Sally Scalera

Brevard County Horticulture Extension Agent
3695 Lake Drive -- Cocoa FL 32926 -- 321-633-1702

Native cedar attracts birds,
makes nice Christmas tree

Dec. 8, 2007

This column is for anyone interested in buying a living Christmas tree or adding a tree to their landscape to attract birds.

Our native Southern red cedar (Juniperus silicicola) is the perfect tree for both of these goals.

This time of year is a great time to enjoy the birds that migrate South for the winter.

As a juvenile plant, the Southern red cedar has a perfect Christmas tree shape, looking more like a shrub than a tree. Buy the young tree in a container, bring it home and decorate it like a Christmas tree. After Christmas, plant it in the yard and enjoy it for years to come.

The Southern red cedar is fast growing and can reach a height of 30 to 45 feet and a spread of 20 to 30 feet. The dense growth and attractive foliage make it a favorite for windbreaks, screens and wildlife cover.

Its high salt tolerance makes it ideal for seaside locations and the fragrant wood is popular for repelling insects.

Cedar Key once had extensive red cedar forests before the lumber was harvested and the wood used for chests and pencils. Although not often used as a street tree, its wood is strong, the foliage is clean, and the fruit is small, making it a suitable for planting near roads. With proper pruning to remove lower branches, it should adapt well to streetscapes.

Planted in full sun or partial shade, Southern red cedar easily will grow on a variety of soils, though growth may be poor in landscapes that are overirrigated. Water the newly planted tree until well-established, and then forget about it.

It performs well with no care, even in alkaline soil and along the coast. Usually, insects and diseases are not a problem if grown in full sun.

Southern red cedar trees come in male and female plants. Female plants produce small, round blue berries that are less than an inch long. Birds love the berries and also will nest in the tree.

Sadly, when you go to the nursery to buy a young Southern red cedar, there won't be pink bows on the girl trees and blue bows on the boy trees. The trees need to be older before they flower so, you may not always buy a female tree, but the male trees are great for nesting, too.

As a young tree grows, it is important to make sure it maintains one central leader or trunk. If more than one branch reaches the same height, choose one to be the central leader and prune any other tall branches back about half way. As long as the tree maintains a single trunk form, it will be able to handle high winds better. I have seen a number of red cedars with three main trunks that have gotten torn apart by storms. One large trunk will be ripped off in one storm and then later another trunk goes, and eventually the tree is removed.

Another idea that can protect your new tree, and even your house in the event of a hurricane, is to plant your it in a group of trees. After studying the effects on trees and structures of 11 hurricanes in Florida, our researchers found a group of trees protected each other and nearby buildings the best.

So, maybe you will want to add a Southern red cedar among a group of other trees that are already in your yard, or create a tree island and plant a few more trees at the same time.

If you never have considered buying a living Christmas tree before, you may want to go to a garden center and check out the Southern red cedar.

For more information on trees, pruning or hurricanes and trees, check out the Web site.