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Every year, the Society
of Municipal Arborists chooses their urban tree of the year. And this year,
the 2007 winner can say it made its way out of the swamps and into the
landscapes from the south all the way north to Minnesota.
The 2007 Urban Tree of
the year is Taxodium distichum, or commonly known as Bald Cypress. Yes, you
think of bald cypress in the swamps down south, but this stately tree has
the adaptability to grow in swamplands or on the high plains.
Considered a deciduous
evergreen (meaning it loses its needles in the fall), this wonderful tree
has sage green needles in summer changing to a russet brown for the fall, as
well as this very attractive reddish brown fibrous bark.
Bald Cypress is hardy to
zone 4, has 4 seasons of interest in the landscape, is relatively pest free,
and makes a great specimen tree, street tree, screenings and in groupings
and grove plantings.
Yes, Bald Cypress will
tolerate wet soils, but does equally well in dry soils. As a matter of
fact, although they began showing fall colors early, they have held up quite
nicely during this year’s heat and drought. And those cypress knees that
show up around the tree root system that you see in the swamps, well, they
usually only show up when the trees are planted in wetter soils.
Bald Cypress – the 2007 Urban Tree of the Year. |
