Skip to content
Conifer · Pinaceae Draft — unreviewed

Eastern hemlock

Tsuga canadensis (L.) Carrière

Also called eastern hemlock, Canadian hemlock.

Graceful, shade-tolerant native conifer with fine, soft needles. Shears well as a hedge or grows into a large woodland tree.

Size over time

Typical landscape size 12–21 m (39–69 ft) tall and 8–10 m (26–33 ft) wide; medium growth, about 25 years to maturity. Intermediate sizes use the planner’s growth curve (k = 0.25) from the #15 install size.

05101520mPlanting1.8 × 0.9 mYear 39.6 × 5.2 mYear 1015.3 × 8.3 mMature16.5 × 9.0 m

Design notes

  • Hemlock woolly adelgid infests hemlocks across most of the East; budget for monitoring and treatment or use alternatives.
  • Needs cool, moist, acidic soil; scorches in hot, windy, exposed sites.

Regions

Native range: Eastern Canada, the northeastern U.S. and the Appalachians.

Native to these OpenLandscape3D pilot regions:

NortheastSoutheast

Native status describes where the species occurs naturally. It is not a promise that it suits a particular garden; site conditions decide that.

Related plants

Eastern red cedar
Juniperus virginiana · Conifer · 9–15 m (30–49 ft)
Eastern white pine
Pinus strobus · Conifer · 15–24 m (49–79 ft)
Dwarf Alberta spruce
Picea glauca 'Conica' · Conifer · 2–4 m (7–13 ft)
Longleaf pine
Pinus palustris · Conifer · 18–24 m (59–79 ft)
Loblolly pine
Pinus taeda · Conifer · 18–27 m (59–89 ft)
Bald cypress
Taxodium distichum · Conifer · 15–21 m (49–69 ft)

Plan with Eastern hemlock

Place it in a design, check it against your zone, light and moisture, and see it at year three and year ten.

Start designing Try a sample garden