Selecting Landscape Plants: Shade Trees

Bald cypress (Taxodium distichum)

Large trees

• Maximum height
  100 feet
• Relative growth rate
  Good
• Freedom from insect pests
  Excellent
• Freedom from disease problems
  Excellent
• Resistance to storm damage
  Good
• Will grow on poorly drained soil
  Excellent
• Will grow in hot, dry areas
  Good
• Easy to transplant
  Very poor
• Withstands city conditions
  Good

This fast-growing, pyramidal-shaped tree becomes rounded with age. The light green, fernlike leaves turn a rust color before they are shed in the fall. This tree has relatively few insect or disease problems and will grow on a wide variety of soil types. Bald cypress is difficult to move and should be transplanted while young.