Within home gardens, Douglas fir, Pseudotsuga menziesii is very rare. So is the bigcone Douglas fir, Pseudotsuga macrocarpa of Southern California. However, they are not rare in the wild. Sometimes, suburban or rural home gardens develop around them. They can be awkward to accommodate. They are magnificent trees, but simply grow much too big.

Contrary to its rarity among home gardens, Douglas fir is actually common within homes. after all, most houses are constructed mostly of Douglas fir lumber. Most Christmas trees here are plantation grown Douglas fir. It is a major lumber plantation commodity in Chile, Argentina, New Zealand and Europe. Douglas fir is the Official State Tree of Oregon too.

Douglas fir is a grand tree in the wild. Old trees can grow more than two hundred feet tall with trunks eight feet wide! Their limbs may extend more than thirty feet from their trunks. It is obviously disproportionate for home gardens. Its soft evergreen foliage is delightfully aromatic, though. Its flattened, two-ranked needles are less than an inch and a half long. The female cones exhibit uniquely lacy scales.