Taxodium ascendens...I know it's a pond cypress...

15 years ago

....but can I plant it in the yard? Crazy little fella has been living in a pot on the edge of the pond (a VERY small pot...she admits with shame) for two years now.

Time for him to get a permanent home since his roots are about a foot long. LOL

Do I actually have to create a bog area for it or can I just plant it in the dirt? (Please say I can...)

Thx!

andrea

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Comments (11)

pineresin
15 years ago
Just plant it, ordinary soil is OK. Uncoil any coiled roots at the bottom of the pot, and spread them out in the planting hole.

Resin
amccour
15 years ago
If it's like other Taxodiums, you only need the boggy conditions if you want knees, right?
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I just tossed the whole pot in a full bucket. The pot is about as tall as the bucket and an inch less in diameter. It just fits inside, and when completely full the water line is about and inch over the soil. If the rain didn't keep it full, I would top off with the hose until I saw water right at the soil line. I had several bald cypress that I had grown from seed, and this was just an experiment to see how it would work out. The tree did not seem to have any ill effects from just getting dunked, and immediately grew faster and more full than its counterparts just in pots, now I have them all in buckets. The seedlings really seem to appreciate the extra water in the summer. However, I do take them out of the buckets during the winter in case of freezing. The native Taxodium here grow where one day they are high and dry, and the next they are underwater for a couple of weeks or months. I don't think getting the roots totally submerged quickly will kill your trees in the short term, but they do grow naturally in seasonally flooded areas and can't seed directly into a permanent standing body of water. If I were you, I would plant yours right on the edge of the wet area, where the soil is wet in the summer, but they won't have the potential for ice damage in the winter. If you have a "tree to spare" I would go for gold and stick it out in the middle as an experiment to see how it handles the ice.
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boy i dont like that game ... choosing trees ... but i do know what toro will suggest.. lol .. he is some kind of dawn redwood freak .. lol ... i would start a new post.. since the subject is different.. and throw in a pic or two ... and see what the gurus suggest ... include soil type.. lot size .. etc ... but i do favor oaks ... mine hear near ann arbor.. after a year or two of getting established.. from 6 foot bare roots.. after 15 years.. are going on 30 feet plus ... doing 3 to 5 feet per year ... which is about as fast as you want.. on a heritage tree ... anything that grows faster than that... is probably not a great tree ... i would google up indiana state univ forestry program ... the forest school is usually at the old Ag college.. which is usually the one with state in its name.. and see if they have a list of things that are good for you ... and then discuss said list here ... i will see if i get lucky to make it easy for you: oh crikey ... IN state are the sycamores .. and the student section is the forest .. lol ... go figure.. all that wasted typing and its not the one with state in the name .. is purdue in IN .. lol... have you heard.. we have a new coach up here.. lol ... anyway.. see where the link might take you for recommended trees for IN ken https://www.google.com/search?q=indiana+state+univ+forestry+program&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8#q=purdue+forestry+program
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lou_spicewood_tx
15 years ago
Pond cypress doesn't produce knees like bald cypress (at least the eastern type; Central Texas BCs have less tendency to do that)
noki
15 years ago
Have read that Bald Cypress grow in ponds because they CAN unlike other trees... not that they prefer ponds, it's how they have avoided extinction. They can grow as well in normal conditions, reportedly.

As for dirt, they like more acidic soils and don't like lousy alkaline soils very much. Bald Cypress will turn yellowish in alkaline soils, I assume same for Pond Cypress.

Here is a link that might be useful: Taxodium info
pineresin
15 years ago
Yep, Noki is right.

Sorry Lou though, it does produce knees. It is Taxodium mucronatum that doesn't.

Resin
lou_spicewood_tx
15 years ago
Resin...

Do you ever spend much time in central Texas where bald cypress trees are? I'll take a closer look at them this summer... I just notice that they are distinctly different between central Texas BCs and eastern BCs when it comes to knees...

Noki,

Central Texas BCs CAN grow in alkaline soil unlike eastern ones. In fact, I've seen them growing directly into limestone bedrock along the springs or river. I've floated down Guadalupe river there many times and I don't remember seeing those kind of knees like in the east...

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:684715}}
lou_spicewood_tx
15 years ago
More pictures... I still don't see huge knees on them like eastern ones.

Here is a link that might be useful: Central Texas BCs
ademink
Original Author
15 years ago
So...my soil is alkaline b/c I live in Indiana (limestone country). Am I still ok to plant it?

Andrea (whose knees look like those of a BC)
lou_spicewood_tx
15 years ago
Where did you get PC seed from? If they are from local source, it couldn't hurt to try.

For Resin and Noki who are not familiar with central/south central Texas which is alkaline soil... check out the link.. I've been there for camping. Nice place...

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:684716}}
pineresin
15 years ago
Hi Lou - Pond Cypress (Taxodium ascendens, syn. Taxodium distichum var. imbricatum) isn't native in Texas; from Flora N America: "USA: North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana at 0-100 m elevation in blackwater rivers, lake margins, swamps, Carolina Bay lakes, pocosins, and wet, poorly drained, pine flatwoods"

Resin

PS I have been to central Texas ;-)
noki
15 years ago
Andrea... you have the tree already, plant the tree! It may do fine. Dig a nice hole, pamper with regular waterings if you want, should do okay.

Taxodium ascendens...I know it's a pond cypress...

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Taxodium ascendens...I know it's a pond cypress...

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