I planted a Bald Cypress sapling several weeks ago and it was doing great. Until, here's the kicker, one of my neighbor's puppies decided to use it as a chew toy. They do not keep their dogs tied up and their fence is worthless, the dogs just crawl under it. Well now my poor sapling has basically been topped, they broke the entire top 8-10 inches off the tree. It has been a couple of weeks since this happened and the tree has survived, now it looks like a green bottle brush, but is there any hope of it ever looking like a Bald Cypress should? Should I just leave it? Should I dig it up?

Chad

Bump. Hello anybody there?

Although baldcypress is fairly apical dominant (like to grow straight and tall) it will sprout.

I would recomend taking a pair of clippers and nip it off at and angle just above a leaf. It should set one or more buds that will later form a branch, then depending on how it comes out, you can try to train it back to a single stem like an arborist trying to rehab a topped tree (you shouldn't have the long term problems associated with topped trees ie weak branches) or just let it go and hey... there are worse things than an odd looking cypress (you could have a yard full of sugarberry.)

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May the forest be with you.

if you put those tomato plant wire baskets around it, would it help to protect in in the future ?

I'll bet a juiced up garlic-pepper tea spray on the cypress would add hours of excitement to your evening (Just don't do it maliciously as to make your neighbors mad).

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May the forest be with you.