Bald Cypress #1 In-Training

[SexyGArdener]

I recently acquired this BC in a 5Gal container. The nebari seemed interesting so I had to pull the trigger. It's 10' tall with a diameter at base at about 2.5-3". It's currently sitting in shallow water because it hasn't been watered in a few days and the trunk didn't yield any green when scratched, but the branches were green under the bark. I'm just hoping it's going dormant and not dying. My plan for this coming Spring is to uncover some soil on the bottom left corner in picture 3 and cut the tap root or any roots underneath the current base and refill with nursery soil or heavy organic soil to grow in out for another year. The following spring, I would further reduce the surface roots closer to the base to get better ramification, because as you can see some roots are thick and circling the pot as is. I might consider doing some drastic roots reduction this coming spring if during the partial repotting I find decent amount of feeder roots to support recovery. I'm skeptical whether it would survive a 90-95% roots reduction, so I'm aiming for 60-70% for the first reduction with a follow-up in the following spring with further roots refinement work. Hopefully in 2024, I can perform a trunk chop to perhaps 10-12" high to start building taper. I like to conical style for the 1st decade of its development and transition to the flat top as knees develop.

 

[AcerAddict]

Welcome to the site!

Good looking start so far on that BC. I'm surprised that it's only in a 5-gallon pot, considering it's 10' tall. The one I bought a couple months ago is only 7' tall, but the nursery had it in a 15-gallon pot. If I read correctly, you don't plan on moving it out of that pot until 2023?

 

[SexyGArdener]

Welcome to the site!

Good looking start so far on that BC. I'm surprised that it's only in a 5-gallon pot, considering it's 10' tall. The one I bought a couple months ago is only 7' tall, but the nursery had it in a 15-gallon pot. If I read correctly, you don't plan on moving it out of that pot until 2023?

I just checked my receipt and it's in a 7 Gallon container. Since Bald Cypresses can tolerate wet growing medium, I see no reason to pot it in bonsai soil in the near future. My plan is to just uncover 1/5 of the soil (pie section) where there's not a big root protruding from the trunk to insert my lopper/saw and cut the tap root. Pull that tap root out with everything attached and refill the void with spare nursery soil or even garden soil. My main concern beyond this propose root work is that the thick surface roots that you see in the pictures have been expose to the elements for unknown amount of time so I'm unsure if the feeder roots near the surface are alive/healthy. I would love to chase those back to within 3 inches of the trunk and develop ramification to hopefully get it to fit an appropriate size pot by 2023/2024. Currently, the 7 gallon container is 14" diameter across and the thick roots are circling it. I will reduce at least 2 of those back, but I don't want to risk its vigor with extensive root work. I did extensive root work on my Acer Palmatum - Shishigashira this spring and it gave me zero growth; it's limping along and so I took some air layers just in case the worst scenario happens. I'll probably baby it this winter and reassess next spring. I'll do another post with the 1 remaining air-layer still attached just as an experiment going into next year. Stay tune.

 

[bwaynef]

I will reduce at least 2 of those back, but I don't want to risk its vigor with extensive root work.

I have hardly any experience with BC, but I know that when they're collected from the swamps they're treated almost as a cutting because they've had so many roots removed. Also, you might have better roots/spread under what is apparent. As it is, the trunk has no taper.

 

[SexyGArdener]

I have hardly any experience with BC, but I know that when they're collected from the swamps they're treated almost as a cutting because they've had so many roots removed. Also, you might have better roots/spread under what is apparent. As it is, the trunk has no taper.

It may have better nebari underneath, but by removing the thick roots (roughly 7) you see there will leave many ugly scars around the trunk so I rather work with what I see so far. Unless the nebari is phenomenal underneath, I doubt it's worth the hassle. I'll develop taper through a series of truck chops in a few years once the roots are addressed and vigor regained. I think I got lucky with this nursery material of this quality for ~$60. I got another bald cypress (#2) from Lowes because it has interesting movements up top which I will air layer once it get some thickness to it in a few year.