Kiwi's Small Bald Cypress

SpOoNzL

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Hi all,

I Purchased 2 bald cypress trees a few months ago in autumn and have waited for the best time (that I thought) to come along and chop them down.
I decided to chop the thickest trunk one of the 2 that I have and maybe plant the other one in the ground for a few years.
So yesterday It was a nice day and decided to get the job done and chop the big one up.
It had a pretty good root system on a good root plan lower down so end up taking only about 50% of the higher roots off (you can see the scares)
it also had surprisingly good root flare developing lower down (wish I took a pic)

should I have cut lower?

here are the results.

059 is the front.
 

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Shibui

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How low to chop really depends on your vision. Low chops add better taper but take longer to grow back to full height. Higer chop can be used if you intend to go for a flat top mature BC style.
That chop will do for now. Wait for all the new shoots to grow a bit then you can choose the best on for a new leader and recut the trunk on an angle to give best taper and direction.
BC and Dawn redwood both seem to grow great basal flare without much help so what you have discovered below ground is normal rather than the exception.
Plenty of water over summer. Even stand the pot in a shallow tray of water for most of summer. These are swamp trees and do not like getting dry.
 

SpOoNzL

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When I did the trunk chop on this on I also cut all the branches off from the remaining top of it, managed to get about 30-40 branches of cuttings from it. If I manage to get a few to survive ill do a Bald Cypress forest planting. Also the 2nd Bald Cypress I had I didn't end up planting in the ground, I just put it into a bonsai pot. I didn't cut any foliage or roots instead I am trying a tourniquet on it with some 4mm wire. Hopefully it will pop radial roots above the strangled point as the tree grows.
 

SpOoNzL

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Hi all, just wanting to know how long the new shoots need to be to rechop the top of Bald cypress? and should it be done flat or angled (the cut that is). Cheers.
 

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KiwiPlantGuy

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Hi all, just wanting to know how long the new shoots need to be to rechop the top of Bald cypress? and should it be done flat or angled (the cut that is). Cheers.

Hi,
So it depends on your vision like finished tree.

Informal upright - choose one leader mid to late summer and cut off the rest. Wait a year (next Spring) and cut at an angle (45deg) so when it callouses the transition is smoother.
Other designs - um, still gotta wait til second trunk is 2/3rds the girth of your main trunk then cut to transition etc - eg. Flat top on top of that etc.
So if you are in too much of a hurry you damage a bud or three and have to wait for the tree to create a new leader - months lost.
Hope that helps as I have a few Bald cypresses to play and learn with too 👍.
Charles
 

SpOoNzL

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Decided to put some wire on today, branches are still pretty thin and bendable. ended up breaking a branch but oh well. Yesterday I also managed to pick up another Bald Cypress from Mitre10 was $39.60 and talked to one of the staff and asked if I could have this one discounted as the top 2 feet was dead and it looked unhealthy compared to the other swamp cypress's beside it. She came back at me and said $5. I was like SOLD!! might put this in a big bucket for this year since summer is just starting I should be able to just slip pot it I think?. Anyway here's some pics.
 

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SpOoNzL

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Here an update pic I took on Jan 20th put on quite abit of growth since and looks like another flush is going to happen soon. I have been growing it in this 10l plastic box that holds water, keeping the water level about 1-2 inches all throughout the summer, changing the water at least weekly. I am now wondering for how long should I keep letting it grow with some submerged roots with fall approaching?
 

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SpOoNzL

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End of summer update pic. I have lots of roots growing out the bottom of the container, and am still growing the tree partially submerged. I'm unsure when to trim of these roots, do I do it when the needles drop and I trim up the structure as I plant to remove quite a few branches, or do I wait till spring when I plant to repot to sort out the roots better? any help be appreciated cheers.
 

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KiwiPlantGuy

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End of summer update pic. I have lots of roots growing out the bottom of the container, and am still growing the tree partially submerged. I'm unsure when to trim of these roots, do I do it when the needles drop and I trim up the structure as I plant to remove quite a few branches, or do I wait till spring when I plant to repot to sort out the roots better? any help be appreciated cheers.

Hi,
Um, writing from a no-idea kind of place. So we don’t have really cold winters here, apart from central Otago, as I think you could prune this whenever although safest in Spring.
Leaving 1 leader and pruning all other “trying to be leaders” and only leaving the two bottom wired branches. I don’t know otherwise as this my best guess.
I read up all threads I can find about developing BC, especially @Mellow Mullet as John does a great write up and his blog has lots of development details too.
Charles
 

Mellow Mullet

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End of summer update pic. I have lots of roots growing out the bottom of the container, and am still growing the tree partially submerged. I'm unsure when to trim of these roots, do I do it when the needles drop and I trim up the structure as I plant to remove quite a few branches, or do I wait till spring when I plant to repot to sort out the roots better? any help be appreciated cheers.


Hello there, SpOoNzL, you have a nice start for your BC. I always remove mine from the water once the foliage starts to turn for the fall, it is not growing anymore, so it doesn't need that much water, just water it like the rest of your trees in winter. I usually cut any roots off that have grown out of the drain holes at that time too, or sometimes I am lazy and leave them, doesn't hurt either way.

You could prune, remove branches now, just seal the wounds, but I would wait until Spring or at least until the leaves fall. That way, you can get a good look at what you have, what needs to go, and what you want to keep. It looks like you have a couple of good candidates for your new leader. Pick one in the Spring and then angle/carve the top of the trunk. I have had some trouble with die-back at the top if you carve in the fall/winter when there is no sap flow.

John
 

SpOoNzL

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@KiwiPlantGuy @Mellow Mullet Thanks for the help. As I have 2 leaders I like the angle the smaller one is coming out more then the other bigger one, would it be wise to prune the bigger one off or shorter now? Would that help thicken the smaller one while I still I have maybe 3-5 weeks of growing left?
 

SpOoNzL

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Well after thinking long and hard about this tree over the weekend I decided to carve the top out on an angle. The tree looks like it is about to put on another flush of growth so hopefully with still a month+ of growing left the tree can make a start on healing the wound and thickening up the one obvious leader.
 

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KiwiPlantGuy

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Well after thinking long and hard about this tree over the weekend I decided to carve the top out on an angle. The tree looks like it is about to put on another flush of growth so hopefully with still a month+ of growing left the tree can make a start on healing the wound and thickening up the one obvious leader.

Hi,
Thought I would comment here as we do well giving each other help etc.
My concern is the you have all your branches and trunk in a smallish area and with trunk swelling of what you have would lead to inverse taper. I think in Spring you could remove almost all the branches, leaving just the trunk and a couple of the skinny branches.
My opinion and all,
Charles
 

SpOoNzL

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Hi,
Thought I would comment here as we do well giving each other help etc.
My concern is the you have all your branches and trunk in a smallish area and with trunk swelling of what you have would lead to inverse taper. I think in Spring you could remove almost all the branches, leaving just the trunk and a couple of the skinny branches.
My opinion and all,
Charles
Your right I removed the bottom left branch that was creating a T and also removed a back branch. The tree now has 4 branches and the main leader, Ideally I guess should have done all this work a month ago but got abit greedy trying to leave the branches on abit longer to help develop more health/roots. Luckily the swelling in that area hasn't reached the inverse taper stage yet so I think its been caught at the right time. Thanks for your input as I would of probley of left the extra branches on for longer.
 

SpOoNzL

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Here is a fall pic update, quite happy with the progress in under a year. I am thinking of repotting this into a smaller pot in spring as I would like to keep this one quite small maybe 35-40cm tall. Also picked up another 8 foot tall Bald Cypress that I plan on air layering in spring. The tree I got for $5 is still fully green while all my other BC/Deciduous have changed to there fall colour or lost there leaves - kind of weird.
 

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