Dawn redwood & Montezuma Cypress in limestone soil?

[lou_midlothian_tx]

Can they be grown in mostly limestone (caliche) soil? How drought tolerant are they? I wanted to see about growing them at the park across the street from mine. It has only little live oak that i planted over the winter. I need to plant more trees to break up south wind.

[sandih]

This is from a previous question a few rows down:

sandih wrote:
According to the Wasowski "Native Texas Plant" book, it's cousing the "bald" cypress can definitely be planted in limestone soil. It did say that the Montezuma is found mostly in Mexico and Texas is its nothermost limit of its range. I wonder how well it would do in a really cold texas winter? - Anyone know first hand?

By the way, don't be fooled that Montezuma's are "evergreen" cause they do shed like Magnolias and Live Oaks.


Stephen F Austin state university where I graduated from years ago has this tree...

"The Montezuma cypress is one of the big surprises in the South. Taxodium mucronatum, the most under-exploited Taxodium for the South, has few varieties available and is not often grown. Montezuma cypress is native to Mexico and a sliver at the south tip of Texas, which, of course, qualifies it as a native plant of Texas. While generally considered a Z9-10 plant, the species has done well in Zone 8 in the South. There is a new weeping form found by Paul Cox of the San Antonio Botanical Garden, which he named ‘Sentido’ (Spanish for crying). Cedar Lodge Nursery in New Zealand has a form they have named ‘McClaren Falls,’ a mounding weeper of unknown proportions at maturity. At the SFA Mast Arboretum, we have several Montezuma cypress, the biggest along the Wilson Drive sidewalk. This Montezuma cypress, planted in 1988, easily survived the hard December freeze of 1989 (0o F). A specimen exists in the Zone 7 JC Raulston Arboretum at Raleigh, North Carolina. Michael Melendrez has been doing some pioneering work in New Mexico and reports the presence of an old stand that appears to be much hardier than what is normally available. The Montezuma cypress is a faster grower than the bald cypress or the pond cypress, partly due to foliage drop later in the fall and earlier foliage development in the spring. In one planting on the Shelby county courthouse square in Center, Texas, the Montezuma cypress outgrew bald and pond cypress by almost double in ten years. We have tested all three at several locations and have always found the Montezuma to outgrow the others. This is a landscape tree certainly worthy of planting in Zone 8 and 9 across the South."

Also Howard said it's cold hardy up to Zone 7.

[lou_midlothian_tx]

Sandih,

So are you saying that Montezuma can really grow in limestone soil? Not just the regular 'ol bald cypress?

What about dawn redwood?

[sandih]

I just quoted what was in the book, I don't know from personal experience. The cousing (bald cypress) can so I assume the Montezuma can as well.

Does anyone know for sure?

[lou_midlothian_tx]

I wish Howard would be more specific about whether trees can grow in limestone or not on his description of each tree.

I ordered some montezuma seeds to grow for fun. I would like to try growing one at the park but I need to be certain that it can tolerate caliche soil.

[sandih]

You could find a grower that sells them and ask.

[lou_midlothian_tx]

Sellers aren't from around here. Only Howard or people in my area would know if they did grow well or not. I guess I'll use the park as an experiment...

[Dirt Doctor]

Sorry, thought I had answered this. Montezuma cypress is an underused gem. We have one in the motor court at the Frito Lay that has be there about 20 years. The site is solid white rock. I did not allow "top soil" to be brought in as proposed by others. The tree has gone through some rough weather and has done unbelievably well. It has out grown the bald cypresses in the same area and is almost evergreen. There are shots of it on the site but I will make it the plant of the month in the next DIRT. I have planted others as well. You can get more information from Dr. Cretch (sp?) at Stephen F. Austin. He has been doing research, growing and promoting them for years.

[lou_midlothian_tx]

Dirt Doctor wrote: Sorry, thought I had answered this. Montezuma cypress is an underused gem. We have one in the motor court at the Frito Lay that has be there about 20 years. The site is solid white rock. I did not allow "top soil" to be brought in as proposed by others. The tree has gone through some rough weather and has done unbelievably well. It has out grown the bald cypresses in the same area and is almost evergreen. There are shots of it on the site but I will make it the plant of the month in the next DIRT. I have planted others as well. You can get more information from Dr. Cretch (sp?) at Stephen F. Austin. He has been doing research, growing and promoting them for years.

Great thanks!

What about dawn redwood in limestone soil?

[Dirt Doctor]

Same answer - they are just not quite as fast growing and there are many more of them growing in north Texas.