Blue Moss Cypress

jhill

This is a Cypress that I bought at a silent auction. I need to get it out of this pot and into a training pot. It is potted in a dense clayish(is that a word )type soil. This spring I plan to wash off all that soil and hope there are plenty of feeder roots. I have not worked with this species before and would like alittle info from anyone who has. I am not sure what style to work for either. I had to have it because it just caught my eye. Everyone at the Auction must of been broke or something cause I got it at a fantastic price. The trunk is what sold me. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks a mill
jhill

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Hi There.

I was advised by a knowledgeable grower to repot false cypress in very late spring.

I would not wash off all the soil from a conifer in the first transplanting. It looks like a modified oak tree style might be appropriate for this tree.

Regards,

Matt

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Jay

Hi, NICE tree, it looks like it has a way to go, but, the place its going ain't bad! How big is this "little" guy? Is this the norm for your club as a silent auction item?

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jhill

Greetings Matt and Jay,
This tree is about 20" high and around 16" side to side and front to back. The silent bid was the first for me at one of their annual picnics so I am not sure if this is their normal practice.
Matt it does look like an oak. I think I will take your advice and just do the normal repot this year and the next time I will slowly remove more of the existing soil @ each repotting. I will probably just keep it thinned out and pinched for the next season and just keep staring at it till I see something.
Thanks Guys
Jhill

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jhill

this is a better pic of this tree.

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Now that I can see the root base, I think you will probably want to do something there to redevelop it. If you were to nick these large roots with a knife and apply some rooting hormone and raise the soil level, there is a good chance you can get some surface rooting back.

The soil line should be up where the roots branch apart unless you want that "frog's legs" appearance, which is not in my opinion the way to go. The soil line needs to come up to this point so that the tree will appear to be stable and not a victim of flood erosion.

Then the fine canopy you have will serve it really well. Please keep it broad and open shaped like this and don't go hacking it into a pine tree shape!!!

If this were my tree, I would not bother repotting it, but would ground layer it instead by building up a wall inside the container rim, raising the soil level about 4-6 inches after wounding the bark and applying rooting hormone in several spots. I would also apply a few well-placed wire tourniquets on those root-branches to force the tree to issue roots above the existing root system and keep the soil level very high until that had taken place. It's a 2 year project, realistically, but you would have a wonderful tree at that point. All the roots below the existing soil line will be discarded.

Regards,

Matt

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TreeBay

Here are a couple of pictures to get you thinking,

on the left, an approximate size for a finished container and planting angle.

on the right, the region where you might want to induce some rooting, shown in pink.

The soil level would need to be very high to cover this future root area by at least 2 inches to keep it dark and moist enough to induce roots.

Regards,

Matt

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jhill

Hi Matt,
Thanks alot for your advice which I totally agree with. This is fantastic, the way you have illustrated to me on what to do. I will do this this spring and leave it potted up. I've had opinions on trying to place a rock underneath it but I was not to keen on this Idea. I've only had this tree for 1 season and it kinda got shoved aside this year. Next year I will for sure put this on my things to do list with all the other trees that I have pushed aside. I will keep you posted on my progress.
Thanks a million
Jhill

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TreeBay

no, no rock. You can see by the canopy that this tree 'grew' not on a mountaintop or in deep forest, or even by the sea, but in the broad open countryside where it spread its roots and limbs for generations.

This is a tree in its prime at peace. A stone creates tension, and tension has value in some designs, but not here. You can look at this shape evokes a pastoral setting: a single oak on the plain beneath which some cattle browse in a puddle of shade on a hot afternoon. This is a tree that isn't going anywhere anytime soon. The roots should reflect that fact.

Regards,

Matt

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