live oak
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Three Trees That Are Growing Like Crazy
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… Continue reading
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A May View Of The Garden
I did a walk-through of the garden on the morning of May 16, 2026. Here are some things that caught my eye. In the areas where there are massed annual wildflowers, such as the meadow in front of the house, the predominant bloom at the moment is Firewheel aka Indian Blanket (Gaillardia pulchella). Most of… Continue reading
american beautyberry, beebalm, bluebonnet, cenizo, desert willow, firewheel, frogfruit, horsemint, indian blanket, indian paintbrush, kidneywood, lindheimer’s senna, live oak, maximilian sunflower, mealy blue sage, mexican buckeye, mexican plum, prickly pear cactus, rock rose, rue, skeleton-leaf goldeneye, texas sage, turk’s cap, woolly stemodia, zizotes milkweed -
New Oak Growth
There are two builder-installed Live Oak trees in front of the house, possibly Quercus fusiformis. These trees are semi-evergreen or “tardily deciduous” in that they don’t shed their old leaves until the new ones have begun to emerge. The whole process of conversion from old to new leaves takes just a few weeks in spring.… Continue reading
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Pruning: Live Oaks
When we moved into a newly built house in Seguin, there were two young Live Oak trees in the front yard. These were probably cheaply bought by the developer in bulk, sight unseen. Nevertheless, three years later, they seem to be reasonably happy and the main trunks are vertical. In their first year here, I… Continue reading
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Tree Growth Report, January 2026
Each January 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 have (here). The measurements and photos were recorded on January 11,… Continue reading
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Trees And Their Schedules
I have a small collection of trees here (I’m limited by space!). There is one evergreen tree (Texas Mountain Laurel), which will retain its leaves through the winter. The two Live Oaks are semi-evergreen, meaning that old leaves drop when they are pushed out by the new ones growing in spring. The transition only takes… Continue reading
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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
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 