Rewilding My Lot

An adage often heard about native perennial plants is that in their first three years they will “sleep, creep, and leap.” In other words, the first year is spent building a strong root system without much happening above ground. The second year perhaps sees a little visible progress, and in year three the plant is finally strong enough to display major growth.

In February I wrote about my Texas Mountain Laurel tree in its “leap” year after experiencing a major growth spurt and its first blooms.

There are now three more young trees that are growing faster than I’ve ever seen.

The two Live Oak trees in front of the house were planted by the subdivision builder at the end of 2022. The builder was legally required to place two new trees on each lot, but what each of us actually got probably depended on what was cheapest for them to buy at the time. Our oak trees started out smaller than the trees our neighbors got a year or so later, but it was probably fortunate that they were planted in winter, not summer. Not all the original trees in the subdivision have survived.

In the three years that I have been monitoring tree growth, the two oak trees have grown very little in that time. However, this spring has seen some major growth of new branches, both upwards and laterally.

Here are the two oak trees just after they were pruned in January 2026.

And here they are at the end of May 2026.

In the photo below, I am holding a branch at the point where new growth begins. There are many like this.

The Mexican Plum (Prunus mexicana) has also grown very little in its first three years here. However, this year it is really taking off and I see significant extension of branches, and even some entirely new branches.

The new growth on this tree has a reddish tint (both leaves and branches). in the first photo below, I am again holding the center branch at the point where new growth starts.