A couple of years ago I planted some Bald cypress seeds in a cutoff 3-gallon nursery pot. I did nothing to them, just let them do their thing. I’ve had my eye on the dominant tree for a while now, figuring I’d split up the group and plant them separately into their own pots or the ground. But today I wondered if maybe I didn’t have a BC forest ready-made for me. After all, there are seven trees to start with and they’re actually spaced apart pretty nicely. You know how I love to slip-pot trees.
I’m sure you’ve already figured out that this BC planting is set apart by how tall the trees are. I love the way a tall-tree cypress forest looks, and this one is exaggerated beyond what you’d normally do on purpose. The tallest tree did need some trimming, so that was a quick chore (I’ll probably need to do more during the growing season).
The best way to really show off the height of this forest is to plant it in an undersized pot. I had this lovely Ashley Keller round sitting on the bench, and it’s just the ticket.
Here’s the group unpotted and with most of the soil removed. The roots are nicely grown together. They’ll only need some light trimming.
The trees are placed. They’ll need some wire to make them go in exactly the right spots.
And here we are, with the pot filled with soil and the trees wired and positioned. I think this makes a nice composition. The trees are budding now, so they should be in leaf in another couple of weeks. Let me know what you think.
Does anyone have advice on how and when to cut this? I want to train it as a formal upright, so that it kind of resembles a tall redwood. I am in love with this tree and it’s my first BC, so i don’t want to screw it up! Any advice is appreciated. It also has a cluster of branches growing at about 12″ from the top – if i cut just below there, is there a chance I can grow the top as a cutting and use the cluster of branches to form knees?
(Sorry having trouble attaching pics. It’s about 5ft tall, maybe 1.5″ trunk)
Superb. We don’t get much opportunity to work with this species here in the Uk. I managed to get hold of a couple of seedlings a couple of years ago. One died the other thrived and I am working it up to be a flat top bonsai. Maybe I should takevsome cuttings and try a forest. Do they strike well or should I try hard wood cuttings next winter?
Thank you, Sid. I can’t claim any knowledge of striking BC cuttings, as I have never had need to do so (we can literally collect thousands of seeds each year, and the germination rate is excellent). You’ve got nothing to lose, so I’d say give it a go.