Do you know how to care for Swamp Cypresses?

[ghostsword]

Hello.

I purchased a Swamp Cypress on ebay, the tree arrived in good condition, rather bare, but it will allow me to grow it and learn with it.

I am going away for one month, what would be the best way to keep it watered while I am away?

The small tree is about 20cm tall, but very wiry and thin.

Could I leave it on a pot of water on full sun for a month?

 

[Stu Worrall]

if youve got no one who can water it then you could plant it in one of your borders if you have a garden. just dig a hole, leave it in the pot and plant it with multi purpose compost around it. Normal rainfall should keep it alive.

If you haven got a garden but have an outside space then you could put it in a large container that will catch the rain. again you could put compost around it so it wont dry out in the small pot youve got it in now.

im oretty sure you could leave it in water for a month but you may want to shade it with something

 

[ghostsword]

Thanks.. I got a garden, will plant it on the soil or on a large pot so that it gets watered when the lawn is watered.

In winter I can place it on the shed so that it is protected from the frost, but can still go dormant with the cold.

Many thanks for the quick reply.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,
Luis they are fully hardy in London, they are deciduous, but they go a lovely colour in the autumn. They will grow in an ordinary garden, but they are better in or near water. There scientific name is "Taxodium distichum" and there are som big ones (with pnuematophores( by the ornamental lake at Kew Gardens.

http://apps.kew.org/trees/?page_id=170

cheers Darrel

 

[ghostsword]

Cheers Darrel,

You are indeed a vault of knowledge, thanks for the information.

I will pot it and place it outside, the little tree needs to grow a bit before I even start to treat it as bonsai .

The snow and winter shouldn't kill it, right?

 

[Stu Worrall]

depends on how hard your frosts are down there. the main thing in winter is to make sure it stays damp enough to live but not too damp in that it introduces root rot. Also even though it rains in the winter the wind can dry the soil in bonsai pots quite quickly

If you want the tree to grow before you work on it then plant it in the ground for a few years. It wont put on any trunk girth if it stays in that pot. Its also handy to weight the ends of the branches down on swamps as they get brittle when the branches grow and cant be bent downwards to give the aged look. Weighing them down with pegs or fishing weights when the branches are new helps them to set in that position.

I guess this is the look your going for? (but that would take quite a few years )

from here - http://www.cajunbonsai.com/largecypresspage.htm

 

[NeilW]

Loving that, really like the buttressed truck.

 

[ghostsword]

@ Stuworral

How big a pot would I need to pot it in? I am in London, and the weather for the past few winters has turned nasty. I could pot the tree on a 50cm square pot and let it "trunk up". When the bad weather comes I can cover it or move it to the shed, still very cold, but it would not freeze.

I will use the fishing weights idea, from next year on, let the tree grow a bit more.

It quite tall now, should I trim it? Or let it be?

Thanks for the help.