Nursery Bald Cypress: A Good Tree For Beginners

By Thomas J.

The Bald Cypress, also known as Taxodium Distichum is a tree that is very common in my part of the world; that being the southern portion of the United States. In these parts, you don't have to go to the swamps to see Bald Cypress. In fact you can see them almost everywhere. In mall parking lots and along streets at curbside. There is of course a big difference, appearence wise, from the city dwellers to those found in the swamps. The difference being the huge buttressed trunk found on those that live their lives in the swamps. In fact it is the water that causes the trunk to swell, and in many cases to cause knees to grow up out of the water also. Most bonsai enthusiasts who admire Bald Cypress, don't have the opportunity to go to the swamps to hunt down that tree that's going to be their favorite in their collection of trees, myself included. I also don't want to be sharing someone elses habitat in my quest to fulfill my dreams of having the best collected tree in these here parts. In case you don't know what I'm talking about it's snakes, and whatever else might call a swamp home.

And that's where this article begins. I really wasn't very big on Bald Cypress bonsai for the simple reason: I didn't see any that were very impressive looking. Most of them just looked like stumps with a few branches growing anywhere they pleased. But looking at some of the ones I have seen growing in their natural environment made me think that this would still be a good tree to try and see what I could do to make a good specimen. I also felt that if it worked out the way I hoped it would, that it would make a good tree for beginners to work on.

Since swamp hunting isn't an option, how about a local nursery or garden center such as Wal-Mart or Home Depot. I checked out both of these, but couldn't find a Bald Cypress that had what I was looking for, which was a tree with a really good tapered trunk. I know many beginners search out their local nurseries for material to use for bonsai. In most cases the roughest looking stock will be used because of the similarties to collected trees. In this case the taper of the trunk is the most important factor to consider.

Your search might take you to quite a few nurseries, but don't give up until your totally satisfied that you've found the right tree. This is what I had to do until I finally found one at a nursery that I used to frequent when I first got started in bonsai.

Even though the taper at the base of the trunk wasn’t anything near what you would find growing in the swamps, I knew that I could get a fairly decent looking bonsai that would be in proportion as to width of trunk and height of tree. Because your Bald Cypress will be styled in what's known as a Formal Upright style, there is a specific rule that applies. The rule concerning this is; height equals six times the width of the base. That’s why when you go shopping for your Bald Cypress, you’ve got to find something with a trunk that has some kind of taper to it. My particular tree was at least twelve feet in height, with all the growth on the upper four feet. That is most likely the way yours will be also. I also had some very small growth about two feet up, and since this was my first experience with Bald Cypress, I didn’t know that after you trunk chop one of these trees, they will back bud profusely anyway. So don’t be concerned at all about growth down low when your shopping around.

Another thing you’ll have to consider, is the time of year to purchase your tree and do the work. I first spotted my tree in Aug. when the temperature was around 105deg. It also had to be dug up at this particular nursery, container and all. I decided to wait until Nov. to purchase the tree, because digging it up then would be less risky. The tree stayed at its original height until late Dec. when I did my first trunk chop, which wasn’t anywhere near the final height. Since the roots on Bald Cypress need some protection from extreme cold, I did the rough chop then just to be able to get it out of the weather and be able to shelter it. The only time of year to purchase your tree if you want to work on it immediately, is in late winter or very early spring.

In the southern part of the U.S. that would be in Feb. At this time you can safely do a trunk chop, and work on the roots, which will consist of cutting off the tap root and reducing the mass. The wood on Bald Cypress is very soft compared to most other trees, and you shouldn’t have any trouble cutting the trunk or even the roots, as they too are pretty soft, especially the tap root.

Before you make the trunk chop, measure the base of the trunk and apply the rule that I mentioned earlier; height equals six times the width. Leave a few more inches to the height to see where your tree will start popping buds for the new leader. Hopefully it will be close to where it needs to be. You’ll then come back later to make the final chop. Notice on the picture to the left where my new leader bud came out.

As for the roots, you’ll need to either purchase another nursery container, or use the same one it came in after you do the root pruning. Sorry, but no bonsai pot for the first two years. Mostly likely your tree was purchased in a fifteen or twenty gallon container, and that will be a lot of roots to cut off for the first time. Your main goal here is to get some good fine roots to grow in that two year time frame. After the two years, you can make another hard cut on the root system, and hopefully at this time you will be able to put your tree in a bonsai pot.

All you have to do now is wait for the first buds to start popping. My Bald Cypress was one of the last one of my trees to bud in the spring which was around the middle of March. So if all your other trees have budded and your Bald Cypress hasn’t, just give it a little more time. Once you start to see buds, and hopefully that will be about four to six weeks since you repotted, it is then safe to start fertilizing. I fertilized mine every ten days with Mir-Acid because I read that Bald Cypress being a conifer, it would appreciate this acid type of fertilization. I’m sure that any well balanced fertilizer would work though.

As you can tell by the next picture, the tree just exploded with new growth.

This picture was taken within two months of the first one. This is the kind of growth you should also see in your tree.

The thing that will probably surprise you the most though, is how fast your top leader will thicken up. These trees grow real strong on top and before you know it, it will be time to decide on your final chop. Here’s how to do that.

Once the leader has hardened enough, even though it will still be green, cut it down to about three inches. Remember you still have the original trunk behind the new leader and it has to be cut off and the cut will be tapered. In order not to hurt the new leader when you cut this portion of the trunk off you will probably need to use a coping saw as I did. This is a very thin bladed saw that you can get from any hardware store for around five dollars.

This concludes part one. Look for part two, the conclusion, soon!