Summer bald cypress collecting

[Joe Dupre']

Ok, jgeanangel, we'll see how this summer collecting of bald cypress works out. From what I've read, people in these parts collect in late Jan to early/mid Feb. That's what I've done since I started back in bonsai three years ago. Had pretty much 100% success with early collecting.

Well, I did a dumb thing and repotted my biggest cypress into a pot for our club's spring show about a month ago. Had to cut quite a few roots for it to fit. Evidently it was too hard on the tree and I lost it. It happens.

Soooooooo......... I'm left to wait until Feb. to collect another big one or experiment with collecting one mid May. The one I dug will be about 8-9" diameter at the eventual soil level. I buried the base fairly deeply to protect it. Interesting note. That bump on the right side of the trunk about two thirds of the way up is the stub of a root I cut off.

 

[Joe Dupre']

Left the house at about 4:00 pm, drove to the hunting lease, collected the tree and was back home in about 40 minutes. Bare-rooted the tree, potted it up ( was short a little soil so had to mix a bit more) , picked up the tools and hosed down the carport before 5:30. I LOVE south Louisiana!

This tree had a ton of roots close to the trunk. I would be more than happy with that many roots on a tree that had been in a bonsai pot for years.

 

[John Topicz]

You interested in collecting and selling?

 

[jriddell88]

Killer benches !

 

[Joe Dupre']

jriddell88, I found that beam floating in the bayou behind my house. 12 feet long 9 1/2" by 9 1/2". It was hand hewn and had several mortices and a couple of pegs still in it. Saw it go by and got my pirogue and went after it. I caught up with it a quarter mile downstream, tied it behind the boat and paddled back upstream ( real slow .25 mph current) with the 300 lb monster in tow. Humped it up on blocks on shore to dry. It's sitting on the two halves of the butt of a cypress tree I had taken down in my yard. The rest of the blocks of the tree are arranged in a semi circle and hold my modest bonsai collection.

 

[Joe Dupre']

John T. , I had thought about doing that, but there's more to it than meets the eye. Shipping big cypress like that is a touchy thing. I think most dealers ship them bare-rooted. That, along with potential damage in shipment, turned me off of the whole thing. If someone really wants a big bruiser, I might be tempted to pot one up and have it ready to be picked up.

 

[sorce]

jriddell88, I found that beam floating in the bayou behind my house. 12 feet long 9 1/2" by 9 1/2". It was hand hewn and had several mortices and a couple of pegs still in it. Saw it go by and got my pirogue and went after it. I caught up with it a quarter mile downstream, tied it behind the boat and paddled back upstream ( real slow .25 mph current) with the 300 lb monster in tow. Humped it up on blocks on shore to dry. It's sitting on the two halves of the butt of a cypress tree I had taken down in my yard. The rest of the blocks of the tree are arranged in a semi circle and hold my modest bonsai collection.

Cool!

Sorce

 

[johng]

Looks good Joe....keep it relatively shaded until you see buds (1-3 weeks). Once the buds start to open, i start movng back toward full sun. I've long wondered when someone else would try some summer collecting.

 

[Giga]

Looks good Joe....keep it relatively shaded until you see buds (1-3 weeks). Once the buds start to open, i start movng back toward full sun. I've long wondered when someone else would try some summer collecting.

I might try it this weekend

 

[Joe Dupre']

Johng, I'm an experimenter at heart. You don't know if you don't try. I try to take my experimental trees ( and most of my other material) from the wild while respecting nature. This tree was 10 feet from another tree of about the same size. One of them would have most likely taken over the space from the other one over many years. I figure it was just proper thinning to take this one.
If I find an unusual tree with potential, I normally won't take it if it's the only tree like that in the area.

Cypress trees are very common around here, but the smaller trees are not repopulating in the swamps because the water level has been rising .........probably 12-18" in my lifetime. I really see the evidence of it because we are very close to sea level here. Young cypress trees do not sprout up from underwater. They need to establish themselves on dry land until they get strong enough to accept being flooded.

 

[rockm]

Shipping BC isn't a problem if you're not mailing a monster tree. Zach Smith has been doing it for decades.
https://bonsai-south.com/bald-cypress-bonsai-for-sale/


FWIW, bigger is not always better with BC. You've got decent, but not exaggerated buttressing on this one. Nice. Big buttressing on larger trees can make them look odd...

 

[AZbonsai]

Killer benches !

was going to say the same!

 

[GGB]

Again! nice bench, cool story. And, why wasn't I born down there? Cypress are my favorite, jealous you can colect them.

I haven't killed a cypress yet but trimming roots during the growing season definitely pisses them off. Mine will drop foliage and backbud, regrowing from scratch, maybe your climate yields different results.

Also this is a stump so .. all bets are off. Cool stuff

 

[John Topicz]

Thx! I'd be interested in 4-6" base, 4' tall, with a triangle flare not rounded root passages. There's a bunch, in know on eBay. Most come close but very short plus there's a trunk chop that makes it really hard to grow the chop to a nice taper. I want more room to work my decision. Let me know if this is something you can do. PM me if needed.

 

[Joe Dupre']

This is what I did with the rest of the cypress tree. The big cypress I lost sat front and center on the biggest cypress block. I don't have many "finished" trees yet....... 20 or so have good potential, though.

 

[richxd87]

Hi @Joe Dupre' , would you be interested in a paid, guided collecting trip? I'm located in Houston close enough to you, with 4x4 but no boat. I'd love to add a few collected BC to my collection.

please PM me if you interested.

Thanks,
Richard

 

[Joe Dupre']

Richard, I would be interested but I really couldn't take anyone where I go. I collect from my hunting lease, which technically just covers the hunting rights. The landowners may also lease the same property for alligator hunting, crawfishing and trapping, etc. So I'm probably pushing the technical limits by collecting trees. I guess some smooth talking lawyer could make a case that I'm "logging" illegally.

 

[Underdog]

I'd love a smaller easy to ship one. I'll be your summertime Huckleberry
https://www.bonsainut.com/threads/wtbuy-bald-cypress-starter-50.27785/

 

[richxd87]

Richard, I would be interested but I really couldn't take anyone where I go. I collect from my hunting lease, which technically just covers the hunting rights. The landowners may also lease the same property for alligator hunting, crawfishing and trapping, etc. So I'm probably pushing the technical limits by collecting trees. I guess some smooth talking lawyer could make a case that I'm "logging" illegally.

No worries, thanks anyways!

 

[Joe Dupre']

Update: The cypress seems to want to live! I stopped counting buds and sprouts at 30. It's still getting only morning sun. I'm gradually moving it out from under the carport overhang. Collected on May 17, 2017 . A little over 3 weeks from collection to get to this point. Summer collecting of bald cypress seems to have potential.