Here is my 2 cents worth of advice from South Florida. I dug and processed 34 Bald Cypress and a couple Pond Cypress three weeks ago. I scrape off the swamp decayed muck to expose the nebari, then lay the tree sideways and cut the vertical root mass to about 2" to 4" tall depending on the size of the base, then reduce the horizontal roots, cuttings them not square but at a 45 to 60 degree angle with freshly sharpened loppers, dull blade will squish the soft BC roots rather than cleanly cut. I use an 18 volt Ridgid sawzall with a fresh carbide tipped 12" blade on every dig.. I spray automotive undercoating to the tap root cut and larger radial root cuts. I dry fit each tree into a nursery pot so the radial roots have at least 1" of space to the pot. I run #3 or #4 bonsai wire thru drain holes in the 3g, 7g, 15g, 25gal pots 180 degrees apart across the outside bottom , thru the drain holes with about 2' above the rim of the pot. Then apply a thin layer of Oak or Mahogany leaves into the bottom to keep the nursery soil from coming out the drain holes. About 2" of a custom mix soil 40%,40%,20% Canadian peat, Perlite, sharp sand is spread over the leaves with a small mound in the middle. The BC is set on the mound and squished into the potting soil, then the heavy wire is wrapped around the trunk at least once in one direction , the second wire wrapped in the opposite direction and leaving enuf wire it is folded over the side of the pot. A freshly processed tree can be picked up by the trunk with no movement in the pot, roots recover fast this way. Then with a 3/4" dowel I chopstick the soil to remove air pockets and set the trees in partial shade, not deep shade. All trees are given a quart of water from a 5 gallon bucket with 2 shots of Super thrive. Any trees that have limp leaves are put on the edge of the mist spray of my cutting table, partial shade, 10 seconds of mist every 10 minutes from 7am to 7pm. Five BC were limp 3 weeks ago, the few leaves I purposely leave on are falling off now and tiny green buds are forming..Of 34 trees dug --there are 28 survivors- 87.5%. How come the best tree is always the one that dies?
