Skip to product information
1 of 1

True Root Nursery

Eastern White-Cedar Seedling

Eastern White-Cedar Seedling

Species: Thuja occidenatalis

History: Eastern White-Cedars are native to eastern Canada and much of the northeastern US. Despite its name, it is actually in the cypress family (true cedars are only found in Europe and Asia). These tough trees are most commonly found in harsh conditions where other trees cannot grow and the oldest known specimen reached over 1,600 years old. It has many traditional uses among the Ojibwe people and is believed to be the cure for scurvy given to Jacques Cartier and his party. It continues to be a common ornamental plant to this day.
Why We Grow It: Eastern White-Cedars are a native tree that is known to grow in a variety of situations we humans might call "stressful", such as growing up from cracks in rocks, on alvar pavements, and in swamps. It does not tolerate road salt well. White-cedar is also one of the best tree species for protecting soil from erosion and for stabilizing stream banks and lake shores. It is considered one of the most decay-resistant trees in North America. 

The Eastern White-Cedar is Ontario’s most valuable tree for wildlife habitat. It provides shelter and food for deer and many species of birds. Small mammals like snowshoe hares, porcupines, and red squirrels also rely on white cedar for food and shelter. It is often used for posts, cedar-strip canoes, shingles, and other structures that are exposed to water or soil. The oil from its leaf is distilled from boughs and used in medicines and perfumes. Boughs are also used in floral arrangements and it is widely planted for both ornamental and windbreak purposes.  

Please Note: We are offering Eastern White-Cedar for a short time since Steph's dad grew some, but as it's not a typical food bearing plant, we don't expect to keep it in stock every year.

Fruit Specs

Recommended Use: Ornamental, wildlife, windbreak

Fruit Size:

Storage:

Harvest:

Growing Specs

Canadian Hardiness Zone: 1

Soil Preference: Prefers moist, well-draining loam soils but is tolerant of many soil conditions. Cannot tolerate road salt.

Flowering Time:

Bloom Colour:

Pollination Requirements:

Sun/Shade Requirements:

Part shade to full sun (approx. 4-10 hours of sun daily)

General Growth Habits:

Mature tree stands 15m tall, cannot tolerate road salt

Shipping vs. Pick Up

CLICK HERE to see how shipping compares to pick up.

Shipping: Every year we ship thousands of trees across Canada (except BC due to CFIA regulations). We carefully bag roots in damp sawdust, then box them and send them out via courrier. CLICK HERE to see our shipping policy.

Pick-up: We also have thousands of trees picked up from our nursery each year. The pick-up options is free, though you must wait until you have been emailed a confirmation that your order is ready to pick up, which will have further information such as hours, locations, etc. We really appreciate if you can make an appointment to pick up, then we can be as organized as possible during our busy season.

Size at Purchase

Eastern White Cedar are divided into the following grades:

-1 year plant - 35cm+

There is some overlap in size since we are also taking the age of the plants into account. Some older plants may not have put on quite as much vegetative growth but will have larger root systems.

All of these heights exclude the roots since seedlings and some berries will often have a lot of root growth but relatively little vegetative growth (ex. our Shagbark Hickories seedlings are often 5-15cm above the soil but will have roots that reach 20cm+ in length).

Not all of our berries and seedlings will be available in all of these grades since growth rate can vary significantly across species and even varieties. While we remain competitive in our plant size, it's also worth noting we don't use synthetic chemicals to push vegetative growth, therefore you may find conventional nursery stock larger in some instances comparatively.

Why plant small? It's best to transplant when a plant is young so it can establish its roots before it has a lot of vegetative growth. This is much less stressful on it and bareroot plants tend to catch up and even surpass larger potted ones planted at the same time, after a few years.

Orders that are cancelled last minute due to size (being "too small"), will still incur the applicable cancellation fees if the plants are true to our grading standards as per the agreement of sale when the order was placed.

Size
Regular price $20.00 CAD
Regular price Sale price $20.00 CAD
Sale Sold out
Shipping calculated at checkout.
View full details