Arboretum for about six years. It did fine for the first two years, started to get a bit weak in three. Lost branching in the fourth and by year five and six it was a ghost of its former self.

Larch may do OK IF you are at elevation and colder in the winter. American Larch is not native much south of Northern Ill. and Indiana. It is present in WVa and Va. mountain ridges, but it's not common. Hot humid summers with prolonged heat above 75 at night are the issue.
Back in June at the Shohin Show I asked Bill Valavanis about growing larch down here and he suggested that in addition the really important factor is keeping them dormant in winter long enough to satisfy their needs. So you might need to do the refrigerator thing to keep it dormant in winter.
 
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