The bald cypress is one of the few conifers that lose their needles in winter. In autumn, the needles turn brownish to reddish before they fall off. This extraordinary autumn color and the interestingly shaped trunk of the cypress makes the conifer a special piece of jewelery in the garden. In addition, the bald cypress, like all conifers, forms cones as fruits. These cones contain the seeds that the bald cypress uses to reproduce.
Special features of the bald cypress
Although the bald cypress is originally native to warm and humid climates and swampy areas such as the Everglades in Florida, its robustness ensures that it is
extraordinary tree also thrives in the European climate. The bald cypress is frost hardy, so it can be planted in the garden all year round. The tree forms both soil roots and aerial roots to meet the high fluid requirements. Since the humidity in Central Europe is not ideal, the bald cypress should therefore primarily be planted on the banks of a lake or larger pond.
If you want to plant a bald cypress in your garden, you should pay attention to the extraordinary size of the conifer. Bald cypress trees can grow up to 30m high and a trunk circumference of up to 15m
reach. With this size, the tree is one of the prehistoric sequoias.Care and pruning of bald cypress
Due to the area of origin of the bald cypress, the roots have to be constantly supplied with plenty of water. Fortunately, however, the plant is so robust that even dry periods hardly cause any damage and it can withstand prolonged frosts down to -20 ° C without damage. The fact that the bald cypress is one of the robust primeval plants also ensures that this tree is not attacked by pests. The bald cypress is called the bonsai planted in a tub, it can easily overwinter in the garden. When wintering in the house, you do not have to pay attention to a special location. During the winter, the plant does not need a sunny place, so it can easily overwinter in a dark cellar. However, you should pay attention to regular watering when wintering indoors. Fertilization is not necessary.
When watering, it is important to ensure that the roots of the bald cypress are constantly receiving water. A floor with
high clay content, which offers hardly any drainage, is therefore the ideal location for this plant. To facilitate the flow of water, the bald cypress should be used as a solitary planting; There should be no marsh plants or other trees and shrubs in the immediate vicinity.While the cypress' water requirement decreases in winter, it is particularly high in summer. If the bald cypress is not in or in close proximity to a large pond, it must be watered accordingly. The aerial roots must not be neglected either. The bald cypress needs a lot of nutrients. This can be covered by the fact that the conifer either stands directly in the water or by regularly passing through sufficient nutrients fertilization are fed.
The size of the tree can be varied by making a regular cut. In general, the bald cypress does not require regular pruning.