Species Study - Taxodium distichum

[Cajunrider]

A BC after a base split and dunked for a year. Fantastic development!
PS: I offered this tree at $300 3 months ago. It is now a keeper.

 

[Apex37]

For those who are working on branch building. How do you guys combat hard cutting on BC? My biggest issue I come across is I'll let a secondary branch grow out and lignify, cut it back hard, and it just refuses to back bud on that secondary branch. Instead it'll often times send out bud at the base of the branch or further back on the actual main branch. I find this to be the case whether it's an apical branch or a lower branch. I'm wondering if maybe I'm not leaving enough of the branch I'm wanting bifurcation from or what. Typically I leave about an 1" or so of the branch I'm wanting back budding on.

 

[Salvarez]

I suspect you need to cut back hard in January for branch development and bringing canopy in. Then after the spring flush cut back to two buds. I understand that might not be in the ideal spot but that way you get the ramification. But yes leaving it bit longer is a good idea as long as you don’t need the taper.

The trick from what I understand is making sure you cut back after spring flush which is April for me so you don’t need to worry about back budding and cutting to the “two” buds leafed in spring will grow without issue. Does that make sense?

I am with you on this process since most of my BC’s I will developing tertiaries.

 

[doc spring _work]

12 days later, this is the most growth I've seen from any tree I've had, I need to get the stuff together because I'm definitely doing some air layers this weekend.

I think on the main stock im going to let it develop a cascade branch as the weight of the new foliage has taken a side branch and tipped it downwards, in the future I may prune to encourage this to become the leader, (I know cascades aren't a natural habit for these...)

Alternatively there is a good branch from the former leader that could take over.

This fall I intend to move the tree into a wide (mostly) shallow pot probably about~ 3 Inches tall to burry the graft line and allow it to overcome the graft rootstock.. is this too much for this plant this year? Removing about a third of the woody tissue (not overall biomass, it's getting quite happy lower) then a repot?

Extreme heat hit. I thought for sure the plant had died but I saw some buds popping out. I did remove my (not great) attempt at air layering to allow the plant to recover. Not sure if it'll pull through, currently just watching tiny buds pop from the base and hoping for the best,

If this one doesn't pull through I think I'll probably order a ton of seeds and see if I can start small... Might still try buying another variety of BC just to see if it works out but it is possible the dryness out here will kill my attempts but I'm a stubborn fool so we'll see, I'll update on the dwarf in the spring, we'll see if it pushes again, (If I'm lucky it'll just recover in the fall and push)

 

[stubmle]

Extreme heat hit. I thought for sure the plant had died but I saw some buds popping out. I did remove my (not great) attempt at air layering to allow the plant to recover. Not sure if it'll pull through, currently just watching tiny buds pop from the base and hoping for the best,

If this one doesn't pull through I think I'll probably order a ton of seeds and see if I can start small... Might still try buying another variety of BC just to see if it works out but it is possible the dryness out here will kill my attempts but I'm a stubborn fool so we'll see, I'll update on the dwarf in the spring, we'll see if it pushes again, (If I'm lucky it'll just recover in the fall and push)

I keep mine in a tray filled with water from the time growth hardens off to leaf drop. Water level is kept just under the level of the soil. They seem much happier that way- they tend to wilt if I don't do this, and your summers are a lot harsher than mine!

 

[doc spring _work]

I keep mine in a tray filled with water from the time growth hardens off to leaf drop. Water level is kept just under the level of the soil. They seem much happier that way- they tend to wilt if I don't do this, and your summers are a lot harsher than mine!

I did do this, mostly in hopes of developing some knees admittedly but being afraid of over watering.

Although not shown well in my previous posts for this tree on this thread you can see the watering dish next to the pot (I pulled it out for a photo)

It had been left in that state until I noticed wilting, at which point I let it fully dry out and it started pushing buds, I did get it wet again given temps are dropping and I'll just have to see if it recovers.

If it does I want to repot it next year so it can get into less organic soil (I'm hoping that a traditional bonsai soil will do it good)
I think if you click here you should see the horse pale I used, it kept the bottom quarter wet but I don't think we had rot problems. (I sniffed at the bottom of the pot to check)

The only thing I can think of is that the area I've been keeping it to provide plenty of morning-mid day light but protect from the mid afternoon to evening heat just wasn't enough and the tree got far too hot

I could be wrong but I think I am for sure pushing the upper limits of what bc can handle... Or it's also possible that this particular variety just won't do well. I can't say for certain... I feel a single BC isn't necessarily enough to say they can't do well in my area, especially because they are in the landscape

 

[doc spring _work]

12 days later, this is the most growth I've seen from any tree I've had, I need to get the stuff together because I'm definitely doing some air layers this weekend.

I think on the main stock im going to let it develop a cascade branch as the weight of the new foliage has taken a side branch and tipped it downwards, in the future I may prune to encourage this to become the leader, (I know cascades aren't a natural habit for these...)

Alternatively there is a good branch from the former leader that could take over.

This fall I intend to move the tree into a wide (mostly) shallow pot probably about~ 3 Inches tall to burry the graft line and allow it to overcome the graft rootstock.. is this too much for this plant this year? Removing about a third of the woody tissue (not overall biomass, it's getting quite happy lower) then a repot?

(Sorry I guess this didn't get bumped with my reply )

 

[Wulfskaar]

@doc spring _work Earlier this year, I made a $13 (?) donation to the Arbor Day Foundation and they sent me 10 x 1-year-old BCs. Might be worth a shot for some very cheap trees that will save you a year or more of growing.

They are all planted together and since it's been getting hotter, I've been filling up the tub with water. It drains very slowly, but BC don't mind being submerged when it's really hot outside. I would not be afraid to submerge to soil level on hot days.

Also, the young ones get only morning sun and are growing like crazy, so I think in your area, it might be a good idea to limit exposure to blazing summer sun, at least for the hottest days.

 

[doc spring _work]

@doc spring _work Earlier this year, I made a $13 (?) donation to the Arbor Day Foundation and they sent me 10 x 1-year-old BCs. Might be worth a shot for some very cheap trees that will save you a year or more of growing.

They are all planted together and since it's been getting hotter, I've been filling up the tub with water. It drains very slowly, but BC don't mind being submerged when it's really hot outside. I would not be afraid to submerge to soil level on hot days.

Also, the young ones get only morning sun and are growing like crazy, so I think in your area, it might be a good idea to limit exposure to blazing summer sun, at least for the hottest days.

Yeah, I currently have it placed between two rose of Sharon that are quite large so it only gets direct sun from about 7-11

As for arbor day... ... I bought 100 seedlings from them with the intention of growing quantity to try and prevent idle hands (since the previous year I over worked several trees) however both the 50 bald cypress and 50 redbuds came far too late in the year, with mold all over their roots and buds... Least to say they didn't manage to break dormancy.

I forgot what website I was going to order from this year but I did have the intention of ordering more BC- (I adore this species so much and the SHOULD be able to grow out here..) but I was simply following up on comments. It's possible that this variety as a dwarf may have issues standard stock doesn't have- heat intolerance or possibly even inability to handle full submersion.

The soil was never not nice and wet and I was seeing fantastic growth, so I'm ultimately unsure what caused the tree to see a decline, it may be heat stress just from the inescapable 100+ degree weather... Could be lack of humidity... Could be anything with a combination of factors that I missed on since it's a new variety and I'm incredibly new to bonsai still- all I can do is observe and assume what could be the cause of observed phenomenon.

Heat + humidity just seems the most likely since these trees don't necessarily grow outside of humid areas (nativity).

I do fully intend to work on more of these and to distribute them to several growing areas to reduce the chance of small events (like multiple hot days) from wiping my population out

 

[doc spring _work]

Purchased some new seedlings (hopefully these are in better condition)

Has anyone done exposed root with bald cypress? I have a design in mind, I'm thinking of an exposed root forest.

Based on roughly based on this scarified tree from the 2025 national expo. im thinking about growing a few bald cypress in some of my 3~ish foot narrow pots. Then doing a forest that has the bottom section being mostly exposed roots and the tops being more twisty scared trees.

Either way I'll let you all know what I figured out about growing the standard stock in the desert.

 

[Cajunrider]

Removed the wire on my first attempt at cascade BC.

 

[Michigan Tree Murderer]

For those who are working on branch building. How do you guys combat hard cutting on BC? My biggest issue I come across is I'll let a secondary branch grow out and lignify, cut it back hard, and it just refuses to back bud on that secondary branch. Instead it'll often times send out bud at the base of the branch or further back on the actual main branch. I find this to be the case whether it's an apical branch or a lower branch. I'm wondering if maybe I'm not leaving enough of the branch I'm wanting bifurcation from or what. Typically I leave about an 1" or so of the branch I'm wanting back budding on.

I'm following this advice. I haven't practiced it yet , but thought I'd share my plans with you.

https://gnobs.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Bald-Cypress-as-Bonsai-part-E.pdf