Gorgeous photos!

One thing to remember, bald cypress doesn’t have to be in a swamp, it can grow in relatively dry, upland conditions as long as your total rainfall is sufficient.

If you do want to try, I would recommend either collecting seeds yourself from that area you were in, or buying trees that are grown from local seeds.

Bald cypress usually prefers an acidic soil, although the soil is neutral to alkaline in the far west of the tree’s range in Texas, and growing a bald cypress from seed obtained further east will be chlorotic, (very pale and weak growing) in an alkaline soil, whereas seed obtained locally will be adapted to it.

Thank you, Our rainfall is very erratic, not consistently adequate, so it only grows where there is near by permanent water. My ground water is at 1000' deep underground. We will have a stretch of annual rainfall at 15", 11 ", 18" and I even had a 5.5" one year (2011) . many of the Cypresses died at some of the "permanent" springs that dried up that year. Then we will have a 55" and back to the 20"s. Also the long dry summers and very porous soils make for high soil evaporation. They sell locally grown trees here for people who like to water and have the right conditions. Montezuma Cypress is a bit more xeric but still not good for my situation.

These are not swamps but rivers and streams, moving water. Sometimes the water moves too fast. Unfortunately this is flash flood ally. The worst flash flood ever recorded was on the Pedernales river where the river rose 75'( 1950's) in the river valley 4 miles from me. I have seed it rise 45'. The Blanco River rose 42' in the 2015 floods . The river will never be the same . What a mess! Miles and miles of a huge snarl of trees, brush houses and cars. The river is healing, but it will always be very different. My swimming hole on the Pedernales that I go to, is very marred still by the flood in the 50's. There is a row of old snapped BC. One was missed who we call "Old Glow" because the setting sun will stroke her as the sun slides over the river valley as it sinks. It is a magical place.

I had a friend who was in two houses that were destroyed by flood that year. They had a Memorial day flood and a Halloween flood. Dang . she still rebuilt on the river, just higher up the bank.

I have MC-BC hybrids in my yards. Love them. I've been to Krause Springs in Spicewood and am amazed by the size of Bald Cypress that you'd never expect to see in central Texas. They are fed by the spring water. It appears that there was once forest fire a long time ago because this large BC, you can walk inside, camp out or seek shelter. Pretty cool place. It appears that the clean break between western and eastern TX BC is Brazo river. Western BC has more of "lava" roots while the Eastern BC have "knees" roots.

How much soil prep did you do. What type of soil do you have. Soils can differ so in this area. Do you give your MC-BC continued supplemental water after the year of establishing? I can not irrigate after I establish it because of my water situation.

Those huge walk through BC are amazing. There are springs leaking out of that slope at Krause Springs all over the place. It is a another magic place. I used to go camping there with the kids a lot. Swimming under the full moon was under the waterfall is still with me. I also love how the rock shelf have the large cactus patch and Texas brush right there by all the lusciousness. The pictures above were taken during the drought. I think the lake was down 50'.

Thanks for the habitat images, including the floods. Saw those images on the news when it happened. I've not seen these trees in person, but they look to be somewhat different than their eastern cousins.

we have 3 small bald cypress about 3 to 4 years old-the deer rip the tops out with their horns if we don't keep a "fence" around them they've only changed color in the last week or two here in our yard can't wait til they grow.....

oh, that's south of houston 15 or so miles from the coast....

The water table is very shallow un your area. I bet they grow easily there. Are you out of the gumbo and in the sandy soil? Those deer need a lesson in Tree trimming.

The western variety are different . They like alkaline and they grow in rock along as there is water close by. And they do not care if the water is as hard as nails.

Wantonamara,

I had to take out bedrock along the fence in the backyard, about 18 inches deep? 20-25ft long? to be able to plant a couple for much needed shade from hot afternoon sun. It was only a few inches of dirt on top of bedrock... Builder brought in a lot of topsoil , I guess to create drainage away from the house. 4 of my cypress trees went from 2ft to 20 ft or more since January of 2013. I did water them deeply when it gets too dry and to keep the growth going to get the desired shade. I'm going to cut back on synthetic fertilizer and stick to organic program from now on. I don't need to push growth as much so this way, it would require less watering. The largest one is MC-BC hybrid (so called T-407 cultivar) in the backyard because of generous space for roots to spread out in irrigated area into next door's backyard. I am amazed by it's size now after only 5 years.

I do have a regular MC that was grown from a seed collected from MC on SFASU campus. It has done pretty good. It tends to start growling pretty early, usually mid February so there's a risk of freeze burn if it gets too cold.

Thank You, You have confirmed what I suspected. It is inappropriate with out a hole bunch of manipulation and irrigation. What heavy equipment did you use to dig the bedrock. My builder gave up with the back hoe when he hit a layer up here. I can only imagine what it is like down at your elevation. I had another slab man who hit at that layer with a jack hammer to get a few more inches in the back hillside under my house so I could have a shop down there. What did you do with all that nasty fill. Did you get someone to haul it away?

Sledgehammer, wedge, and bar. (and lots of beers). The big rocks are for decorations. They look just fine and you can sit on them. :-) I have some old Live Oak trees in the east side that has decent amount of dirt. I even have Japanese Maple that has done well there since 2014 with spectacular red fall color. Go Figure.

The rock came up in boulders? My bedrock is like a shelf. I get flakes or small stuff. What kind of dirt did you use in your hole?

I really liked your pictures wantonamara. TX has some of the most fascinating landscapes I've seen in the US. Definitely want to go back there someday.

Yep. Boulders. Lol. I have a dozen of them laying around in the gardens as decorations now. At first, I found some dirt left behind in the greenbelt (left by builders or homeowners?) then fill in the rest with cheap topsoil from big box stores. Not too bad.

Now

I have 39 bald cypress growing along a seasonal creek southwest of Waco. They came from seeds collected from native trees on the Sabinal, Frio, and Pedernales Rivers. One is planted in yard with 2 feet of blackland clay on top of caliche. It gets some drainage from roof, from washing machine, and from one of two aerobic sewer system spray nozzles and is growing about a foot a year. I have 5 others planted near seasonal drainages on about 18" blackland clay and then caliche that are alive, but growing slowly maybe an inch or two a year. All the others are near or on the seasonal creek and grow at various rates.

The Tx hill country bald cypress do not put up knees like the eastern bald cypress do. Beside being able to thrive on alkaline soils, their foliage has a bluer-tint than those of the larger eastern population.

Yikes Lou_midlothian, great job. Did you have people to help drink that beer? Amazing growth! you are in a established fairly dense neighborhood where most irrigate.That will keep a residual moisture for quite a ways. I water so little and I am the only one out here for a couple hundred acres that do any gardening so I feel my little hose action is a drop in the wilderness. Here is a dumb question ( don't laugh at me please) What does the first "C" in MC X BC stand for? I got everything else in the acronym.

montezuma cypress X bald cypress

Good to see you again Lou. Main problem with T406 and T502 here is getting them to form good leaders. Have you had to trim any of them? I could post a picture of my biggest 502 later to show the problem. The slightly cooler, cloudier climate here, and the fact I'm not able to put any of them in 100% full sun, might be the problem.

"The Tx hill country bald cypress do not put up knees like the eastern bald cypress do."

Are you saying you see these differences in plants that are side by side with normal BC? It's not just a local effect of the soil structure in central TX?

These BC on Lago Maggiore are a long way from home.

Scotjute, Did you collect the seed and grow your trees yourself or did you buy them and the nursery knew the provenance of the seed?Interesting to hear all the different situations in Texas for these trees. Everyone of them are different

Here are some pictures of itty bitty knees here. Always in water.

Silly me Montezuma Cyress, of course. I was going all latin and thing it was Matesequoia something with a "C". I was looking past the obvious in my face familiar into the exotic unknown. Typical brain fart for me.

Yes I collected the seeds myself from the various rivers. Would visit one river per year in October for a while.

I never noticed the difference til it was pointed out to me by Tom Cox, retired botanist from San Antonio Botanical Gardens. They had planted bald cypress sourced from Baton Rouge side by side with native Tx hill-country bald cypress in a pond in maybe 6" deep water (depends on pond water level). Those from Baton Rouge had large knees, those from the hill country did not. He further stated that this difference was not understood many years ago when the city of San Antonio planted extra bald cypress along their river walk. Those trees were also sourced from Baton Rouge and have developed knees sticking out all over. Those trees natively found there have not.

I have been up and down for several miles on the Frio, Sabinal, and Guadalupe Rivers. The bald cypress there do not basically put up knees. Even at Cypress Mills

(northern most point of Tx. hill country bald cypress population that I know of) where the trees are literally growing in a swamp of water, no knees are visible from the road. Compare this to north Louisiana where I grew up and knees are commonly 2-3 ft high everywhere surrounding a tree. In some cases by a bayou they are up as high as 6-7 ft.

Wantonamara, I did all the work myself. I'll admit it that it was very hard...

David, yep. I had that problem with the hybrids. Trying to prune that weird looking central was no easy feat since it's pretty far up there. That's why Creech said to trim branches to prevent that, apparently.

Scotjuite, Do you mean Cypress Mills on FM 962. Krause springs is farther north than Cypress Mills. Not by much. So is Pougue Hollow And Lick Creek . At this point, I am guilty of boring exactitude. I can't remember if I saw them at Gorman Falls and Sulphur Springs. I do not see any in the google images of the spot. That would be a definite leap NW. Also Crabapple Creek west of Eckert (more west than north) . That would be a permanent water over granite not limestone. I don't remember them there. I am usually looking for sausage, not trees when I get on that particular road. As we go west, the permanent water springs get farther apart. Maybe that has something to do with this quick drop off of BC.

Yes I believe that is the road. Will check back if that is incorrect. Have never been to Krause Springs. Will check on the others you mentioned.

How far west does the Texas hill country population go? They are on the Frio River.

Probably on some creeks draining into it from west. But are they on the Nueces River or the Devil River?

Was reading years ago about the Ben Milam Cypress in San Antonio. Apparently he was shot by a sniper in this tree while leading the fight to take over San Antonio during war for Texas independence . After searching for it, I found it and was able to identify it as a native hill-country cypress as it did not have the cypress knees common to many of the imported Louisiana trees. At least it was of the right type of bald cypress.

The reason that these population goes west further south is related to all the rivers, streams and springs that are pushed up by the Edwards Aquifer that curls under the base of the southern edge of the Edwards plateau. As you go north from that curl you will pass over the medina and Guadalupe rivers when you are so far west, and then you will immediately climb up into the plateau as you head north. Those springs get fewer the farther you go up. Y'all probably know all this geography. Gardeners usually know about geography.

Oh I found a picture of "Old Glow" on the Pedernales River. We were shooting a movie in this picture during the drought of 2011. This was a scene wrap shot. Just Annie is watching over the high dollar movie camera on a tripod in the water. All the other rats are abandoning the ship. The river was dried totally up both upstream and down stream from us. The springs in this hole , never dried up. There were wild fires going just 2 miles to the Northeast of us. The helicopters kept interfering with the shooting schedule by dipping down to pick up water. It really messed with the sound guy all darn day. It was 110º that day. I was SO glad to be shooting in the water and not on the beach like we were earlier .

You can see where the waterline is normally in the next picture. This was at the beginning of the summer in May. We still 3 1/2 months of no rain and triple digits to go. I love this tree. He has found a sweet spot , lucky dog. The currents let him be and the deep spot and springs abound coming up from the floor of the river there.

You can get to Pougue Hollow by going to Reimers Ranch Park, and walking to the northern edge of the park. Lick creak is just further north from there. I think it is on private land but I was in a movie as an extra there. Part of Lick Creek goes over at the back norther boundary of the park but the best part of the swimming hole is further down stream. Cypress creak comes into the pedernales across from Reimers. That is a gorgeous trespass. if the water is running nicely. Great Cypresses. West Cave Preserve has some beautiful examples in a gorgeous grotto too. That is just as you pass over the Pedernales going west. I wonder if the San Gabriel River has any as it crosses the hill country side west of IH 35?... OOOH , you have a bunch of great days ahead of you if you do all of this. I love goals to search out for my road trips.

I live in Lick Creek watershed... I am not positive but there might be spring feed creek if you were to go for a hike into wilderness in the back of my neighborhood where all you had to do was stay on the dirt road past the elementary school (supposed to be new phase of neighborhood but that's on hold for now), you will find a creek with running water. We were warned not to go there but we did it anyway. There is a preserve by it as well so I am tempted to go for a hike there since it is behind neighbors' backyard on my street. Swimming hole? Hmm...

I did find photos of BC on Fall creek off the Pedernales river. They were on a ranch up for sale.

The only photos of Lick Creek that I could find on the net were on a site that dealt with a suit agains a development that was polluting the creek in 2003. The site is called The Guardians Of Lick Creek. I helped with this effort and we were successful. The creek is cleanER but not what it used to be. Midlothian, you might be interested in the history . I do not know if the bad feelings are still part of the neighborhood chemistry. It was awhile ago. Growth does cause hard feelings . I do not see any BC in these photos but I do remember them below my friends house and when I walked across the upper region of the West fork of Lick Creek on the way to Pogue Hollow many years ago. The famous F5 Jarrell Tornado ended here, I think . My friend lost half her house.

The Hill Country Bald Cypress cannot the submerged like the Louisiana seed. You see in Kerrville where they dammed the Guadeloupe and killed some of the large cypress because they were submerged. I think Garner State Park has the best Cypress, the Frio doesn’t flood like the Guadeloupe and they don’t get destroyed. They’re also pretty along Cypress Creek in Wimberly. San Antonio has pretty ones in Brackenridge, San Pedro Springs Park, Woodlawn Lake Park and along The River Walk. Hunt Texas has pretty Cypress as does the park along the Guadeloupe in Downtown Kerrville. For some reason Austin lacks the Great Bald Cypress in abundance, Pease Park has a few, I guess the damning of the Colorado destroyed them along the River. The Sabinal has some pretty Cypress and Comfort has some as well. Guadaloupe State Park has some but it’s depressing to see how many were destroyed, still if you love Cypress, it’s worth a visit. The wood on the Hill Country Cypress is lighter and a richer brown than the Louisiana seed, it’s just a much prettier tree, frankly, but again cannot be fully submerged, that’s why it grows on the edge not in the middle of the rivers and if it does, it’s on an island.

Shannon, love your pictures. I have planted 7 Tx. Hill country bald cypress on land in north Louisiana. The seem to be doing fine so far. Located close to water/creeks.

Not sure that I am in total agreement with your assessment of hill country cypress not growing as well as Louisiana trees in flooded areas, but certainly the different environments they are in would lead to that conclusion.

I have seen baby seedlings (Louisiana) remain underwater 9 months of year, emerge in Sept and start growing, and live like this for 3 years til top emerged from high water level. Never had the chance to observe similar in Tx. Hill country.

I spent some time both in the Hill Country and east Texas this past Feb. & March. The Bald Cypress were simply beautiful in both areas. The first picture is from Garner SP on the Frio River, with the latter pics from Caddo Lake SP, which borders Louisiana. The geography couldn't be more different, but what they had in common was beautiful BC.

Spooky trees

I don't know how I missed this post. Wonderful species that does well in many areas beyond its original range. My planted seed-grown ones colonize the flood plain of my border stream. Yes, there are quite a few knees, but I'd guess that's because the water table there is just below the surface (or occasionally above it). All color burnt orange in early Nov.