Anyone in Bald Cypress country?

anttal63

mac there is nothing wrong with what if's. amazing things come of it sometimes.

rokm that is an amazing speel of theory i thank you to for it.

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kingkong

I have seen knees growing like mushrooms in some areas.

rockm

What I've said is pure speculation as to getting a knee to accept a branch graft. Might work, might not. I don't know. I do know that it would probably present alot of difficulty even if it did work. Knees are usually attached to big downward growing primary roots. The feeder roots you would have to collect to keep it alive would probably be pretty far away. I don't know if a knee would produce feeder roots as a trunk would, so I also don't know if it would be possible to produce a new root system closer to the knee and collect it. All you can do is try it.

Like I said, callus tissue (scar tissue) produced by BC trunks when they are trunked chopped or otherwise severly pruned has no resting buds, however, thread grafts through that callus tissue are used routinely by more experienced BC bonsai growers, so there is some hope this approach might work.

Trees do produce new shoots from surface roots. Some do it profusely. BC doesn't sucker from the roots from what I've seen though. My BC have never produced root suckers, while other native species I keep as bonsai, like live oak and black cherry, do it routinely.

I'd still question the need to do all of this though. BC are very easy to collect. I don't think it's illegal in La. to do so, if you have proper permission from the landowner and it's not in a protected area. I have a BC that was collected in the Atchafalaya basin.

Bamboo is a grass, not a woody stemmed plant. Grasses are a different story when it comes to producing new growth from roots. They are not the same as trees.

If you're interested in BC as bonsai, get the book I mentioned. It is well worth the effort to find, as it is out of print. I got mine from Dale C. for $20 or so.

kingkong

I would like to see a bc styled like this some day, less the knees.

Attached Images

cypressintheswamp%20postcard.jpg #4.jpg (66.7 KB, 68 views)

rockm

Some links to some extremely nice BC bonsai and evidence that grafting branches onto knees isn't really necessary to get a spectacular bonsai. Note in particular the World Bonsai Federation link showing a drastic method to achieve taper in otherwise typical stock. I should note that a terrific BC trunk can be had for less than $200 or so, if you look around, or for "free" if you know someone with land and the knowledge to "dig" one--you don't really dig BC as much as saw them out of the ground/muck:

http://www.miamitropicalbonsai.com/baldcypreslarge.htm

http://www.bonsai-wbff.org/nabf/new...2/bcarticle.htm

http://www.bonsainorthshore.com/LA%...%20STOCK.ht ml

http://www.orlandobonsai.com/collected_cypress.htm

http://www.cajunbonsai.com/

MacInOakRidge

Kingkong,
That is exactly my point in my first post. Nice cypress knees are quite common and finding one that looks somewhat like the trunk of the photo tree would be no problem at all.

It would just need leaves and branches. I have often pondered if they could be added. I was suggesting someone who has access to a cypress swamp try it.

I hope someone does and one day posts the result here.

Vonsgardens

Dan Robinson has an old knee from the swamps of florida that has a naturally "grafted" branch on it. Or at least he did in 2003. It is massive (what else?), and I believe came out of an area that Mary Madison used to collect in. It is a fascinating piece, Ms. Vic do you know the tree I am talking about?
John

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MacInOakRidge

Ho John, just what I was hoping for. Wonder if anyone has a photo of it?

vln1502

rockm-

"--you don't really dig BC as much as saw them out of the ground/muck"

Can you explain this in detail, or point me to a site that can? I have a BC that I would like to get out of the ground, but was going to dig down, is there a better way?

Vic