damage
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Red Buckeye Recovery
In April 2024 I planted a small Red Buckeye (Aesculus pavia) tree. It was just 14 inches tall at the time. By July 2024 it had lost almost all its leaves. This concerned me, but then I learned that this deciduous tree does lose its leaves early in the year. So I figured it would Continue reading
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Trauma At The Barn Swallow Nest
There has been some traumatic event at the barn swallow nest, which now appears to be abandoned. Here’s where I wish I had installed a camera to watch it so I’d have more information. As it is, I can only look at the evidence and deduce a hypothesis. Here’s a timeline: In the last part Continue reading
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Mexican Plum Tree — Good News After A Winter Scare
My Mexican Plum (Prunus mexicana) tree has been here almost two years. Last year it only produced leaves; this year I hoped for blooms as well. Spoiler alert: yes, there are blooms. That alone would make me happy, but given that this tree was sick during the winter I am even more thrilled to see Continue reading
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Bluebonnets — Good News and Bad News
I have been looking forward to this year’s display of bluebonnets in the “meadow” in front of the house since there are a much greater number of plants than last year. Last year’s plants produced plenty of seed and I’ve been watching the hundreds of new plants grow since November. They stayed close to the Continue reading
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Checking Repair Of An Earlier Tree Split
Back in May 2024, a major wind event caused a significant split in a fork of my young Desert Willow tree. The photo above is from that time. I applied a paste of rooting powder into the split and tied everything together with garden tape and a bandana. Following are photos of the repair first Continue reading
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How Is The Damaged Desert Willow Tree Doing?
The Desert Willow (Chilopsis linearis) was one of the first trees planted here, and eventually will be the tallest in the back yard. (It is the tallest tree, but not the tallest plant, yet.) In a recent storm that brought extremely strong winds, this tree split at a fork in the main trunk. I wrapped Continue reading
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Wind Damage To The Desert Willow
Last week we had a few hours of extremely high winds (our local newspaper said 70mph), which was apparently enough to tear a split in a fork near the top of my Desert Willow tree. This tree does move more than others in the wind (one of the reasons I like it), and it must Continue reading
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Short-Term Effects Of The Freeze
In the past week we have had five nights of below freezing temperatures, with the lowest recorded here of 16.0 F. I expected to see some wilting, blackness, or loss of leaves and we certainly had that. With native plants, that is almost never a concern, and it’s just a part of nature cleaning up. Continue reading
About Me
Nature Lover.
Inquisitive Observer.
Student Gardener.
I invite you to join me on my journey to convert my sterile (from a nature point of view) new house lot to a healthy and diverse ecosystem, as I make discoveries, mistakes, and hopefully progress. I am not an expert or professional. The project started in February 2023 and the location is Seguin, Texas, USA.
Rewilding My Lot 