It is a table top so I am sure it had a hard clear on their. On of my favorite fast growers in actually a shrub, Bottle Brush. Alabama more or less gets plenty of rainfall compared to where I live. Leave the hose out at the top of the lawn at barely trickling flow for hours at a time to slowly soak deep into the ground. Bonus is that hummingbirds and butterflies love it. All I had to do was give it slow deep watering every once in a while. I assume they are in good, deep soil, but I may have one or two other places on my land that have better soil. Young bald cypress will thrive if the soil remains saturated or even flooded during this time, as long as the tree is not completely submerged. I got the seeds from my hometown in New Orleans. Anyway, the trees suffered for a time, and one had about 15 feet of its top die back. Some brown tips. Tip: if you can choose between a larger or smaller specimen, generally choose small. We have several Bald Cypress in two different locations or properties that have some problems. It can grow in heavy, clay or mucky soil, but also dry sandy soils, compacted soils and garden-like loamy soils with good drainage. Bald Cypress were the worst possible choice for these spots, yet the trees are alive and apparently surviving. Bald cypress seeds are epigeal, meaning that germination occurs on or very near the surface of the soil. Bald cypress trees that are consistently flooded will grow structures from their roots called "knees." (we back up to common ground, so we do some plantings there too) My husband helps me with the heavy work. Well, this Spring, the Dawn Redwood just turned completely burn on the top third. When you start planting a bald cypress tree in your backyard, try to imagine the tree several decades in the future at 120 feet (36.5 m.) tall with a trunk diameter of 6 (1.8 m.) feet or more. Me I like to see the wood but I know I am in the minority. Sometimes a simply water test can help. I am afraid you will either have to kill everything or hand pull it. No answer here but I interested in your question very much. They were fine then, but this year has been worse. The other piece of bald cypress information to keep in mind involves their longevity. I have checked for spider mites, borers and any other noticable insects and there are none. Some have browned(hard) from the top. I think we were in our house a good seven years before i did the front and side foundation plantings! I was impressed with their toughness. It looks like you did not sand through whatever clear finish was on the top. It has been browning slowly for a month or more. We are having a very serious drought here--since May we have had two rains of any note. We water once per week. Interesting Joseph-how sometimes a tree can be taken far, far outside of its original range and do well. The chlorotic or bleached out trees were planted two years ago as 1 1/2 inch caliper. You can even use a wipe on poly such as Arm R Seal. So I guess it has been the lack of water. Hood by the gates that are on top of hill in dry hard caliche clay with limestone. what have you observed? Jay Texas,I have 5 remotely planted bald cypress that I carry water to weekly along with pecan trees. Probably the right thing to do is stick your fingers into the rootball and make sure the water is getting in there. I have this Montezuma-bald hybrid cypress growing in rocky limestone soil. But what worried me is that 95%--maybe more--of the foliage was lost. I think we take some of that survival skill away when we plant them in our yards or other landscapes vs where they grow naturally. If the wood changes color or gets darker it can take the stain. The tips of the branches and the top of the tree were still green. One of my observations when I lived in D.C. was a trio of baldcypress planted in front of the Natural History Museum. ====>>>> your 'belief' might not be good enough .... i would go dig a small hole near each of them.. 6 to 8 inches down .. and FIND OUT if there is any water or moisture in the soil ... down in the root zone ... and then.. when you report back.. give us some additional facts like how old are they.. how big.. when planted[recently??] You don't say how large your buckets are, and we don't know what your soil drainage is like. I gave all three trees a deep soaking--enough to take them through the fall. These trees arrived in 25 gln pots with their biggest roots chopped to the pot. That way the OP doesn't get a bunch of responses unrelated to his original concern, it will make the thread less confusing for future searches, and it will keep everyone from having to read through the old posts to get to your new one. Head to a local nursery. Thanks--I have been a close observer of baldcypress for a long time, and it is one of my favorite trees, but I still have some things to learn. Area gets 30" annually. The BC will eventually take off.). Bald cypress hardiness zones are listed as 4-9, 5-10, and also 4-11. Try General Finished Java gel stain. My guess, unless you have really big buckets, is that the trees are not getting nearly enough water. A nursery planted all and I have watered continuously and fed them well.Several had a severe shock and browned considerably. There is nothing wrong with Minwax. They will likely also provide a planting service. I bet most of yours do ok with continued attention. Next, deeply water the planting area, including the root ball, to a depth equal to the height of the root ball. Hole in main branch of Japanese maple keeps filling with water. How good are they in droughts? Both of my bald cypress trees are 6 years old and they are both turning brown. Spraying the tree down is not the solution. But they seemed like tough old trees and never showed any signs of stress, even in dry periods. I just had a dozen bald cypress 16' tall planted at our condo community in St.Pete Fl. I live in North Texas and this summer is a scorcher! These tree are 2 ft. tall and get ~25 gallons a week. It will likely adapt to its new surroundings faster and put on growth sooner, than a larger tree. They removed some trees and replaced them with elms. It can grow in heavy, clay or mucky soil, but also dry sandy soils, compacted soils and garden-like loamy soils with good drainage. My guess is that they need a lot more water. (I'm more concerned about my soil depth for the DRs so they can reach their potential. I was at the farm market in another town and I walked around the downtown and found these old bald cypress. Wedge the mucky soil back into the hole and press it up against the root ball with your gloved hands. BTW, if you want more info or have more questions, you might consider starting a new thread. In drier soils, the tree will require extra water in the first few years, but will grow well if that is provided. Therefore, plant young bald cypress trees at water's edge on firm soil or wait until a dry period lowers the water level. Surprisingly, bald cypress does not require wet soils to grow. The spots that took the finish are bare wood the rest is where it still had a finish. The best germination rates occur on sphagnum moss or a wet muck seedbed. At first I just thought it was due to a heat wave in early April but then when it did not recuperate, I suspected it was something in the soil that was bothering it (neighbor has a pool that is not that far away). We also had 7 days at or near 100 degrees. I figure they'll adapt to the PH in my clay (with the aide of mulch decomposing over the years) or they won't thrive and I'll pull them.