Need advice on the direction to take this bald cypress

[Mikee002]

I am at a complete loss on what to do with the cypress. It was collected a year and a half ago, and obviously hasn’t done great since then. The one side of the tree is dead. No buds have formed on that side since collection. Pretty much the one area on the one side with the multiple shoots seems to be the only live area. At this point, if I can’t come up with a decent plan, it’s going to be recycled, as it’s just taking up space that I don’t have.

Let me know if you have a vision on which direction I could go.

 

[crab apple]

Can't really tell how far up the trunk those shoots are protruding but as long as they're not all the way to the bottom you could carve down to them and start working on a sumo. You might come up with something good. If they're popping out at the very bottom then I guess your out of luck.

 

[Mikee002]

Can't really tell how far up the trunk those shoots are protruding but as long as they're not all the way to the bottom you could carve down to them and start working on a sumo. You might come up with something good. If they're popping out at the very bottom then I guess your out of luck.

Thanks. Yeah, they’re not right at the bottom. Maybe 12 to 14 inches up.

 

[jradics]

If you dont want it, offer it up to the people on this site. Most of us dont have the chance to collect these from the wild. I'm sure someone on here would love to try to make this tree work.

 

[Cajunrider]

Tree seems to be doing OK and has good potential. I would carve away the trunk to the level of first living trunk from the top. Carving should be on an angle to accentuate taper yet allow the tree to come back and grow on the dormant side. You can always carve down further if the tree doesn't respond on that side.
If it were me, I would stop dunking the tree by putting a couple drain holes in. As I have observed in the wild, trees totally dunked grow slower and have a more pronounced taper. By carving you already have the taper. Let the tree grow to quickly develop the side shoot into the trunk. By the look of it, the tree is poised to explode with growth this year.

 

[Mikee002]

Tree seems to be doing OK and has good potential. I would carve away the trunk to the level of first living trunk from the top. Carving should be on an angle to accentuate taper yet allow the tree to come back and grow on the dormant side. You can always carve down further if the tree doesn't respond on that side.
If it were me, I would stop dunking the tree by putting a couple drain holes in. As I have observed in the wild, trees totally dunked grow slower and have a more pronounced taper. By carving you already have the taper. Let the tree grow to quickly develop the side shoot into the trunk. By the look of it, the tree is poised to explode with growth this year.

something like so... just have to figure out how... down to one arm for the next 6 weeks or so. lol

I will do that with the drain holes. I need to anyway cause the dogs want to use it as their personal trough

It is already growing better this year than last, nothing like the other one that I collected at the same time... that one has been growing since it recovered.

 

[Cajunrider]

something like so... just have to figure out how... down to one arm for the next 6 weeks or so. lol

I will do that with the drain holes. I need to anyway cause the dogs want to use it as their personal trough

It is already growing better this year than last, nothing like the other one that I collected at the same time... that one has been growing since it recovered.

Wait until the 7th week then

 

[dbonsaiw]

These are some drawing I received from Zach Smith. Hope they help.

 

[Mikee002]

These are some drawing I received from Zach Smith. Hope they help.

awesome, thanks! I'll take this into consideration