I assembled this Bald cypress forest a couple of years ago. It’s done all right, but it’s also had its challenges. I’ve neglected this planting in favor of other bonsai, but this year I decided it was time to bring it back to “life.”
All but one of the trees in this group is still alive; the smallest trunk to the left succumbed last year. Also, the trunk to the right of that one suffered some dieback last year, and its growth is now very non-forest-like. So both of those need replacing.
The dead one is gone.
The non-conformer is gone.
I had extra seedlings I grew last year, so decided to make this a seven-tree forest again (that’s how it was originally designed).
The tallest trees have been trimmed back. My goal is to use grow-and-clip to the greatest extent I can.
A little more trimming of the tallest trees, followed by top-dressing of the soil.
Now I wait for everything to finish coming out, and we’ll see how the reforested forest grows this year.
Zach this is amazing keep me posted on thi$
Will do, Greg.
Zach—how late would you wait to do root work and plant a forest? I have seen videos of John Geanangle chopping and repotting BC clumps as late as Father’s day. I have 3 tall ones I got at Lowes last year and chopped them down to about 30” or so and would like to get them into a single training pot this spring. They are the only ones of my 10 BC that are dormant but I don’t expect that to last long. They’re in nursery pots still so will need about 1/2 cut off the roots just to get them into a training pot. Thanks—Larry
Larry, if your trees are healthy you have a lot of latitude. Once the first flush of growth is past, you can prune both top and bottom and the trees should recover fine. You can also do it when the trees are coming into bud.
Looks better than the original, Zac. Is it still early enough in your area to space the 3 main trunks less evenly?
Grow and clip is a good way for styling forests.
Good job. pk
Thanks, Pierre. Definitely still time to adjust positions a bit.
How tall are the trees now and how tall will you let them reach?
About 24″, Charles. That should be the finished height.