OT>..for Kenton and others..my Baldy Cypress TRee

on the florida gardening forum...there is a lovely lady that lives in the "villages"..above orlando off Fla Turnpike...she had new yard landscaped.....and look at what i wrote.

On one of the garden forums...a very nice lady that lives in the "villages"..which is to the west of orlando off the Flordia turnpike...is bragging about her new home and landscape...and it's nice....now you all remember how terrible the roots of my Baldy Cypress tree is.....with the huge roots which are called knees>,,,,?...well take a look>>>>>>>>>>>>>.
junglebob
Palm Bay, FL
Zone 9b
Apr 15, 2006
8:50 PM

Edit

Karen..do you KNOW>.what you have in that yard.....it's something i wish i didn't have...fortunately...yours are "portable".....lol

This message was edited Apr 15, 2006 8:57 PM
junglebob
Palm Bay, FL
Zone 9b
Apr 15, 2006
9:00 PM

Edit

kAREN..I made the mistake of planting a baldy cypress tree...in my very small jungle...it has taken over...spreading its KNEES everyplace...the roots are called KNEES...and you have them in your yard as part of the landscape look...while my tree is beautiful..it belongs in the water and not in my yard...it literally has taken up 1/8 of my yard and is still working on it....please note this pic where i point them out....people sell the knees ..sometimes..they are buffed and polished and sold as souvenirs....if you want a truck load more...just come to my jungle..


here's the pic

Bob are those the trees that grow crazy and their roots go looking for water pipes ?

allison they do go crazy....and i think most trees seek water...hopefully not the pipes...but their roots are very invasive...

here's couple pics of the jungle and the baldy cypress tree..it's the big tree on the left

close up

WOW

friend sent me this amazing story about the baldy cypress and a distinct parakeet..PLEASE>.read
http://www.hiltonpond.org/ThisWeek020822.html

meant EXTINCT parakeet

Bob, I didn't know Bald Cypress would grow in non-swampy conditions... cool! I really love the looks of those "knees" and think they are an interesting addition to the landscape. Do you have trouble with yours out-competing neighboring plants? I saw the other plants around the baldy knees in your bed and thought, if they don't try to strangle everything around them, that might make a wonderful addition to the trees in my back yard... The knees would pop up and serve as accents, like randomly placed rocks in the landscape... hmmm.....

:-)

jill..you are ASKING for trouble...unless you have about 25acres or more....the knees have gone everyplace in my east side of yard and with space at a premium...the tree shouldn't be here...i have tripped over the knees...landed on others etc...when they went into muy neighbors yard (his guave roots came in mine..lol)...he started chopping them with an ax....they have ruined any chance i have for an "easy" portion of the yard...my red amaryllis are among them...but the knees are under the sidewalks etc...it's a good thing mobile homes are set off the ground...i love the tree...but it doesn't belong here...yikes!!

Bob it's those Willo tree's that can dame everything they go looking for water pipes. A lady who then had moved when we lived down the corne planted like 6 of them in her small yard as they were on sale at Lowes. She wanted to buy us some and we kept saying oh no Thank You. She fount us at the store about two years ago and had us take them home for them we had a van then.
The next lady who bought the home had them taken out.

Weeping Willow
Someone posted in PF
"Neutral Kwanzon On Jul 12, 2005, Kwanzon from Milford, PA (Zone 6a) wrote:
the weeping willow is a very nice type of tree and can be used in many grafts such as weeping cherry, birch, hemlock, etc. You should be very careful where you plant it though because the roots will seek out water. if you have a septic tank or well near a weeping willow they can cause extensive damage to them or even destroy them."
And this lady planted three in her front yeard not big lot when she had a double wide. lol And she planted 2-3 in-between her home and the home next door not much room the way her double wide was set on the land . Maybe 10 ft. between her home and side home and she planted these good size trees they were taller than my husband and he is atleast 6ft.
http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/53461/index.html
They get really large and seek out water so watch out .

Allison..you're right..and they too are a wonderful tree...when i lived in Mo..i had some by a pond and it was perfect for them..they are quite graceful..but they do search for wells..septic tanks etc..

yes ! not good for hot Florida always dry no rain in small mobile home park yards. lol

Fancy! I'm going to plant mine in an ornamental area, and I understand that our climate will prevent those nifty knees.
Thanks again, Bob.
Kenton

kenton..you're welcome...keep me updated how they do.

Bob,
Those knees are really interesting looking, but I can see why you wouldn't want them everywhere. They look like they'd be hard to dig up, too.
Sharon

sharon...there is no digging them...i'll have to get the chain saw etc....they are just huge and invasive....in a swamp or water...they are perfect...as the tree wood resist everything...no bugs..no rotting..no nothing..BUT..oh those knees.

Hmmm..... so, would they be a problem or not in MD? What do you think, Kenton?

BTW, I took a DNR-sponsored canoe trip into the Altamahah swamp (in GA, near Darien) once and got to see some of the last remaining old-growth cypress trees there.... WOW... what amazing, huge trees!

We have a couple of wet corners in our back yard where we've put in willows (150 feet or so from any water pipes, so no worries there). I've planted a crooked willow in one spot, and it's thriving. However, the weeping willow went into the wetter spot.... and it's just not big enough yet to deal with that much water... when the ground is wet, the trunk and larger branches get floppy like a cooked noodle (I am not exaggerating)! We have half a dozen ropes on it to support it, but the upper portion still flops over most of the time. The nursery guy keeps saying that eventually it will get big enough that this won't be a problem, and then its growth should *really* take off... we will see!

well Jill if you have some wet spots in a big yard...i will look around for some seedlings if yuo like...we have nurseries here that sell them..quite large for about 29.00....but the seedlings grow quickly...let me know...

They grow very well here, Houston and I thought the knees didn't develop for quite some time...could be wrong. There is another Cypress, Leland Cypress, that apparently looks identical but is evergreen and does not produce knees...duh I found that out AFTER I planted 2 Bald Cypress! Oh well, they are beautiful trees!

oh geez, everyone puts in the Leland Cypress around here... they grow like weeds! I might like them better if they weren't so omnipresent in suburban lancscapes... but I don't think they're nearly as pretty as Bob's Bald Cypress.

I will look around here for one, Bob, but I appreciate your offer to find one for me if I'm unsuccessful. I need to noodle over "the Plan" for the back yard and see if I really do have the space for one... The yard isn't *that* big, LOL, and those trees we've planted may be little now, but there may already be enough large varieties for the canopy of trees we want on the deck side of the house. When/if that weeping willow stops drooping & starts flourishing, it should pretty well dominate that corner, and we've also put in several maple trees, a mimosa (talk about growing like a weed), and a sweetgum (do you know how hard I had to look to find a variety that wasn't sterile?! -- I *like* those prickly pods, especially at the back of the yard where I don't have to step on them with bare feet).

Jill and April...yep the leyland cypress is quite different....i surely know about the sweet gum...they were verycolorful here in the fall..but i took them out...you DO.know about the prickly pods...weeping willows are so nice...hope it flourishes for you....enjoy.bob

Ok then it's the very much more rare Montezuma Cypress which looks like the Bald Cypress! I tell you the Alzhiemer's is getting worse everyday!

http://rcwnurseries.com/Trees/montezumacypress.htm

http://www.plantanswers.com/calvin_finch_articles/conifers_south_texas.htm

(midway down the page on the plantanswers site)