Questions about Hill Country (Bandera: home, shop, trees)

[neddy]

I have that book and its not only handy for me but if city folks read it they might understand some interesting things.

[CptnRn]

Austin

[joqua]

I find it interesting that as noxious as some people find the juniper/cedar varieties to be, none are considered "invasive" species on the Central Texas/Austin list of invasive plants:

Chinaberry Melia azedarach
Chinese Parasol Tree Firmiana simplex
Chinese Pistache Pistacia chinessis
Chinese Tallow Sapium sebiferum
Common Privet Ligustrum sinense/L.vulgare
Common Water Hyacinth Eichhornia crassipes
Elephant Ear Alocasia spp, Colocasia spp.
Eurasian Watermilfoil Myriophyllum spicatum
Giant Cane Arundo donax
Holly Fern Cyrtomium falcatum
Hydrilla Hydrilla verticillata
Japanese Honeysuckle Lonicera japonica
Johnson Grass Sorghum halepense
Kudzu Pueraria lobata
Mimosa, Silk Tree Albizia julbrissin
Nandina Nandina domestica
Paper Mulberry Broussonetia papyrifera
Photinia Photinia spp.
Poison Ivy Toxicodendron radicans
Pyracantha Pyracantha spp.
Running Bamboo Phyllostachys aurea
Russian Olive Eleagnus angustifolia
Tamarisk, Salt Cedar Tamarix spp.
Tree of Heaven Ailianthus altissima
Vitex Vitex agnus-castus
Waxleaf Ligustrum Ligustrum japonicum
White Mulberry Morus alba
Wisteria Wisteria sinensis/W.floribunda

[hellpaso]

Aren't they the same as the Tamarisk (salt cedar) on the list? I remember El Paso banned mulberry trees years ago.

[Cathy4017]

Originally Posted by hellpaso

Aren't they the same as the Tamarisk (salt cedar) on the list? I remember El Paso banned mulberry trees years ago.

No. The salt cedar is an invasive, non-native species (but I can't recall the history at the moment).

What we commonly call cedars in TX are actually ashe (or another type) junipers, and not the same tree. Ashe junipers are native....and I can't believe they aren't on the list of invasive species, either!

Or does invasive only refer to non-natives that have taken over? Regardless, they are both horrible IMO.

So is the mulberry--allergenic to many, tears up underground systems, etc!

[TX75007]

Originally Posted by ognend

You need to educate yourself then. Cedars are a native tree species and have their place in the ecosystem. The balance "get out of whack" because of people.

For information on how to manage your Hill country acreage read this book: Amazon.com: Hill Country Landowner's Guide (Louise Lindsey Merrick Natural Environment Series) (9781603441377): James P. Stanley: Books

OD

Big grass fires every 5-10 years swept Texas prior to the arrival of barbed wire and dry land farmers. That is what kept juniper and mesquite under control. It also kept the fuel load very low. Catastrophic fires were non-existent.

The huge burns West of Fort Worth last year and in the late 90s were natural processes in reaction to the huge increase in flammable plants. The huge fire that nearly destroyed the Bastrop pines last year was a preventable tragedy.

The ONLY solution to the juniper issue to to go back to the fires that swept the area prior to the 1880s. We will have to learn to tolerate a number of small fires every year in exchange for a healthier landscape and to prevent the huge burns. The state will have to regulate and manage land uses and likely the water districts will have to pay landowners to do it. And there will have to be a building code for rural homes to make them fireproof. We already require the same for much of hurricane coastal areas.

Its only a matter of time until a biblical fire occurs in the Hill Country- unless land use patterns change. I do not see things changing so a monster fire that burns across several counties around Austin, destroying tens of thousands of homes, and which kills possibly hundreds or perhaps thousands of people is inevitable. The fuel load around Austin is already MUCH higher than that of Oakland in the early 90s and is just getting worse.

Oakland firestorm of 1991 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

1991: Oakland-Berkeley Fire Aftermath, Photographs by Richard Misrach | Oakland Museum of California

Bastrop 2011 - imagine something ten times this big sweeping areas West of Mopac?

Austin, Texas Musician Jessica Shepherd | Jessica Shepherd

[TXNGL]

"No. The salt cedar is an invasive, non-native species (but I can't recall the history at the moment)."


Ah. I think I have my trees mixed up. That may be the one that they were pointing out was invading the Rio Grande in the Big Bend area.

[ognend]

Originally Posted by TX75007

Big grass fires every 5-10 years swept Texas prior to the arrival of barbed wire and dry land farmers. That is what kept juniper and mesquite under control. It also kept the fuel load very low. Catastrophic fires were non-existent.

The huge burns West of Fort Worth last year and in the late 90s were natural processes in reaction to the huge increase in flammable plants. The huge fire that nearly destroyed the Bastrop pines last year was a preventable tragedy.

The ONLY solution to the juniper issue to to go back to the fires that swept the area prior to the 1880s. We will have to learn to tolerate a number of small fires every year in exchange for a healthier landscape and to prevent the huge burns. The state will have to regulate and manage land uses and likely the water districts will have to pay landowners to do it. And there will have to be a building code for rural homes to make them fireproof. We already require the same for much of hurricane coastal areas.

Its only a matter of time until a biblical fire occurs in the Hill Country- unless land use patterns change. I do not see things changing so a monster fire that burns across several counties around Austin, destroying tens of thousands of homes, and which kills possibly hundreds or perhaps thousands of people is inevitable. The fuel load around Austin is already MUCH higher than that of Oakland in the early 90s and is just getting worse.

Oakland firestorm of 1991 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

1991: Oakland-Berkeley Fire Aftermath, Photographs by Richard Misrach | Oakland Museum of California

Bastrop 2011 - imagine something ten times this big sweeping areas West of Mopac?

Austin, Texas Musician Jessica Shepherd | Jessica Shepherd

Exactly right. I am so sick of the "ewwww, cedar sucks" ignorant attitudes without any understand of the hows and whys.
OD

[ognend]

Originally Posted by Cathy4017

Or does invasive only refer to non-natives that have taken over? Regardless, they are both horrible IMO.

So is the mulberry--allergenic to many, tears up underground systems, etc!

Yeah, how dares it ruin our "underground systems"!
OD

[sxrckr]

Originally Posted by TX75007

Big grass fires every 5-10 years swept Texas prior to the arrival of barbed wire and dry land farmers. That is what kept juniper and mesquite under control. It also kept the fuel load very low. Catastrophic fires were non-existent.

The huge burns West of Fort Worth last year and in the late 90s were natural processes in reaction to the huge increase in flammable plants. The huge fire that nearly destroyed the Bastrop pines last year was a preventable tragedy.

The ONLY solution to the juniper issue to to go back to the fires that swept the area prior to the 1880s. We will have to learn to tolerate a number of small fires every year in exchange for a healthier landscape and to prevent the huge burns. The state will have to regulate and manage land uses and likely the water districts will have to pay landowners to do it. And there will have to be a building code for rural homes to make them fireproof. We already require the same for much of hurricane coastal areas.

Its only a matter of time until a biblical fire occurs in the Hill Country- unless land use patterns change. I do not see things changing so a monster fire that burns across several counties around Austin, destroying tens of thousands of homes, and which kills possibly hundreds or perhaps thousands of people is inevitable. The fuel load around Austin is already MUCH higher than that of Oakland in the early 90s and is just getting worse.

Oakland firestorm of 1991 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

1991: Oakland-Berkeley Fire Aftermath, Photographs by Richard Misrach | Oakland Museum of California

Bastrop 2011 - imagine something ten times this big sweeping areas West of Mopac?

Austin, Texas Musician Jessica Shepherd | Jessica Shepherd

This is something I've been very concerned about, especially since last summer.