Big Pickles

There are five trees in my yard, and none of them are the same. I've never really known what kind they are. What can I say, Forestry is not one of the Eagle required merit badges. So I've just lived in in ignorance.

Until today.

Thanks to the Texas Tree Planting Guide, I'm fairly confident that I've identified my trees.

Starting in the back yard, going clockwise:

Live Oak. It looks deciduous, but it's really evergreen. Those leaves stay green all winter. This sucker is huge, but we have it trimmed up pretty high. You can hear the branches scraping the second-story rain gutters from inside the house, so it's probably due for another trimming. Drops a lot of acorns, which have to fished out of kids' pockets at laundry time.

Sycamore. This one is nice-sized, too. Very pretty bark. Drops these annoying spiky balls that look like naval mines and wreak havoc on the lawnmower and bare feet, though. At least the kids don't put them in their pockets.

Cedar Elm. I might be reaching with the subspecies, but I'm pretty sure it's some kind of Elm. By far our largest tree. This one seems to rain sticks more than anything else. Until the kids are old enough to mow the lawn, they will have steady employment picking up sticks from around this tree.

Baldcypress. We're in the front yard now. This tree is the opposite of the Live Oak--it looks evergreen, but it's deciduous. Those needles turn brown and fall off in the fall and winter.

Texas Redbud. For about two weeks every spring this tree is the most beautiful thing on our street. Well, except for the other Redbuds, several people seem to have them. For the rest of the year, though, it's kind of a pain. The branches are real twisty and like to grow downward, so I have to trim it almost every year. It gets some love in October, when we hang ghosties from it.

That's it. That's all my trees.

Labels: forestry