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New Roses, Compost and Grasshoppers Epazote, Gotu Kola and St. John's Wort Central Texas Fall Planting Guide Gardening for Birds and Butterflies How to grow Apples in Central Texas Problems growing Tomatoes in hot weather |
Tree Recommendations Small Trees: The Mexican Plum is drought tolerant and has fragrant white blooms in the spring. It is a Texas native. The Mexican Redbud performs much better than any of the other redbuds, and you can't believe how attractive it is in our most brutal summer heat. It's a fast grower, but very high quality. Medium Trees: Texas Red Oakor shumard oak has attractive red foliage in the fall. Lacey Oak is a great medium sized tree with foliage similar to the post oak. The Desert Willow is drought tolerant with hummingbird-attracting blooms all summer. (It's not really a willow.) Dogwood is best planted as an under story tree where the roots can be cool in the summer. Not a good choice for black clay or alkaline soil. Big Trees: Burr Oak is an outstanding shade tree, but it produces huge acorns that some people don't like. Live Oak is a favorite of many gardeners but like the pecan should not be planted close to the house or driveway, where the dripping sap can make your car look like a piece of pecan pie. The t Loblolly Pine is the best Pine for our deep sand, and the Afghan pine is the best pine for the alkaline soil.
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If you are thinking about planting a tree around your home, be sure to do a little research to get an idea of what purpose you want the tree to serve. For example, shade or windbreak. Also, decide how big you want the tree to become. Sometimes a small or medium-sized accent tree will work much better in your front yard than a large shade tree. If you plant a large oak in your front yard where you also want lots of color, you may eventually have too much shade for flowerbeds. You might want to plant the largest shade trees in the area you prefer to gather with family and friends. Remember trees that grow the fastest are almost always weak wooded and of poor quality. Although some trees in the poplar family such as Cottonwoods can live for centuries, if the description of the tree contains the word poplar, avoid planting it. Although a Cottonwood is one of my favorite trees, it's much better to see one in its grandest glory along a creek bank or river bottom. Another tree to avoid is the Empress Tree, one of the messiest and most brittle trees to ever be seen in a mail order catalogue. Forget about most willows, including the weeping willow. The Fan-Tex ash will hand you years of frustration and misery, as will the Silver Maple, Hackberry and Honeylocust. If you plant a poor quality tree when you are middle aged, you will need to be cutting it down in your old age when you want to enjoy it the most, so choose carefully. To help you get an idea of some great trees for the South, here are a few suggestions:
