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Here's a pic of a 8' bald cypress I planted 2 years ago. I planted it in the middle of my CNBG fry playground, and it's doing fine. It was shocked from the summer heat, and dropped every leaf within a couple of weeks of the planting, but by fall, it was back to normal.
"If" you want to plant these trees below the waterline, this is what worked for me. First, soak the root ball as best you can. If the organics are dry, it's almost impossible to sink them. Always plant the cypress with the bottom limbs out of the water. When you dig the hole, make sure you account for the depth that you plant the tree. If you plant the tree even with the soil line in the bucket, then you're fine. If you want to sink the tree deeper in the pond bottom, then account for that also. Whichever you decide to do, know that it will take weight on the root ball to keep the tree from floating, or swaying in the wind. The clay you remove from the pond bottom works fine. The 2 best options for digging the hole underwater, are either a post hole digger, or a round point mud shovel. The mud shovels are around $65-70, and are worth every penny. I also use mine for transplanting hardy water lilies, water iris, etc. Keep the clay you dig out adjacent to the root ball, because you probably won't be able to see it once the water muddles. Mound the clay around the tree trunk, then pack it down by slowly stepping on it.
Once the tree is planted, you'll still need support to keep winds from pulling the root ball out of the hole. What I did is to set 2 t posts(north to south) just outside the widest limbs, and GENTLY pull down on the tree trunk with bailing wire covered in an old water hose. Then I wrapped the whole mess in woven wire fencing. After the tree settles in, I'll remove the posts, and re-wrap the tree with chicken wire. This has worked well. If I plant the trees on the shoreline, then I just use one t post, since the tree won't float.
Fertilize the tree when planted. I use tree pellets from Forestry Suppliers, but any sinking fertilizer will do. Add the fertilizer to the hole, and not on top of the root ball.
I don't know if this is the right way to do it, but it's sure worked for me. Zero trees lost.
![[Linked Image]](https://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=download&Number=18014&filename=IMG_0164%20copy.jpg)
