The best time to plant a Bald Cypress in a pond is in the winter when the tree is dormant. Bald Cypress can survive inundation year round. The tree is great for wildlife habitat and is the 2007 Municiple Arborists tree of the year. You never have to water them ever again!
Nelson
Planting in winter...is a bit of a problem for me. I like your swamp cypress, though.
This is a very attractive tree to me. I love the fall color before the needles drop. Planting them in the dead of winter isn't an option for me either unless of course one has a jack hammer. I agree with you these trees are great for wildlife.
The tree is great for wildlife habitat
I mentioned good for wildlife because of some observations. Out of all the ponds in Fremont. This one pond has over 100 Bald Cypress growing. In this pond I have seen dozens of Turtles, Frogs, Fish, Wood Ducks, Night Herons, Green Hurons, Blue Herons, Egrets, Ospreys, Mallards and Coots.
The water is clear and shaded by the trees. The trees form living islands of refuge where the birds feel secure. The trees also help digest phoshates and nitrates. The trees on the banks send out wide roots along the edges for excellent erosion control.
As the trees mature they create a healthy environment, even humans flock to them in their daily walks. I added Dawn Redwoods, Montezuma cypress, Pond cypress to the mix. I even have Nyssa aquatica growing in the water for the last five years. I acquired wetland trees from eastern USA
to add. swamp ash, swamp privet, swamp hickory, swamp oak, sabal palms. Many others not mentioned.
Resin makes a valid point regarding wildlife given those trees were planted in California. They certainly are beautiful trees though.
I think I'm missing the point.
I was walking around the cypress grove this morning and seen wildlife everywhere. Bald Cypress did grow in California before the last few Ice ages. Maybe they are grandfathered in as natives trying to re-establish themselves second time around.
Right now I'm in the process of planting Calycanthus fertilis, C. floridus, and Fothergilla major and gardenii. Those plants are great wildlife plants... particularly if they are planted in their native range. I'm slightly north and a tad bit west of their native range but I am planting them anyway because as you noted, some indigenous critter will benefit from their existence but they aren't grandfathered in as natives trying to re-establish themselves the second time around after the ice age. Basically, the plants you and I are choosing to plant are indigenous to the continent of NA but not indigenous to our state or in my particular situation to my county therefore they are an introduced species. It's always best to use species that are indigenous to one's local area when working in a natural area that is being restored but you and I aren't doing that. We're trying to provide habitat with plants available and my property was beyond degraded.
In an area where woodland is the natural climax vegetation, planting non-native trees is better than having no trees at all, but native trees are even better.
Well attested in upland northern Britain where the native forest (Scots Pine, Sessile Oak, Wych Elm, etc) was almost entirely cleared for sheep and deer farming in the 12th-18th centuries, and now forestry plantations of Sitka Spruce are widely planted for timber production. The Sitka Spruce forests are much richer in wildlife than the denuded hills, but still not as rich as forests of the native species. They plant Sitka Spruce because it produces about 4x as much timber per hectare as the native species.
Resin
Thank you for your great insight and I understand better. I think us humans could help out the animals more. I do plant natives in riparian and hill areas to keep a good balance. But for a diverse community lies a very diverse forest. Future tree lovers not born yet will love a diverse urban forest.
Nelson
But for a diverse community lies a very diverse forest. Future tree lovers not born yet will love a diverse urban forest
Bald Cypress is native to S.W. Indiana and I have collected some cones from a very large, well formed tree. I have a 12-foot young tree in my yard and a few seedlings growing in the tree lot behind the house. I got the seedlings from someone who gives them away at Earth Day each year. Now I would like to stratify the seeds I collected and try to start my own seedlings to plant and to give away. I smashed the cones and extracted maybe two hundred or so seeds, and put them in a small tupperware container in the refrigerator for the past month.
Now that we've had a few frosty mornings in the upper 20s, should I go collect some more cones and take the seeds out? How long do I leave the seeds in the refrigerator? Do they need to be layered into damp peat in the tupperware container? When do I put them into small nursery containers to sprout? How deep do I plant them in the container medium? Boy, I have a lot of questions! Is this the right place to ask about Bald Cypress seed stratification, etc. or is there a better forum for my questions?
pr
just soak them in water for 24 hours and spread them on a flat of potting soil towards the surface. Keep them wet and they will germinate, Keep them out of the greenhouse as they can get fungus.
Anyone have experience with Bald Cypress in zone 5? I could plant some in a wooded area near the Sugar River in southern Wisconsin. Do they actually thrive in areas with standing water? On a river bank? My brothers cleared the woods this summer and it's ripe for planting. Currently it has stands of burr oak and black walnut. When we were kids (30+ years ago) we planted white pines to form a hedge row which is now full grown. It's time for the grandchildren to make their contribution. The lovely trees in Resin's photo would be a stunning addition.
[IMG]http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb221/swamptreenelly/GRAUPOTENIAL.jpg[/IMG]
Plant them and see how they do. If you going to plant them in the pond than wait till they are dormant, They can take full inundation year round.
In Chicago the Bald Cypress is being planted heavily by the city. They're all over the place and some are quite big and beautiful now. They're great because there's virtually no clean up.
We have been planting them all over our City of Union City, Ca. too. On Make A Difference Day 2007 we planted Bald Cypress, Pond Cypress, Montezuma Cypress, Dawn Redwood, China Fir, Japanese Red Cedar and flowering trees along a Blvd.
Before I started working for Union City we were planting them inside ponds in the winter when they were dormant. We have a nice Cypress dome growing in Fremont, Ca. I heard they were growing in California before the last few ice ages.
The older they get the better they look!
I planted a Taxodium distichum Bald Cypress in my woodland garden area 2003. It is now close to 8 feet tall, and was very pretty this fall. I planted that particular one because is supposed to grow quite well in dryer locations. which my woodland area definitely is.
Donna
Donna,
Your tree looks more like a Taxodiun ascendens Pond Cypress, not Bald cypress.
Nelson
Nelson, I bought it from FF labeled as Taxodium ascendens distichum Bald Cypress. It is cylindrical in growth and nice golden brown color in fall. My soil is sandy and alkaline, so I feel lucky that it grows. I do use a pineneedle mulch and scatter some sulfur pellets around it. And you are probably right that it is a Pond Cypress.
Donna
Here's a new one that I haven't seen out there yet. TAXODIUM DISTICHUM 'FALLINGWATER'
http://pendulousplants.com/
I didn't look for that but if you like that look this site is great.
I think that 'Falling Water' will grow upright on its own, once it gets a leader established and gets to a certain height. I believe that 'Cascade Falls' needs to be staked to get any height at all.
Todd,
Where did you take that photograph?
Thanks,
Mike
Pond cypress (T.ascendens) is common in the lower lying "swamp" areas around here. Unfortunately they are being crowded out by invasives, so natural reproduction is almost non existent. Bald cypress (T.distichum) is common along the major rivers and is usually associated with moving water.
The pond cypress takes year round inumdation very well in California. Zone 9a,
Almost better than the Bald Cypress and tupelo Nyssa aquatica.
Hi Mike,
Yeah, 'Falling Water' has a central leader opposed to 'Cascade Falls'. I took the picture of my tree. It's an import from Italy....
Todd
