Bald Cypress Bonsai Trunk Chop

The national champion bald cypress at cat island national wildlife refuge one of the best bonsai trees for beginners is the bald cypress or taxodium distichum.

Bald cypress bonsai trunk chop. Where to trunk chop bald cypress in relation to finished height. This process is different with bald cypress due to the powerful apical dominance of the species. If you want to invest a few years in these trees see this post in which i explain how to fatten up the base of a bald cypress. A tapering transition must be built.

In fact it s one of the developmental processes you go through with any trunk chopped specimen you grow as bonsai. I live in central iowa and we have pretty severe winters with frozen temps this whole week of november. If i manage to get a few to survive ill do a bald cypress forest planting. Now looking at this specimen you might be wondering how it s going to look like anything.

This works exceptionally well with bald cypress since it buds so freely on old wood. Bald cypress and general trunk chop guidelines. And it is true that many japanese nursery owners don t accept the flattop style as a bonsai style. Bald cypress grows much taller than 4 feet before the base is that large.

To be sure there s a paucity of branches. Also the 2nd bald cypress i had i didn t end up planting in the ground i just put it into a bonsai pot. Victor i collected and chopped a 15 year old bc in the first week of may. Best time to trunk chop a bald cypress.

This is especially true if you work with trees of any significant size. I d like to see photos with rulers. But that s only the second worst blank canvas to start with when designing a bonsai. Or even the bald cypress as a good subject to work with bald cypress have serious dieback every year on the branch tips they grow too fast for some japanese nursery men and they are incredibly apically dominant so much so that you lose bottom branches if you don t keep the top in check and you need to about every 4 5 years chop and regrow the top if it s in the typical conifer.

If the tree has never been chopped the base shouldn t be that wide. It is seldom that you will be able to make a bonsai without making some large cuts on the trunk. One operation that every bonsai artist has to perform from time to time is the trunk chop. A member of the redwood family taxodiaceae it is a primary tree species and can reach heights of 100 120 with a trunk diameter typically between 3 5.

Right time of the year to trunk chop a 5 7yr old bald cypress. Bald cypress trunk cut. The tree budded back strongly and i have it in 90 pumice and 10 sharp granite. Bald cypress trunk chop.

This is nothing unusual.