9-8-09: Tsuga heterophylla- Western hemlock

Tsuga heterophylla This is a native beauty to the west coast of North America from the Kenai Peninsula in Alaska to Sonoma County in California.

Tsuga is the Japanese word for tree and mother, I find this interesting. Heterophylla is Greek for ‘different leaves’ and this tree does have different sized needles. Hemlock was named such because the early settlers noticed it had the same fragrance as the hemlock plant. This tree is the state tree of the state of Washington. Western hemlock grows from sea level to mid elevations and can tolerate shade. In the forest it is a climax tree, meaning it is the last in a succession of trees which often comes in the order of alder forests and then Sitka spruce and Douglas fir forests. These majestic trees can live to be 1,000 years old.

The characteristics of the western hemlock are its soft, delicate, graceful and feathery foliage. It grows 60 – 150 feet with needles that are flat and glossy with two lengths of needles, one shorter than the other. Small abundant brown cones hang from the ends of the branches. The bark is rough, scaly and reddish or dark brown helping one to identify it in the woods. It can be grown in sun or shade. In the landscape Hemlock is used as a specimen tree or as a hedge. As a hedge space plants between 4 and 8 feet apart. My grandfather had a topiary of this tree, always neat and tidy when pruned and feathery and fun when its hair grew out a bit. Plant with other natives such as vine maple, sword ferns and deer ferns. We also grow Mountain Hemlock (Tsuga mertensiana) which is a more respectable size for the small garden slow growing to 20 to 30 feet by 10 to 15 feet wide. The look of the Mountain Hemlock is a bit tighter than the Western yet with the same graceful characteristics. Either one is a lovely addition to the garden.

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