Bald Cypress Ground Layer????

zen

I was wondering if BC will air layer,...I have an idea to get a base kinda like this through wrapping the base of the trunk where there were old branches cut off with rooting hormone and then sphagnum moss and plastic to get some roots coming off the base then tie together tight to the trunk, and repeating the process I could probably develop a base kinda like this one in about 3 yrs. ,growing and then fusing that yrs. growth then growing more roots to fuse OVER the last yrs. Let me know what you guys think. T I V Jeremy M.C.

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CYPRESS1.gif (47.5 KB, 105 views)

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TreeBay

Yes I think they will ground layer well, since they are often collected with very little in the way of roots. But you should probably consider getting out to collect some, because that's where you'll find trees growing with some of this wonderful natural root buttress and taper.

Here's another idea with redwood: There is a place that sold these Redwood burls as "forests in a dish" that were wide, knobby bits cut from the base of redwood stumps. You put them in a shallow dish of water and they throw up a dozen shoots that make a forest. If you plant them instead in soil it isn't difficult to get them to strike roots.

You aren't too likely to get buds on a bald cypress knee, but maybe you could graft back into it?

Regards,

Matt.

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rockm

You can only get substantial bases with BC by letting them grow unpruned in the ground for a few years. Achieving a nice root buttress on this species is much much MUCH easier by just letting the tree grow. Ground layering, wrapping, rooting hormones, ect will not produce a root buttress in three, five or ten years. It will make a mess of the plant though.

Just letting the tree grow in the ground for five years or so will get you a nice start.

BC don't develop much root buttress until they're older than three or four years. Root buttressing is a highly variable thing and can develop differently depending upon local conditions. Root buttress can be pyramidal shaped, fluted and many other variations. Planting in the ground will most likely produce the "fluted" variety of buttress.

The type you have pictured here depends greatly on historic flooding and reflooding of the land the tree grows in--notice the high water marks on the base... You are unlikely to be able to reproduce it with nursery stock no matter how hard you try. No, growing the tree in a tub of water won't produce the effect you're after. The best way to get a trunk like that would be to collect a tree that already has it, or buy a collected tree that already has it. Won't be cheap.

This is a fascinating topic and if you're interested in BC bonsai, the book "Bald Cypress, the tree unique, the wood eternal" is a must. I recently got a copy from Dale. It's an eye opener about how these trees grow and why they look like they do.

zen

So because it has not been tried before it will not work To very roughly paraphrase a message that I take very seriously from Robert Steven's book "Bonsai without artistry is simply technically inspired craft." I don't want, nor do I need to start an argument here, about whether bonsai is an artform or not,...to me it most deffinately is a form of visual art, to others it is simply gardening with a rule book. Thanks for the replies guys. I think I may still try this after some research and serious thought as to how to best perform the technique to acheive the goal that I have envisioned. If it is Definitley NOT A GOOD IDEA,...please let me know before I do something insipid and ruin my lovely new BC. Thanks again. Jeremy M.C.

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"Although profoundly "inconsequential," the Zen experience has consequences in the sense that it may be applied in any direction, to any conceivable human activity, and that wherever it is so applied it lends an unmistakable quality to the work."

~ Alan Watts (1915-1973)

badlad52

BC will air layer quite easily, though the roots may noy allways grow right where you want them. But you aren't actually detaching it, right? You are going to airlayer (layer after layer) to produce something similar to that photo, leaving all the roots on? You may be onto something interesting here, so keep us posted! I may want to play with some of mine again!

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rockm

"So because it has not been tried before it will not work"

Oh for cryin out loud, you can ground layer, air layer, water layer-- or what ever--all you want. Go for it.. Bald cypress will probably root with little trouble anyway. It's a prolific rooter and grower.

However, the result that's being sought probably isn't in the cards with the treatment and timelines described. Air layering or ground layering is a vstly complicated answer when a more straightforward approach would work better. The treatment described could actually screw up the trunk a bit making the end result alot less than desireable.

Better, more effective results are possible simply by putting the tree in the ground and leaving it alone for a few years. Root buttressing is directly dependent on root run. No root run= slow buttressing. Layering requires the tree to throw an entirely new set or roots. That will slow you down dramatically.

RedPine

I would just get a big growing pot a jug of fert and do a little research on building taper and movement into a trunk line through a series of chop and grow techniques.Sometimes it's best to leave the advanced and complicated aside.

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zen

I have re-thought this process,... now it simply involves filling the rest of the pot (about 1/3) to almost the top with sphagnum so that roots will fill in the area of the old limbs that were removed. Once I see roots growing at the top of the moss I'll remove the moss and tie the roots down to the trunk to get them to fuse. I got this idea from what I have seen some people doing with ficus,...arial roots to cover a bad trunk, gain girth quickly etc. Now my main question is should I cut knicks into the lower trunk and brush with hormones or will it push new roots without hormone?

__________________
"Although profoundly "inconsequential," the Zen experience has consequences in the sense that it may be applied in any direction, to any conceivable human activity, and that wherever it is so applied it lends an unmistakable quality to the work."

~ Alan Watts (1915-1973)

badlad52

It's possible, maybe probable that it would root without wounding, but will be easier, and probably faster if you do. Although layers I have seen on these sometimes have roots everywhere BUT the cut (these are, I'm sure, exceptions).

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