The Bald Cypress

About a year ago, my wife and I were eating lunch beneath a big beautiful tree at a county fair. While we were admiring its ancient size and unique appearance, we were told by a nearby gentleman that it was a bald cypress and was one of the only conifers to lose its needles each year. Less than a year later, we planted one in our backyard.

The original bald cypress that inspired us to plant one in our backyard.

I admit this was the first tree I planted where I felt like I actually knew what I was doing (whether that's actually true...we shall see). While it's only been four weeks since planting, I get the impression it's been the quickest to start acclimating to its new spot. However, that's probably less a testament to my planting skills as it is to a combination of location, timing, and size: 

• Location: We planted this tree near a fence that runs east-to-west on the south side of our backyard. Both our yard, and the adjacent neighbor's yard, slope to the fence so water tends to pool there during and after heavy rains. Compounding the poor drainage is the fact the six-foot fence blocks most sunlight from reaching the ground in the immediate vicinity, so evaporation is slow. Since bald cypresses like swampy conditions and can tolerate clay soil, it should (hopefully) be right at home in this location.
• Timing: I planted this tree on 9/18/22, so it was already past the hottest summer days and heading into the cool autumn weather which should be less stressful for the tree.
• Size: The tree is about 6' tall which I consider (with admittedly not much experience) an ideal size for planting, especially if doing it by yourself. Even though it came as ball and burlap, it wasn't too heavy to manage alone. I've also seen evidence that younger trees acclimate faster, and ultimately grow faster long-term, than older/taller trees (if I can re-find the source to this, I will link it here). Plus, it's not so small that it looks odd in the yard...it already has a nice "tree" shape to it.

Our bald cypress, planted on 9/18/22 at about 6' tall and contrasting nicely with the neighbor's (ahem, non-native) Norway Maple in the back.

Watering: For this tree, I've followed the University of Minnesota Extension's guide for watering newly planted trees and shrubs (link): daily watering for the first two weeks, and a watering every two to three days for up to 12 weeks thereafter (making exceptions and adjustments to account for rainy days). Since it's a 2" diameter tree, I gave it 3 gallons at each watering. However, I'm now at the one-month mark and I plan to switch to about five gallons every four days. This schedule will result in the same amount of water overall but with deeper and less frequent instances which should be healthier for the tree. I have also only used a tree gator bag for this tree which has worked well.

Black Walnut Toxicity: My only concern at this point about this tree is that it's planted about 40ish feet away from a black walnut growing in the neighbor's yard. Since the bald cypress is such a versatile and hardy tree, I overlooked whether it was tolerant of black walnut toxicity. After much research, I unfortunately cannot find any conclusive evidence either way. It is neither on lists that show it's susceptible nor is it on lists showing tolerance. I suppose I'll just have to hope for the best...

Deer: Since our backyard isn't totally fenced in, we get a lot of deer, almost on a daily basis. After a lot of conflicting research, it seemed like most of the evidence indicated deer wouldn't be too interested in my bald cypress so I left it exposed for the first few weeks. However, at least on two occasions, I saw deer wander up curiously to it and start nibbling or at least sniffing. While I only found one bite mark on a branch, I eventually decided I didn't want to take any chances and put a fence around it. 

Native Status: So I have to admit that I was a bit surprised and disappointed when I found out this tree wasn't specifically native to Ohio (let alone Northeast Ohio). Its native range is actually further south. However, it does well in Ohio as an ornamental, it's beautiful with its soft feathery needles that turn russet brown in the fall, and is generally problem free......so in this case I was willing to make an exception.

10/19/22: Showing its russet autumn colors about one month after planting (and the makeshift fence to protect from deer).