As Promised, the differences between Western Red and Northern White Cedar

Western Red Cedar (scientific name: Thuja Plicata) differs from Northern White Cedar (scientific name: Thuja Occidentalis) in a number of ways. From a "tree" perspective, the Western Red Cedar is a much larger tree, by this I mean is has a larger diameter than the smaller Northern White Cedar trees. Other "Tree" differences include the leaf color, cone appearance, and geographic regions of growth; most of the Northern White Cedar comes from Canada.

The wood from both trees differs as well, Western red Cedar has a reddish color while Northern White is more of a yellow, beige, off white color. Western Red Cedar has that wonderful aromatic cedar smell; While Northern White Cedar also has a pleasant aromatic smell that some people prefer. In both cases, the odor will disappear if the wood is dried at moderate to high temperatures.

Western Red Cedar is a wonderful species, with the grain being very straight. The wood splits easily so it is commonly used for split rail fencing, shakes and split singles. Western Red Cedar is light weight (24 lbs per cu ft) and so it is not considered to be exceptionally strong, like Oak, but because it has little shrinkage and very little warping, it is easy to work with and is the preferred wood of choice for outdoor furniture and garden structures. It has very high natural decay resistance. The wood has a characteristic odor, but as mentioned previously, the odor does disappear if the wood is dried at moderate to high temperatures.

From a genetic perspective, Eastern White Cedar is a close relative of Western red cedar, however, because the white cedar tree is much smaller the lumber is quite knotty, compared to the clear lumber of red cedar. The wood is light weight (21 lbs per cu ft) and so is weaker than red cedar by a considerable amount. The grain is straight; shrinkage is low; and splitting is easy. The decay resistance is very high with Eastern White Cedar as well. Although in general the decay resistance of the two trees are similar, The heartwood (or core) of the tree is the best decay resistant part of the tree. The white cedar will normally have the heartwood of the tree in nearly 100% of your lumber pieces because of its smaller size while the Western Red Cedar may have the tree heartwood in about 10-20% of the lumber because it is much larger in diameter.

Shoreline Cedar uses both Western Red Cedar and Canadian Northern White Cedar in our outdoor products. The properties of both lend themselves well to creating long lasting, beautiful, outdoor products. Our Rustic series of products is made from Northern White Cedar and has the rustic log appearance which is well suited for Northern White Cedar. We use Western Red Cedar for all of our other products due to many considerations, one of which is the strength of the wood.


Western Red versus Northern White Cedar