tree
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My First Four Trees Are Now Taller Than I Am
In front of the house there are two Live Oak trees that the builder planted. Behind the house there are four trees that I planted early in my time here (2-3 years ago), with the intent that they would become major features in the garden: Desert Willow, Texas Mountain Laurel, Mexican Olive, and Mexican Plum. 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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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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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
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Preparing For A Freeze
Technically, the first frost of this winter season was early morning 12/11/2023. I didn’t have a thermometer here then, but I think the lowest temperature was maybe 30-32 degrees F. There was no precipitation overnight, just a light coating of frozen condensation. The plants here showed no noticeable reaction to that light frost. However, a 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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Correcting My Huisache Error
In the spring I planted a Huisache tree, because this native plant is resilient and drought-tolerant. I later discovered that Huisache has some significant disadvantages and I regretted that choice. (Not all native plants are ideal for all situations.) So then I condemned the tree to be removed when I had something more polite with Continue reading
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Preparing For Fall
I arrived here in February 2023. Spring was designated for planning and the planting of trees and native grasses. Summer was designated for infrastructure projects and more planning. And fall is intended to be a big planting season. It is not my goal to finish planting the garden this year. However, I want at least 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
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“State Of The Garden” After Six Months
In February 2023 we moved to a new developer lot in Seguin, Texas, USA. The front yard had Bermudagrass sod, two Live Oak trees, and a bed in front of the house with fairly standard landscaper plants. The back yard was empty except for Bermudagrass sod. My overall goals here are to develop a balanced 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 