I recently discovered that my West Highland terrier has started a habit of peeing on the base of my Shantung maple tree in my backyard. The tree is about 6 ft tall and was planted 5 years ago. Iβm no tree expert, but I want to take the best care of my trees that I can because Iβve poured a lot of time, effort, and money into them and their wellbeing. I also live in east Austin near the Colorado River, in case itβs helpful for soil info. Is my dog doing damage to my tree in the short or long term?
You may think, βWhy doesnβt she just scold her dog and make him stop this?β But thatβs much easier said than done. This terrier has a level of self-esteem that I could never dream to achieve and a head as hard as a diamond. If heβs not hurting the tree with his bathroom habit, Iβll just count it as a battle not worth fighting.
I'd like to plant two trees in my back/front yards. I'm in East Austin near the Colorado River in an area of Bergstrom-Norwood soil association, described as deep, calcareous, loamy soils overlying recent and old alluvium according to a 1972 US Dept. of Agriculture soil map of Travis County I found. (Though I don't know if that's still accurate because '72 was a while ago.) I also live in a house built in 2016, and so my top soil is whatever the developer dumped on the site.
I want to create a backyard/front yard of fall colors, and the two crape myrtles I've planted do well and provide fall intrigue. I'm not crazy about creating yards of only crape myrtles, though. I also recently learned that the Chinese pistache, another tree that provides fall color, is considered invasive and not recommended.
Online research has led me to bigtooth maple and shantung maple trees (specifically the Red Dragon variety of shantung maple). However, I don't come across many maples in Austin as a gauge to know if they're wildly successful or generally doomed. Is their scarcity a sign that planting a maple would be a bad idea or, at best, an uphill battle? If so, is there another recommendation for medium-sized trees that provide fall color?
Thanks so much for the input and advice!
Hello Arborists community. I got my first house a few years ago, and got a few trees for the backyard. They both grew FAST, but one looks more tree-like, and the other grew more like a bush. I need to prune them, but I have no experience. Based on some youtube videos, I have a rough plan, but I am not confident I will not kill the tree. Below are some photos with the planned cuts highlighted in red, as well as my rationale. Please let me know if I am on the right track, and also help me understand why one tree seems to have so few branches, and so many twigs.
The first tree is more tree like. The two issues I want to address are 1) Raising the canopy a bit since we need to walk under it, and 2) Choosing a leader. The top seems to be split into three leaders.
The second tree is more challenging. It grew like a bush with a few branches and a TON of tiny twigs growing out of the trunk. This one has a lot of tiny leaves, and a super thick canopy that looks like a giant bush, unlike the other tree that has a more tree-like leave structure. Is the cutting plan appropriate for this? How can I get it to focus on making good branches?
I am sure I am not 100% on track here. Any help would be appreciated! Unfortunately, the arborists in my area seem to be the "just cut off all the branches and leave the bare trunk" kind of tree butchers. My surrounding neighborhood looks like a horror show of dead and dying trees.
Thanks so much!
