I've planted them on some fairly droughty sites. They're a real hardy tree, and they do just fine. Because they live in wet soil, cypress trees develop flared trunks that help them remain erect in soft ground. Although they tolerate wet places, cypress trees do not thrive in standing water year in and year out. At Duck Creek, the Conservation Department maintains several pools as waterfowl habitat.
Cypress trees flourish along the perimeters of all the pools.
Pool 1 remains constantly full and serves as a source of water for periodic flooding of Pools 2 and 3. As a result, the cypress trees in Pool 1 are stressed, dying, and falling down. Many have been there nearly 50 years. Mindful of the cypress's need for fluctuating water levels, Duck Creek managers closed pool 3 to waterfowl hunting last year while they repaired and replaced the aging water-control structures that preserve remnants of greentree wetland habitat. The restoration work, along with dredging a buildup of mud from drainage ditches, will enable the Conservation Department to vary water levels in Pools 2 and 3.