live oak
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Live Oak New Growth In The Third Year
When this new house was constructed, the builder planted two Live Oak trees of unknown variety in the front yard, probably at the end of 2022. For two years they have seemed healthy enough, producing acorns in the fall and new leaves in the spring. Now that I would consider them established, they get no Continue reading
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Trees With New Leaves
This post describes two more trees that have put out new leaves for spring. (I am still waiting for Mexican Olive and Barbados Cherry to wake up.) Mexican Plum (Prunus mexicana). This was the first year for this young tree to bloom but the second year for it to grow leaves in spring. As the Continue reading
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Tree Growth Report, January 2025
It is now an annual tradition (i.e., this is the second year!) that I take note of how my trees and shrubs are doing. Like children, when you see them every day, sometimes you don’t appreciate how much they’re growing. This post addresses trees. There will a separate one to describe the shrubs that I Continue reading
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“Tardily Deciduous”
In front of our house are two Live Oak trees, variety unknown (perhaps Quercus fusiformis?), planted by the builder before we moved here. That does not seem the best choice of tree in this location, given their potential mature size and susceptibility to oak wilt. If they had been unhealthy, I would not have hesitated Continue reading
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Tree & Shrub Growth Report, January 2024
I think that about once a year I will take approximate measurements of the trees and shrubs that I have here. Like children, when you see them every day, sometimes you don’t appreciate how much they’re growing (or not). The measurements were recorded on January 6, 2024 and the photos were taken a day or Continue reading
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Time For The Live Oaks To Stand On Their Own
We have two Live Oak trees in front of our house planted by the builder. I pondered for a long time whether to keep or replace them (if they grow to maturity, they — or their roots — will be too big for that space), but for now they are staying. I (or the future Continue reading
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Leafy Oak Gall Wasp
I had heard about galls before, but didn’t really know anything about them. So when I found three on a branch of one of my Live Oak trees, then of course there had to be research. A plant gall in general is an abnormal swelling of plant tissue, usually caused by some other organism (e.g., Continue reading
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Large Dragonfly
This may be one of the largest dragonflies I’ve seen. It was resting on a Live Oak tree, but flew away before I could get closer for an identification. I often find dragonflies hard to photograph because they can be fast moving and transparent, but this one happened to catch the morning sun for a Continue reading
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Live Oak New Growth
In front of our house are two Live Oak trees planted by our builder, probably around January 2023. I haven’t done much with them, except to provide weekly deep waterings (3-5 gallons of water per tree) during the summer drought, and to improve the mulch circles in which they sit. An encouraging sign recently was Continue reading
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Giving The Live Oak Trees More Space
In general, I use the estimation that the critical part of a tree’s root system corresponds to the area defined by its drip line (the outer circumference of its branches). If I can, when a tree is situated within a lawn, I like to define a mulched non-turf circle that extends at least to the 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 