Species Overview
The Dawn Redwood is a fast-growing deciduous conifer with ancient lineage — a true living fossil once thought extinct and rediscovered in China in the 1940s. It's highly regarded for bonsai due to its soft, opposite, feathery needles that turn bronze in fall, its buttressed trunk with reddish bark, and its rapid, predictable growth.
- Leaf Persistence: Deciduous
- Leaf Form: Conifer
- Watering: High
- Watering Notes: Soil should remain evenly moist; never let it dry out completely.
- Watering Season: Spring → Autumn
- Fertilization: High nitrogen in spring
- Fertilization Notes: Switch to balanced or low-nitrogen mid-summer to avoid leggy growth.
- Wiring: Spring or Autumn
- Wiring Notes: Use guy wires when possible; branches are brittle and prone to scarring.
- Pruning: Structural in early spring, maintenance through summer
- Pruning Notes: Pinch or prune vigorous shoots to encourage ramification.
- Repotting: Every 1 - 2 years
- Repotting Notes: Repot in early spring before bud break; root growth is vigorous.
- Propagation: Cuttings or seed
- Propagation Notes: Air layering possible but less common than softwood cuttings.
- Zone 8b: Protect roots if temps < 20 F
Mossy Spot
