Growing trees directly in a pond?

My pond is something like 13 acres, not all mine but I back up to it. I want to plant either pond cypress or bald cypress maybe a couple of each if I have room. I see them growing in swamps almost year round in water, can I just plant the cypress directly in the water or I'm I better off planting it a little above the high water line? I like the look of them growing directly out of the water BTW.

Any other suggestions for what to plant? As far as native to SC or at least the South East in general.

You can plant direct into the soil at the bottom of the pond, as long as it is not more than 50-60cm deep water.

Resin

Thanks resin, I'm thinking about 10 cm but if the water rises form a hurricane or a storm it would be more like 25-30 cm so that's what I'll do. Plant them right on the edge.

This message was edited Jul 23, 2006 3:47 AM

I think the efge is your safest bet. If you go deeper, try to use small bare root plants that have not been grown in a container or in upland soil in a nursery for very long.

Guy S.

Nyssa aquatica - for sure another one.

How about Acer rubrum guys? This is a great question and I'd like to know as many trees as possible.

Many thanks,

Dax

Willow....

add Carya aquatica, Forestiera acuminata, Planera aquatica, Nyssa ogeche, Itea virginica, Quercus lyrata, etc.

Also, above, old fumble fingers meant to type "edge" instead of "efge."

Guy S.

add Larix. As far as maples, the silver maple is supposedly more tolerant to flooded condition than rubrum, at least according to the Morton arboretum page of plants tolerant of wet sites.

http://www.mortonarb.org/plantinfo/plantclinic/Selection_PlantsWetSites.pdf

Bill

Sycamores love water also, but I think the bald cypress would be the best anchored and less likely to topple if a strong storm comes along.

Thanks very much guys. I'm adding them to a list for future consideration.

Well appreciated,

Dax

Dax, keep in mind that the ones I mentioned were for the poster from South Carolina. Some of them won't be hardy for you, especially in a water area that freezes hard in winter.

Guy S.

Thanks Guy...

Thanks for the input. For anyone interested this is what's going on. My house was built in a pine forest(timber land) and the lagoons are man made so there wasn't anything growing except for pines. Maples, willow, sweet gums are naturally filling in anywhere they can so I'm not interested in planting those. I really like the look of cypress trees especially when they get knees on them, think that's what their called. As far as weeping willows a lot of my neigbors planted them and they grow like weeds around here, I mean 6-7 ft a year easy. So I'm looking for something big that will look good and something no one else has.

Here's a picture of my bank of the lagoon.

Here's another looking down the lagoon, sorry it's about to rain so the pictures aren't great.

Here's one of the ducks, the birds love it around here. If your a bird watcher you would love it around here. Bald Eagles, Blue Herons, Egrets, Red tail Hawks etc.

I personally think that the bald cypress would look the most natural with those southern pines. On the rivers around these parts they mingle well together.

In your zone, also think about things like Persea borbonia, Gordonia lasianthus, and Leitneria floridana. And don't forget the herbaceous plants -- sweet flags, copper iris, pickerelweed, etc. -- even though you'll want to consult another forum for that part of it.

Guy S.

Oh yes, you should definitely consider Gordonia "Loblolly Bay" also. They can't be planted in the water but they will thrive on the banks. They have flowers that look like white camellias. I bet nobody else would have one.

No one said river birch and it will grow huge, fast but I already have 2 in a low spot in my yard. That's another tree that if given enough water will grow like nuts around here.

Escambiaguy, I had a couple of wild bays growing but in the last two years mine died and there seems to be a mass die off going on in my area. No one has a good answer why except for last two years we've been in a dought for months then huge amounts of water all of a sudden, theory being it's shocking the bays. Last year you could see dead bays everywhere you went around here. I'm about 90% sure I'll be planting 2 or 3 bald crypress but I have a few months to decide. Falls the best time to plant.

. . . Magnolia virginiana, Celtis laevigata, Cyrilla racemiflora, Ilex decidua . . .