Leland cypress - Like having lots of water or not?

[eastcoastguyz]

I'm a little confused. A landscaper suggested that in a low area of our yard where water pools at times of the year from lots of rain, said that we should plant Leland cypress there since they love the water. But I just read some older postings to this newsgroup where people said they should have good drainage and won't like having their feet sit in wet clay. (I'm typing this from memory).

Which is it? If I want to plant a row of trees in an area which is low and water tends to pool there at times will Leland Cypress do fine or are they going to die?

This conversation all came up, since I wanted to plant a row of trees for privacy and was concerned about the water there during the heavy rain months. I suspect since the soil has clay in it, that is making the water stay around much longer too. Thanks!

[Carl 1 Lucky Texan]

If you mow near this area, DO NOT plant any type of cypress! The knees will screw up the lawn.

There are likely other tall plants, not necessarily trees, that will grow there. But yeah, pond, bald, I guess leland will grow in water.

Carl

[scfundogs]

For how long a time does the water stay pooled? If its alot of water for long periods of time have you considered having a french drain installed?

-- Tara

[Marley1372]

You are confusing species of "cypress". Yes, pond and baldcypress are adaptable in very wet areas, and will eventually for the knees IF they are in a wet area. Neither pond nor bald cypress are true cypress. Leyland cypress is actually an intergeneric hybrid between monterrey cypress(a true cypress) and alaskan cedar(falsecypress). Wet areas actually cause leyland cypress to be more prone to disease, a characteristic most likley inherited from its chamaecyparis parentage. As for the "knees", only the species Taxodium(pond, baldcypress, etc..) form them, and they are not cypress anyway so do not be afraid of planting "any cypress" there because of the knees. I would suggest googling with what area you are in and also "trees tolerant of wet soil". Google is a great tool, try it!

Toad

Carl 1 Lucky Texan wrote:

[told2b]

Leland Cypress are very intolerant of flooding. Consider Heritage Birch, Thornless Cockspur, Ilex 'Winter Red', Wax Myrtle and/or numerous Willows: Bankers, "Snake', Corkscrew, Black, Fantail, Artic Blue, and 'Hakuro Nishiki.' HTH

[eastcoastguyz]

That's a good question.This area does not have standing water 24/7/365, only during the rains and the following days after it. When we have a strench of rain for days or most of a week, water is standing there most of that time. I didn't measure this, but I would guess it is about

3 inches. Can Leland Cypress handle that? Or is what I described considered "flooding"? I get the impression that there is so much clay in the soil is the reason it lingers there.

[readandpostrosie]