Project: Future Bald Cypress Forest Planting

nsmar4211

My project this weekend, between orchestra concerts, was to plant the young bald cypress I had gotten several weeks ago into a forest. I cut the pots away from the roots and found a very twisted root system on all of them-see picture.

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nsmar4211

As I'm standing there looking at this pile of gnarled up roots, I was arguing with myself: "Cut them off!" "No way, you'll never grow ones like that" "but they aren't proper" etc. Then the little cold voice chimed up, "I don't care what you do but meanwhile the roots are exposed... make up your mind!"

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nsmar4211

I got to thinking, down here in Florida the cypress stands are hard to walk through because the knees like to trip unsuspecting people. Espically people with shovels. So,I decided to leave the roots alone, figuring that I can always cut them back later but regrowing would take a lot longer. Easier to cut than replace! I figured in a few years once the roots have grown sideways more instead of down I can use the tops of the gnarled section as knees. So, in my handy training pan I put several inches of "Jungle Growth", a soil from Lowe's that has about 50% bark in it. Yes my handy training pan is a dishpan . I did drill a few small holes in the bottom, even though I plan on keeping the bc very very moist. I wanted to be able to drain some water if I needed. I then arranged 7 of the saplings, 4 in one corner, 3 inthe other, leaving a path in between.

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nsmar4211

Another view, showing the path.

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nsmar4211

I added a couple of inches of Turface on top of the soil for a couple of reasons.
1. One of the trees kept tipping over (yes I could have wired...)
2. This soil has some particles that float, and I intend to submerged the planting.
3. Turface changes color when dry and I can tell at a glance if I need to water. Comes in handy on days I don't have much daylight left when I get off of work!

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nsmar4211

So, for now, the plan is to let this planting grow for at least one, probably two years before reducing the soil level and possibly cutting off more roots. Not the greatest design and I'm sure I'm the only one who likes the lumpy root idea but.....
They've just started to leaf out, about an inch long and tons of buds. Hopefully when they get leaves it'll look better than sticks in pots . I left them the height they were when I started, so some are way taller than others. I plan on just letting it grow, although I am gonna weigh down the branches so they are horizontal instead of vertical. What do ya'll think?

BONSAI_OUTLAW

cool little bc forrest ya got there...are you gonna put it in a pot or make a slab for it? i would love to see it in a slab one day.

Repotter

Susan, you could scrape some of the surface of the side roots down to the woody area, use some rooting hormone and bury them deep enough to cover that area.
It should sprout roots from those areas.
It looks like it would be worth a try.

Hector

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