Bald Cypress Bonsai Swamp Collecting
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- Опубліковано 14 жов 2024
- (See below for links to next videos) A video for bonsai enthusiasts. Here's the fun I get into each Winter. I don't seem to have too many takers when I say I'm going out into the swamps to collect a bald cypress for bonsai, so here's a video of what I do out there. This will either give you the courage to dig your own, or convince you that you were right not to go out there.
Other Videos In This Series (Listed by year of development):
1 - (the video you are currently watching)
2 - Initial Carving: • Bald Cypress Bonsai - ...
3 - Problems/Cleaning/Styling: • Bald Cypress Bonsai "H...
3.5 - Summer Defoliation: • Bald Cypress Bonsai "H...
4 - Summer Styling: • Bald Cypress Bonsai - ...
I am brand new to this. Did not know it could be done. That, Sir is a hell of a lot of work. I have never seen some one go get a stray from the tree pound and clean her up so nice before. She looks gorgeous without any "fir"...can't imagine what she'll look like when she grows a little. Bonsai..you have a new fan! This lifestyle/art form is amazing.
Thanks for watching. Be sure to check out the follow-up videos. Links are in the description.
For those who are asking, yes, that's a still camera you hear in the background. I was out there by myself and set up one of my cameras with an automatic timer to take a shot every so many seconds. I'm running several cameras at once out there.
A lot of work, nice job. What soil mix are you using?
This was very informative. I had no idea swamp trees could be harvested in this manner. It looks as though you have an excellent specimen for a good outcome.
You certainly worked hard to get it.
The tree is doing great. It's loaded up with branches. I already have secondary branching on the tree!
I've tried both putting holes in the tubs and letting them soak for a year. The trees I pull seem to do better if I let them soak for a year. The ones that don't soak, never seem to catch up in vitality. This is the only species I treat in this manner.
Ever let anyone come with you haha I’d love to make the trip!
I pot them with some transplanting fertilizer from Miracle Grow. It's called "Quick Start". I also keep them in tubs with no drain holes for the first year. If your tree survives the first year, it'll be fine.
Super neat!
@RaidenTheAlmighty: I have better luck letting them sit in water for the first year. I treat them as a large cutting. At the end of the first year, I'll punch holes in the tub to let the water drain, but it's still a very wet mix.
Very informative video. Thank you for posting!
yoooo can we get a update... i used to live in louisanna and miss the cypress trees wanting to see how well they work for bonsi
Awesome yamadori bro! Great find.
salsonwheels Thanks for watching. I find a great deal of garbage out there. Finding ones that will make good looking trees is difficult when you can't see the base until it's already dug. I'm really happy with this tree and how it's come out. Check the description to see links to follow up work.
Patrick, that's the wonderful thing about collecting in January/February. There are no snakes or alligators. This is my 18th year in the swamps, and the ONE time I saw a snake was last year IN MARCH. I'm never going out there that late again.
Looking forward to an update, Bill
Luckily the roots were nice and wet for the long haul back to the truck and the ride home. When I pull shrubs or take clippings, first reaction is get them in water STAT. I prefer air layering, cause of the lower risk of shock. Did you put wound sealer on the top?
I try to keep as much of the mucky soil on the roots as possible. When I get the trees home I clean it all out and trim off even more roots to get them into growing containers. As for the wound at the top, no, I do not use wound sealer. I won't be keeping the top six inches or more when I do my first styling. At the first styling, I use Tite-Bond III TO SEAL the top of the tree. It's waterproof and the tree will heal right over it without harm.
That's really interesting.
What would you recommend as the best month to collect wild bald cypress in the Tampa area of Florida? We don't have much of a winter season, it just gets a little cooler December-February with very few hard freezes. I'm not sure our bald cypress are ever fully dormant here. Thanks for any advice! Your videos are very helpful.
+USFmarine My gut instinct is to say January. The timing of my collecting is based on the swelling of the buds. I pull just as the buds on the branches are starting to swell. This tells me that the stored energy in the roots has moved up into the trunk. With respect to larger bald cypress, the pulled tree is going to have a very shallow root base and you need to cut off all of its branches. This will force the tree to sprout everywhere it can. I have pulled these trees later and they seem to do okay. I don't pull any earlier because it's too damned cold.
The best reason to pull in Winter, however, is bugs, spiders, snakes, and gators. They all seem to be fairly dormant for us in New Orleans. I have NEVER seen a snake in January or February. I saw snakes EVERYWHERE in March.
Excellent video and editing. Sadly we don't have swamps in oregon.
This is a very interesting video. I have a leyland cypress which i plan on training to become a bonsai tree. Will the leyland respond to these techniques in a similar way to the bald cypress.
+lihils "Cypress" is a common name that gets applied to too many species. The bald cypress is a deciduous conifer where the leyland cypress is an evergreen conifer. BCs respond to techniques used on maples and elms. I've never worked with a leyland, but I'm assuming you want to read up on black pines and junipers.
BillsBayou Thank you.
Thanks for sharing! I'm headed to HF to get a come-along to use on my bald cypress collecting trips. Does this method work on land as well for collecting large trees? (greater than 6-8in)
This should work great on any large tree. My main reason for using it in the swam is that I cannot see what roots have already been cut. The winch opens the cuts so that I can feel what roots have already been cut. This is exhausting work and I don't like accidentally cutting roots that I've already cut. That just doubles the work.
Great video but do you sell any bald cypress trees ?
How is the tree months later? Nice video :)
Dont know where you are located but if ever in central florida and wanting to collect another bald cypress for a bondai or help someone locate one to collect please let me know. Would also love to document (film/photograph) it! I really want to collect a bald cypress myself and not purchase one for my collection. Im still pretty new to bonsai.
I live in south Florida and was planning on collecting a bald cypress. I think I know a place where there’s a lot of good ones what time of year do you think would be best for me to collect it?
Thanks for the video
Great video thanks
After harvesting your Bald Cypress what type of medium did you place it in? Did you put it directly in bonsai soil? I'm scouting(marking a few trees that I plan of harvesting,I just don't wanna blow it! Thanks for any advice you can give this novice!
+David Nelams Thanks for watching. I put the tree into a 50/50 haphazard mix of unsifted haydite and unsifted pine bark mulch. Essentially, it's made of the same things we use to make bonsai soil, but dirtier. I'm not looking for this to drain and it's so much soil that I want to cheap out on it a bit. Good luck with your trees. Be sure to subscribe. I'm embarrassed with myself for not publishing more of my videos. I really need to get them edited.
I have a bald cyrpess in my yard that's the right size for what I wanna do,is there any special techniques that are different from swamp retrieval? ANy and all help would help this novice bonsai grower!!
I'm not an expert on bald cypress, I just assumed that that they some form of aeration to the roots. I didn't think that stagnant water would provide enough oxygen.
So very different from Rocky Mountain collection!
I have bald cypress growing in water. Is it OK if the water freezes in the winter? We have mold winters in North alabama. But we do have freezing weather.
I can't speak for winter's harsher than my own. I'll check in with a friend in Birmingham.
Some of my trees have wintered with water covering the roots, and I've only seen a crust of ice once. The tree was unharmed. But it was a very thin crust of ice.
My new winter protocol for bald cypress is to drain the pots in October/Early November. If I have to punch holes, I'll punch them (see note). In March, I'll nest the now-punctured pot into a non-draining pot and refill for the summer. This will be the first winter where I begin the practice. I have come to have a better understanding of the roll of lenticels in flooded/non-flooded trees.
NOTE: Some plastic pots will allow you to jab a screwdriver into the pot wall with no issue. Other pots will crack and break if you jab them with a screwdriver. Therefore, I use a large nail, held with pliers, and a blow torch. Heat the nail, then melt the hole into the pot.
Lol that owl lol
Was this spring when collected ?
This was early February. Collecting in late winter is best for the tree so it will recover nicely as well as keeping the swamp critters from interfering with my activities. Thanks for watching!
Wouldn't it be better to put some holes in the tub, at least to allow for water circulation?
I kept waiting for an alligator to show up.
where is the actual this place? I live in New Orleans and looking for a place to collect cypress trees without disturb wild life enforcement. I see a lot of them near the bonnet carre spillway on I-10 west.
If you're in New Orleans, come to the Greater New Orleans Bonsai Meetings! There's usually one on the second Tuesday of every month. Dates change if we have an out of town speaker or if the meeting date falls on a holiday. For example, we have a meeting tomorrow night, Feb 20, 2018. Hope to see you there!
i would go collect some bald cypress with you give me a shout next time
if given opportunity I'd love to go into the swamp to collect bonsai material. too bad I'm in California, it's unlikely I'll be able to get out that way any time soon
+Casey Allen Thanks for watching! There are plenty of trees in California that I'd like to harvest. Cliff-sides, mountain trails, open desert...
Year three video is up!
ua-cam.com/video/YNd-6CEc-GY/v-deo.html
update video coming?
Not in Louisiana. However, the USDA Plants database of threatened species shows taxodium distichum, the bald cypress, as having a "Threatened" status in the state of Indiana. Consult your own state's Department of Natural Resources before harvesting any tree from the wild.
Where's that update!!
I'll be working on this tree soon. Likely in late January. It's bushed out quite nicely. I'll do a video of it.
I thought that was agents the law
Where is the bonsai on all this? you take an adult three of the forest and you put in a bonsai pot?. Where is the joke? where is the art? this is not bonsai.
Ixerat This is just one technique for developing bonsai. Bald cypress respond very well to this type of collecting. All branches must be removed to encourage prolific branch growth. The roots are cut down to fit into its first training pot. Yes, in the end, I have a stump. But this is the scope of this one video. Take a look at my other videos and you will see the progress this tree is making towards becoming a bonsai that I hope to be proud to show off. Thanks for watching.
Ixerat - Almost all the classic bonsai trees started life growing in the ground. That gives the tree age and unique character, which would take a lifetime if grown in a pot. I live in London, England, and have grown a Bald Cypress from seed in my greenhouse for several years. I love it but it will never develop in a pot the way that Bill's tree has grown in the swamp. As for the art; nature creates and gives character to the tree, then the bonsai artist takes over its development from that point. It also takes great knowledge, experience and skill to get a mature tree to recover from the trauma of being taken from the ground. What Bill has shown here is just the initial stage. Bill, I admire your passion and dedication. You have to be a little crazy, like most of our fellow bonsai enthusiasts, but in a good way. Look forward to seeing this Cypress develop. Thanks for posting the video, it made my day.
lol is there someone taking pictures in the background?