I have a grafted Shawnee Brave Bald Cypress approx 50' downhill from a few Black Walnuts & 25' from the dripline. It's in moist clay - the water is run-off from up by the Walnut trees. It's growing so slow, less than 8" per year, & the needle/leaves are very short compared to other specimens I've seen. It looks chlorotic, but pH is neutral - I'm considering composting it. It's just not right... I had a 2nd Shawnee Brave w/ same growth issues, 12' closer to the BW. One winter this BC suddenly died back to the graft after 2 or 3 yrs growing. It resprouted below the graft as common BC, beautiful green fast growing stems - 36" in 1 season - but alot of those stems died over the next winter, then it shot up new stems... Eventually I got rid of it - I didn't need a Bald Cypress 'shrub'. I assumed the appearance & issues were caused by poor roots due to clay, but when I dug up the 1st tree I was surprised how deep & strong the roots grew in just a few years. I still think the problem is the planting location or Shawnee Brave weaknesses, but maybe juglone can stunt Bald Cypress growth.

It's hard to tell without a close-up shot but this simply looks like a sucker branch...common to find on many plants and trees. Suckers come out on top of basically the same bud location as a previous branch and often grow as fast or faster than the original branch. That's also why it is growing out straighter. I would definitely cut the upper sucker branch out before the others begin to give it room. I think the rest of your tree will hold it's natural shape much better. JMO......mark

I stumbled across this thread and read with interest. I have an @ 8 year in ground Peve Minaret Bald Cypress planted in wet clay soil here in PNW, south end of WA. We chose this tree because we fell in love with the soft ferny needles & the interesting bark. It has developed knees quite a distance from the trunk. Because I prune it to maintain size, it has a pretty interesting branch structure all winter. I was hesitant to prune but from research on the conifer society site I learned this tree is very amenable to pruning. The conifer garden in the Oregon Garden Resort in Silvedale, OR has a couple of Peve Minarets which are pruned and they’re gorgeous speciman trees. These are older pics from 2016 & 2020 - You can see from the 4 year size difference why I needed to prune. I believed the plant tag info of a 10’ mature height. Our moderate temps & wet winters make many plants far exceed their nursery tag growth descriptions!

Mr. Breeze, I don't know exactly when you planted it, or if it was container grown, ball-and-burlap, or containerized (grown in the ground and then dug, root-pruned and put into a container rather recently before you bought it), but it wouldn't surprise me if what you are seeing is transplant shock. Newly transplanted trees often show signs of transpant shock (yellowing and browning of leaves is one symptom, and in severe cases dropping leaves is another) and can show delayed transplant shock anytime in the first year after they are planted. Are you keeping it nice and moist? Remember that in its native habitat it often grows in swamps and, while it is well-adapted to many different kinds of locations, it still will need more water than some other trees would, especially while it is young. You also might consider your soil pH as a possible issue. Baldcypress grows best in slightly acidic to slightly neutral soil, so if your soil is on the alkaline side, that will add to the yellowing. If you haven't had a soil test, it might be worth getting one just to be sure that there's nothing wrong with your soil that is contributing to the yellowing of the foliage. Sometimes, even when the soil has plenty of iron, it is not in a form usable by the tree or a deficit of some other nutrient, like potassium, interferes with iron uptake. Is the tree evenly yellowing, from top to bottom, or did it yellow first on old foliage or on new growth? Sometimes the manner in which it is yellowing provides a clue. If it were my tree (well, and it wouldn't be because my soil and water are too alkaline for it to be happy.....8 to 8.2, and it needs a pH roughly in the 5.5 to 7.5 range), I'd be inclined to give it a feeding of a fertilizer containing iron if you didn't feed it when you planted it. I'd also topdress with greensand, and work some into the soil slightly outside the area currently occupied by the roots, so they can take up the nutrients from the greensand. A fertilizer with iron would be a quick fix if chlorosis is the issue and greensand would be more of a long-term fix. Greensand often helps chlorotic trees because they often are having trouble talking up iron due to a lack of potassium in the soil, and the greensand (glauconite) puts that potassium into the soil. I don't know of a way to distinguish yellowing caused by drought stress from yellowing caused by either chlorosis or transplant shock. All yellowing can tell you is that your tree is stressed. If it were to start dropping foliage, that likely would be transplant shock and I'd keep it evenly moist, but not soggy to help it recover. Good luck with your tree, Dawn