New Bald Cypress Trees. HELLLLP!!!

sankastaff

I just received 5 Bald Cypress trees and had a few questions.

1. The roots on 3 of them have been trimmed, but there are few fine hair roots. Should I plant these outside for a few years to let them grow (these trees average 33" in length and have 1-1/4" dia. base)?

2. The other 2 are around 18" tall, 1/4" dia and have many fine hair roots. Should these go in the ground or be put in training pots?

3. I'll try to post some pics. ASAP

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You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands. Isaiah 55:12

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TreeBay

The program for the trees would depend on what you want to do with them in the future. Bald cypress can tolerate wet feet indefinitely. A lot depends on how big you want the trunks.

All five could go in a group planting immediately. You could cut them down and stick the tops in a tub of soggy soil and they would probably root in a month or two and have five more trees for the forest.

You could plant them out in the field and let them grow like crazy, or you could put them in growing pots and work on the roots or branches.

If they were mine, I would put them in a rectangular wood box and make a forest out of them, but I have some collected Taxodium with huge root bases, so I am not looking to grow more big ones.

P.S. I fixed your caps lock problem and will be sending you a new shift key.

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sankastaff

Matt,
I'am not sure if I'm ready for a group planting yet dont want to get ahead of myself but if I did do a group planting what lenght, width and depth should I make the box.If I cut the trees should I wait until the tree starts greening up or what.I willtry to send a pic.


ps thanks for the shift key works great now

__________________
You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands. Isaiah 55:12

TreeBay

This is ideal forest material, and actually creating a bonsai forest is much easier than making a single specimen bonsai. All the defects (lack of root buttress, no discernible low branching, etc, can be a feature here. Later you can separate trunks.

Knock together a box about 5 inches deep out of 1x lumber or you might use some 2x4 with a decorative trim on top. The box is usually slightly wider than the tallest tree is tall and about 2/3 as deep. But please see the notes below. I don't think you will be using nearly the full height of these trees in the "final" design:

Designate your thickest tree as #1, and mark a point about 3/4 of the way up the trunk and plan to cut it back to that point. You can jin the top to a point, either now or after you cut the top off, or maybe you want to layer it off, doesn't matter.

Put it off center and a bit forward of an imaginary center line.

Tree #2 goes on the opposite side. Plant a small , probably #4 or #5 trunk fairly close to the #1 tree. Within a couple inches.

One your air layerings or cuttings have filled in, you can backfill with that newer materal material next year.

I would style the forest generally as shown in the immature bald cypress form. You could use the mature form and create a forest of that type, but you would really need to understand the way cypresses grow to pull that off.

Gary Marchal has some info on bald cypress - you can type his name into bonsaiTALK Links or type try "bald cypress" there for more info. Another source is the Greater New Orleans Bonsai Society (www.GNOBS.org) webpage. You will see a bald cypress in the mature style on their homepage. This form doesn't appeal to everyone, because many people can't relate to it. The immature form has pretty universal appeal.

Meanwhile, you can develop some low branches and have a really neat planting. If it looks too stark in the beginning you can add some moss, a little aquarium gravel and a couple interesting stones. Once the lower branches form it will be very nice. You won't get the lower branches unless you cut the apexes, though.

Regards,

Matt

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sankastaff

Matt,
I went to Gary Marchals website today wanted to say thanks for the info .I started work on the box today and should be finnished by friday I hope to get started by this weekend.Would it be ok to use plywood for the bottom and just drill holes for drainage and should I use bonsai soil or regular soil?

__________________
You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands. Isaiah 55:12

TreeBay

I suspect that using an inexpensive fence board type material would be better in the long run because plywood tends to disintegrate in contact with water unless it's that expensive "marine grade" kind, and I don't see much point in paying for that. The glue just gives out and the wood delaminates.

You could use whatever on the bottom of the box, but I would do it in slats spaced about 1/4" apart so that you can get some drainage. I typically use some 1x lumber that is only about 3/4" thick and 5 inches wide or so. If you can find it you can use a 1" thickness strips on the slats that form the two ends, that will give you a slight foot that holds the entire box off the bench. Important if the bench is wood, or it will rot quicker.

Line the inside of the box with plastic mesh. You could use the bulk roll Drainage Screen or just get hold of some of that plastic mesh fabric from the craft store. They use it for latchhook or some kind of similar craft. I staple it in strips usually, but this year I have taken to covering the entire bottom of the box. Stay away from metal screen or hardware cloth. When roots grow through it it's a mess to clean up.

This pic from the Growing Box thread in Tips & Techniques will give you some idea:



One part of the picure that might be deceiving is that the bottom slats are a bit wider than they look because the ones on the end extend under the sides.

Lastly the Bald Cypress will tolerate just about any potting mix. I wouldn't necessarily do this to my pines, but you could get away with supersoil or something like that in a growing box for bald cypress, considering the muck that they grow in naturally, potting soil would be like nirvana. In general I do use bonsai soil in the growing boxes, and if the boxes are big, I might use a portion of soil that I had reclaimed from potting other trees after sifting out the fines.

Regards,

Matt

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sankastaff

Matt,

Here is the pic of the finnished grouping.I think it looks ok but I know it could look better let me know what you think ,also I would like to cut the smaller trees and try layering the larger ones but I dont know exactly where to cut at .Any help would be greatly appreciated.

__________________
You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands. Isaiah 55:12

MINATOR

Wow , if that grouping works it will look really good!
I can imagine it now

sankastaff

This is a new pic of my bald cypress the smaller trees have budded out real good the larger trees have just started. last weekend I took off all the new growth between the branches and took the ones on the ends down to two going in the directions that I want .Also I moved the front tree more to the center a couple of weeks agoI think it looks better now but something still doesnt look quite right anyone have any suggestions?

__________________
You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands. Isaiah 55:12