BillsBayou
Chumono
New location for digging bald cypress. Two things make this a great area; No clay in the roots; Odd genetics causing early deep flutes and rapid taper; Good trees are close to the road; Area is far enough out there to limit competition for material; Cops only care about speeders and don't care about us parking on the side of the highway. Five things, I guess.
I pulled seven trees today. The pics are all thumbnails.
1/7 This one is growing on a half buried log.
This is a panel of deadwood. The roots grew out, around, and back again.
This was the largest tree I ever pulled without any tools or saws.
Cleaned up nice. When you pull a big tree without cutting anything, you get a lot of roots.
Here's the odd root ball showing how the tree grew in the fallen trunk. Before I pot it, I'll cut most of this off.
2/7 This one needs a better photo. Much of the flutes are flat.
3/7 A large knee growing on the side of the trunk.
4/7 A smaller knee growing on this trunk.
Close up if the knee.
5/7 Here's one with a misshapen trunk and an even smaller knee on the trunk. The tree will take a while to develop the roots. I want to pot this as high as the flare. Can't do that until I get more fibrous roots higher up.
Close up of the little knee.
6/7 Another tree that needs a better photo. The cut scar is where I removed an ugly crossing root. I'm going to wait and see what happens to the scar before I figure out what to do with it. A little cut paste will be applied there.
7/7 Maybe my favorite. Root ball was much thicker. Because of the very fibrous roots, I could cut this one very shallow. I also trimmed excess roots that were between the flutes. Taper is also great.
You can see the other trees in tubs and cans in the background. They'll be there until I pot them in the next few days. You can also see a security cam on the house. Don't get any funny ideas.
This is the distribution of roots around the base. Just about as good as it gets.
I just noticed how square the root ball looks. This was dug last or near last. I got lazy with my usually circular cut pattern and just made straight cuts.
Along with great rootage, I found what might be the start of a knee. It looked more like the start of a knee before cleaning the roots. Somehow I managed to clean the roots without removing or damaging the root. I'll do what I can to develop the knee first.
BONUS PHOTO:
This tree appears to have broken in the past. Then a lead branch developed into the new trunk. I didn't dig this one, but it's damned weird. A natural development that resulted in an unnatural looking form.
I pulled seven trees today. The pics are all thumbnails.
1/7 This one is growing on a half buried log.
This is a panel of deadwood. The roots grew out, around, and back again.
This was the largest tree I ever pulled without any tools or saws.
Cleaned up nice. When you pull a big tree without cutting anything, you get a lot of roots.
Here's the odd root ball showing how the tree grew in the fallen trunk. Before I pot it, I'll cut most of this off.
2/7 This one needs a better photo. Much of the flutes are flat.
3/7 A large knee growing on the side of the trunk.
4/7 A smaller knee growing on this trunk.
Close up if the knee.
5/7 Here's one with a misshapen trunk and an even smaller knee on the trunk. The tree will take a while to develop the roots. I want to pot this as high as the flare. Can't do that until I get more fibrous roots higher up.
Close up of the little knee.
6/7 Another tree that needs a better photo. The cut scar is where I removed an ugly crossing root. I'm going to wait and see what happens to the scar before I figure out what to do with it. A little cut paste will be applied there.
7/7 Maybe my favorite. Root ball was much thicker. Because of the very fibrous roots, I could cut this one very shallow. I also trimmed excess roots that were between the flutes. Taper is also great.
You can see the other trees in tubs and cans in the background. They'll be there until I pot them in the next few days. You can also see a security cam on the house. Don't get any funny ideas.
This is the distribution of roots around the base. Just about as good as it gets.
I just noticed how square the root ball looks. This was dug last or near last. I got lazy with my usually circular cut pattern and just made straight cuts.
Along with great rootage, I found what might be the start of a knee. It looked more like the start of a knee before cleaning the roots. Somehow I managed to clean the roots without removing or damaging the root. I'll do what I can to develop the knee first.
BONUS PHOTO:
This tree appears to have broken in the past. Then a lead branch developed into the new trunk. I didn't dig this one, but it's damned weird. A natural development that resulted in an unnatural looking form.
Last edited: