Big Trees of Alpharetta: The Cemetery Cedar

At Alpharetta's Resthaven Cemetery there is an eastern red cedar tree and it deserves a blog as part of my 'Big Trees of Alpharetta' series.  It's not so much that this tree is big, but rather that this tree is notable. 

The Tree – The eastern red cedar tree is not a cedar at all.  Nevermind that the cedar waxwing eats this tree’s berries (tiny cones actually) or that cedar chests and cedar closets are made of the wood from this tree.  It is actually a juniper – Juniperus virginiana.  It is more closely related to Leyland cypress, giant redwood, and Cryptomeria than it is to the true cedars of the genus Cedrus.   It is native to the eastern United States and is, in fact, a pioneering species.  It was a favorite native tree of the late J.C. Raulston, a great plantsman for whom the N.C. State Arboretum was named.  Another professor, Dr. Ed Gilman, of the University of Florida, says that it has great potential as an urban street tree due to its size and tolerance of pollution and almost any soil, with the exception of soggy soils.  It is probably underused in the landscape today, which is a shame because it makes a fine screening tree.  It also smells nice. There is only one thing I would point out as a caveat if you want to plant this tree:  don’t plant it near apple trees or crabapple trees as it is an alternate host for cedar-apple rust.  

The Cemetery Cedar – If you live in Alpharetta or Milton you have probably driven by the Resthaven Cemetery, which is across from the old Milton High School.  This cemetery is an important part of our history and our landscape as it dates to 1860 and is the final resting place for families whose names you will no doubt recognize on street signs in Alpharetta and Milton; families with a long history here.   As old cemeteries go, it does not have a lot of trees but it does have a few shady oaks and near them, an old cedar tree.  This is one of the only cedar trees you will see near public spaces in Alpharetta.  That fact is amazing to me considering how common cedar was around here at one time.  Its absence from our community reflects our conversion to a dense residential landscape as well as a shopping and corporate district where construction, new landscaping and parking lots have taken most of the old landscape away.  It is therefore significant that this eastern red cedar tree remains at the Resthaven Cemetery.  It is always important to remember the past - who lived here and even what lived here - like eastern red cedar trees.