Yet another Bald Cypress chop thread

[Johnathan]

What's happenin ladies and gentlemen. With the return of spring, so comes the most exciting time of year for us. Hope everyone's trees are doing well and you the person are even better. Glad to be back!

Missed you all.

Straight to the point, I'm gearing up for a hard repot and chop on my BC. Its put on some insane size in about 2 years time. Also, it's been growing in this for about 2 years and roots and branches are busting out everywhere.



My question is do you think this chop is to hard?



This is a close up of the branch and area being considered. Also a little size comparison. ANOTHER question, do you think this discrepancy between trunk and future leader is to drastic?



Seems like a good time to do all of this to guys?



I think that's all the obligatory photos and questions to start this post.

Thanks in advance!!

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

Your timing is fine. You can also wait until within a week or two, before or after summer solstice.

The planned location of the chop is fine - if you are willing to take the time to grow the next segment out to create taper, if taper is what you want. Let each new segment grow until its diameter is 50% or greater of the previous segment. This will require height, letting the new leader get pretty much as tall as it was before being pruned. This sequence of adding segments can take significant time. If you add 3 segments, you might be looking at waiting 3 to 5 years for each segment to gain bulk. Though you are in a warmer, longer growing season than I am, so maybe it will take less time than I project. But it will take time.

The alternate to creating taper is carving the cut to create a natural looking "broken tree" effect. I've shown the photo below, possibly too often, but this is one way to treat the "trunk chop".

 

[Underdog]

I can only show you what I did and how long it took. Right or wrong...
I got a grafted variety in 2016. It grew a shoot from the original root stock so I chopped it off at the graft summer of 17. Put in pond basket spring of 18 and set in the pond for 2 full seasons. This is where I'm at now after just root pruning, repotting and back into the same basket.
The file names show the dates.

 

[Mellow Mullet]

Leo is right, timing is OK, and chopping that low is OK, too, but I would not chop it that low. You have some decent taper already from the roots up, have you checked below to see how much you have below the soil, what kind of flare? If it were me, I would chop it at the top black sprayer of the green bottle that you used for size comparison. To me, that is the point at which you start losing taper, and, you won't have to wait as long to grow the new section out. If you grow it in a tub of water during the summer you will get a significant amount of girth at the bottom flare while you are working on the top.

 

[Johnathan]

Thank you @Leo in N E Illinois for the replies. I'm not concerned about time to recover. I definitely intend to have it flooded throughout the year.

@Underdog sweet pics. I hope my tree recovers as quickly.

@Mellow Mullet interesting you said to chop a little higher up. That branch wasn't the best front but it was work able. I think following your advice i will go with this new leader. I just want create the most dramatic taper possible.

 

[Mellow Mullet]

Thank you @Leo in N E Illinois for the replies. I'm not concerned about time to recover. I definitely intend to have it flooded throughout the year.

@Underdog sweet pics. I hope my tree recovers as quickly.

@Mellow Mullet interesting you said to chop a little higher up. That branch wasn't the best front but it was work able. I think following your advice i will go with this new leader. I just want create the most dramatic taper possible.

View attachment 288276

Johnathan, you don't necessarily have to use that branch as the new leader. Chop it flat where you want to chop it, seal it good, and it will make a lot of buds around the chop. You can pick one of those to be you new leader, after it hardens off a little, you can carefully start sloping the chop at an angle towards it. They are so apex dominant that that new shoot that you choose will grow faster that anything else on the tree. I have had one inch thick in one season.

Bald Cypress II

Really great to know - it's fascinating what a large range in climate they will tolerate. Grand Rapids to South Florida! Amazing. Anyway, I wouldn't bother with seeds too much. You can buy seedlings by the hundreds for pretty low cost and have them shipped bare root...

www.bonsainut.com

Progression of One of My Bald Cypress

This one has been in the family for quite a while. It was started from seed in 2001 or 2002. My dad later gave it to me around 2006. The first picture is the tree as a 2-3 year tree, the second is from 2006.

www.bonsainut.com

 

[Johnathan]

Johnathan, you don't necessarily have to use that branch as the new leader. Chop it flat where you want to chop it, seal it good, and it will make a lot of buds around the chop. You can pick one of those to be you new leader, after it hardens off a little, you can carefully start sloping the chop at an angle towards it. They are so apex dominant that that new shoot that you choose will grow faster that anything else on the tree. I have had one inch thick in one season.

Bald Cypress II

Really great to know - it's fascinating what a large range in climate they will tolerate. Grand Rapids to South Florida! Amazing. Anyway, I wouldn't bother with seeds too much. You can buy seedlings by the hundreds for pretty low cost and have them shipped bare root...

www.bonsainut.com

Progression of One of My Bald Cypress

This one has been in the family for quite a while. It was started from seed in 2001 or 2002. My dad later gave it to me around 2006. The first picture is the tree as a 2-3 year tree, the second is from 2006.

www.bonsainut.com

Well I was trying to use this technique I saw in a different thread. Sorry, I forget which thread I stole this picture from



But if I follow what you're saying, is that I can still utilize this technique, I just don't have to use a pre-existing branch to do it

 

[Mellow Mullet]

Well I was trying to use this technique I saw in a different thread. Sorry, I forget which thread I stole this picture from

View attachment 288375

But if I follow what you're saying, is that I can still utilize this technique, I just don't have to use a pre-existing branch to do it

That is correct, you can choose an existing branch and do like the picture above, or, you can choose one of the many buds that will form at the chop. In my experience, the new buds will out-grow any existing branch on the tree.

 

[Johnathan]

That is correct, you can choose an existing branch and do like the picture above, or, you can choose one of the many buds that will form at the chop. In my experience, the new buds will out-grow any existing branch on the tree.

Wow that's crazy that the new bud would outgrow the existing branch. the top of this tree broke off and it shot all those buds so I believe it.