Hoping to plant some bald cypress trees and possible tupelo trees in my pond. Whats the ideal depth and location to plant them? How large should i buy them from the nursery? Any tips on planting things underwater?
Thanks y'all.
It's too cold up here so I can't give any planting help with one exception. If your pond has a dam, don't plant any on the dam, or within about 30' of the dam. Tree roots will spread about the same width as the tree crown.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture notes that Bald cypress seeds do not germinate under water. Young seedlings eventually die if they are submerged longer than 30 days, according to the University of Florida. Therefore, plant young bald cypress trees at water's edge on firm soil or wait until a dry period lowers the water level. The seedling must establish in the moist soil with natural seasonal fluctuations of flood waters; only trees used to wet conditions over time readily survive constant submersion of their roots and lower trunk in water (less than 1 meter of constant submersion if memory serves me correct).
The only option to plant a constanlty submerged bald cypress would be using one that has already adapted to survive constant submersion. I do not know what the success rate would be to transplanting an older water adapted bald cypress from water to your pond would be.
Tupelo trees I have never dealt with.
Thanks, Tums!
I planted four when my pond was filling up, all in a couple feet of water-all died, now I know why.
I got lucky. I planted mine and then raised the water 1' later so they are submerged and alive. I used a plastic flashboard riser.
My nursery has some 18 footers ready to plant but they are in dry conditions at the moment. My pond is 3 feet away from full pond so I can plant them in dry soil but it wont stay dry for long. Do you think it has a good chance of surviving because of its maturity or would that be a detriment at this point? Thanks y'all. They also have good cottonwoods, river birches, and willows for sale that I will put at the waters edge. Im kinda impatient so Id rather not plant small tree.
DrLebel from what I know about them the bald cypress can adapt from dry to wet. I just do not know what to tell you about how long it would take to establish themselves to survive the transition. Sorry I can not give you the answer you are looking for. Maybe someone else on here knows and can chime in on that one.
The willows I have survived being planted and letting the roots establish themselves and then raising water around them. Here is a pic of a 20' willow I have planted in 15' of water.
and a link to a thread about willow in water with some other willows.
http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.ph...true#Post308728
Plant them on the watersedge.. They'll do good with the water fluctuation but not submerged constantly..
I am basically in your area with my lake being in North MS and I have planted both bald cypress and pond cypress at water's edge and a few inches above water's edge and all have survived and done very well. I also planted a dawn redwood a foot or so above water's edge and it has done well. The cypress will eventually send out knees in the lake as long as they are close enough to water's edge. All are beautiful trees and will do well.
Curious, DrLebel...did you try planting the bald cypress in the water? Did it work? I bought 3 7-8' cypress trees today to plant along the shoreline (in shallow water) in a small pond in SC. The country nursery that had them also had a 2-acre pond with about 15 of them in 1-3 feet of water surrounding it. They looked great, and he said he planted them in there years ago. Just curious if it worked for you.
Sorry, 4 months is a long time for a reply but just finished building a house and getting my erosion under control on my pond banks. To answer your question my bald cypress did survive the first year and is doing good in a foot of water. I made sure to buy it from the swampiest part of the nursery. Good luck.
They will definately grow with their bases submerged but will grow faster out of thr water just on its edge..
You can wait until around Sept when the water is low and add them. I wade out into the water dig a hole with a post hole digger, drop the plant in, and dump a couple of bags of sand around the trunk to hold it in until it roots. Cross your fingers and hope it adapts. They seem to do pretty well adapting.
Planted 5 bald cypresses this past winter along the pond edge, varying in depth between 2 - 4 ft water. Had to stake them up because it was too mucky on the bottom to hold them. So far, so good. They seem to be alive, but are not yet growing much. Assume they are adapting to an underwater environment. We also planted one on the water's edge just above the waterline, and it seems to be doing the best...but we assumed that would happen. It may take the others some time to adapt in that depth water, buried in a mucky bottom.
Hi anyone who might see this post! I was wondering if I could get an update on the success or failure of anyone who had tried planting bald cypress in water.
I live on a lake on top of Lookout Mountain in NE Alabama, and right now, we're having a bit of a drought so the water level is down nearly 2 feet. I just bought six 5-6' trees from a landscape place nearby, and I've planted them in the exposed muddy lake bottom, where there is normally 4-10" of water for the majority of the year. I'm hoping they not only survive, but thrive here, and I'm thinking they may have a decent chance because the drought isn't forecast to end for at least a couple of months. Provided the mud doesn't dry out (and I am keeping a close eye on that) does anyone here with experience in the matter think they will make it?
Also potentially worth noting is that the saplings all seem to have started their winter dormancy quite early. The guy at the landscape place told me it was because they are in containers but from what I have read it seems that they probably were not watered enough on his lot. What green remained on the few that hadn't completely turned rusty brown seems to be popping out after about a week in the mud.
Thanks in advance for any insight, it is much appreciated
I planted mine as little bare-root trees and then raised the water level later on. Some have done great and some died. One got cut by a beaver last winter but has sprouted out as one poster on this site predicted. Up here in Indiana, the foliage is starting to turn lighter green with some brown showing on some trees. Love the knees! Good luck!
How long did you let them establish in the mud before you raised the water level? The timing is out of my hands either way, I'm just curious. Also, how long did it take for yours to develop knees?
I've planted 3 in full time standing water. They've done just fine.