The following pic shows a weeping bald cypress I planted a couple of years ago and the volunteer oak growing right next to it. One's gotta go.
I'm leaning toward axing the oak, as I have others, but this is a prime planting spot for future shade and I love the fact the oak sprang up on it's own. I don't have any other weeping cypress and it was spendy to acquire and will be a nice specimen item.
What would you do?
I would move the cypress, oaks are too valuable to waste.
I'm with Josephine. The Oak will be a much faster growing tree. Cypress do fairly well if they have plenty of water, like next to a pond. I would trim the Oak up while it is young and growing strong.
Do you know what kind of oak you have? We have a bunch of lovely native oaks, but also have a few that are labeled "trash" trees here in Texas. If the oak is a live oak, I would try moving the cypress. Live oaks are much more forgiving as are a few others, when included in a yard setting. If it's a post oak, I would remove the oak and leave the cypress. Post oaks are easily killed by slight soil elevations, digging around them, soil compaction, etc. They are best left in a native setting.
Another though, it is possible to move live oaks, even large ones, successfully.
Having planted both bald cypress and live oak, red oak and burr oak in the yard, I would keep the cypress. True, it does well with water and mine is in an area that gets alot of rain runoff from a retaining wall, but when I see how many seedlings I get from all these oak acorns, I think it would be easy enough to grow lots more oaks anywhere else you want. I guess only if you think you can transplant the cypress successfully,I would do it. The cypress has grown quite fast as have the oaks.
Cypresses don't require lots of water, it's just that they won't die if they get lots of water. They grow just fine in regular water situations. I would keep the cypress. It has more growth on it, and like you say, it is a specimen tree. You'll get more volunteer oaks - all over your yard. Keep the one(s) that are in the right place.
Considering the proximity to the building in the background of the photo, I would opt for saving the cypress. Oaks can quickly dominate and become large enough to come down on that building in one of our September gales (aka hurricane). We have one that is now dangerously close to the house and needs removal.
Another obvious reason is that seedling arrived there by the mighty acorn. Seedling oaks pop up like weeds after a good acorn crop. I find so do the rodents, even with my good cat crop. In springtime, I will pull scads of sprouted acorns from beds and garden spots where they have washed.
Although the weeping cypress is not native, the fact that you are in east TX where oaks are plentiful makes a cypress a lovely and unique tree. I opt for whacking the oak. You want to borrow my chainsaw? LOL
edited due to lack of coffee!
This message was edited Jan 3, 2010 7:42 AM
Many people are saying to keep the Cypress and whack the Oak. I say keep the Oak and move the Cypress. If the Oak is a seedling, it has a tap root and will grow much faster than the Cypress. The Cypress was planted in the last few years and does not have the root system that the Oak has and will survive transplanting much easier. Cypress do not require a lot of water to survive but it does require a lot of water if you want real growth. I have two Cypress, one distichum and one Montezuma and they both struggle I I do not keep them watered. I have never watered an Oak with a tap root.
On cypress and water... I love the looks of the cypress in the Caddo lake area. The knobby roots around the edges of the lake are mystic looking. I was shocked to see a friend in Nacogdoches that works as a forester planted cypress in amongst his pine plantation in dry, sandy soil. The cypress are holding their own with lack of moisture. He echoed CeeJayTowns' sentiments above regarding moisture for cypress. They also are a beautiful tree.
Regarding the tap root on the oak, that trees' water consumption near a foundation is another problem with the oak that we have in our east TX soil. On the other hand, a customer in the store yesterday was grumbling as her husband bushhogged a row of pines she had been nuturing. I commented that pines grow like weeds in east Texas and she said... "you don't understand. I grew up in Dallas where we grew concrete. Those pines were special to me as are all my trees."
Ever hoping to remain tactful and diplomatic about everyone elses opinions. pod
All excellent, excellent post. I'm really grateful and appreciative.
Never even thought of moving one of the trees! Won't DH be delighted with this option? Kenboy's last post decided it for me. I'll (dh'll) move the cypress. Unless I (he) decides in the next month or so to ax the oak. I think this particular oak is a Water Oak. I have other volunteer Water Oaks in the area, so perhaps this one won't be missed, once everything grows some more years.
And boy, it's the truth, the oaks pop up all over the place and I'm learning to pull them up when they're seedlings. The taproot on those babies is impressive. It feels wasteful and frankly, shameful to discard a tree of any size, but there's no way I can handle everything. Sometimes a tree's gotta go for a variety of reasons, but real thought ought to go into it.
I really get the lady form Dallas! When you've been surrounded by concrete and industry, the green is very precious. Nacogdoches has lost some really good old trees on the loop and North Street to make way for eyesores. Sure wish the leaders would consider the Woodland's approach and leave some green space. And it's good to see ceejaytown, haven't seen you in a while. Welcome back, if you've been gone.
I thought it looked to be a Water Oak, a close relation to the Willow Oak, the fastest growing Oak. When I moved to east Texas and went to work for a rich man who wanted to breed hundreds of peafowl, he set my trailer house under three Water Oaks and it took three people to put their arms around each of them. They were all three over 120 feet high.
If you have other Water Oaks in the area and really do not need this one for shade, then I would ax it. If you move the Cypress, it will take years to recover and get any size. Weeping Cypress do not really make a lot of shade compared to a lot of other trees and it will take years to do so. By looking in the picture I can see no other large trees in the area and lots of sun hitting the ground. I am just guessing that is the porch of your house in the background, with no real shade trees in the area. Water Oaks are fast grower but they do not grow over night. It would be years before your grandkids could swing from a limb of the tree in the picture. Whatever you choose, good luck.
Thanks Ken. You've got a ton of knowledge and I'm glad to be a beneficiary of it, as I'm sure the rest of us are. I got to wondering overnight; when and how do you trim an young tree and why?
I was also thinking about recovery of the transplanted tree and how much set back time could be expected. Thanks for answering that.
I have quite a few of young trees of various sorts, including the water oak growing (volunteer or otherwise) to eventually provide shade for the pictured home. These trees are around and behind the weeping cypress and water oak. When we first started planting trees, we placed them in the wrong spots for house shade. I'd do that over if I could. While extensive shade will be for someone else's benefit, I enjoy the vertical interest these my young trees and shrubs provide. I hate flat bald land. It was shortsighted for a tree freak to move onto a pasture. But! I finally have some leaf litter and pine straw under some trees. Thrilling!
Also want to comment that my fastest growing trees are volunteers or were young when planted. I wasted a couple of years buying trees that were root girtled or topped, distorting the look, hampering growth or killing the tree. In addition, we planted several varieties of Cypress in wet to dry land and they all do well in both areas but love boggy areas the best.
Finally, maybe I should just throw out patches of mulch peppered with acorns or seeds where I want a tree to grow and let what may come up. If I had done that in the beginning, I'd be years ahead.
Plant a two dollar tree and dig a twenty dollar hole. Years ago I planted several two year old ball and burlap fruit trees and then went to Wolfs nursery and found what is referred to as whips, eighteen to twenty inches long and no side shoots yet. They were $2 each or 6 for $10, I bought 6. I planted then in almost as big a hole as the two year old trees. By the end of the first year, the whips had caught up with the larger trees and buy the second year had past them. The larger a tree gets before it is transplanted the more it sets it back when you do.
I would try and find a good book on trimming trees and do some homework. You may be able to get some good information on line but I have had several books that have great pictures, which can sometimes be more help then words. Some trees need trimming more than others, Live Oaks being one of these. It's branches will get so thick that the tree can not breath. When you thin out the branches, the ones you leave get more sun and energy from the roots and will grow faster. Live Oaks that are trimmed on a regular bases will grow twice as fast as one that is not trimmed and will take high winds without breaking much better.
We just had our live oak trimmed and it looks wonderful. Good thing we did b/c we didn't realize some branches near the roof had removed the shingles. Another good reason to trim.
Whips. Yea, that's the size I like to plant. My miniwhips, tree seedlings sent in an envelope with gel on the root end, have done well and it's a real kick to see how's they've grown.
My young live oaks here are an absolute tangle of limbs. I left them that way in part to protect the trunks from sunscald.
With this imformation, I'll trim them up this winter. These trees obviously could use some shaping but there out of immediate site so out of mind. It's time to do some walking around and note taking.
Thanks everyone, you improve my gardening game and get me out there.
Just a quick note on the water oak. I moved one in September from Vidor, TX to Buffalo, TX. Left it undisturbed in a pot until it was dormant. I planted it out and trimmed the heck out of it every three or four months for two years. Then I moved to another spot on our land and had no shade. The water oak had done so well in filling out to a beautiful shape, I decided to move it yet again.
I dug a trench all the way around it to the drip line. I filled the trench with water for about three days. Then dug it out as much as possible. We lifted it out of it's hole with the tractor. It has been growing in it's new spot for three years now and is offering enough shade to plant some flowers that require shade beneath it. It is about 15 ft. tall. The only time I have watered it was the times that it was transplanted and this summer a few times during the drought and triple digit heat.
Not the most intelligent way to deal with a tree, but it certainly responded well to the treatment it received. It is a growing buger! If I had never moved it, but one time, it would probably be even bigger. It is very nicely shaped and I would guess about 15ft. tall at least.
More to think about!!
Good Luck!
Charlene
This message was edited Jan 5, 2010 2:53 PM
Sounds pretty intelligent and thoughtful to me, Charlene. Pretty physical too. Thanks for all that info, good stuff.
