Live Oak Trees

Savannah, Georgia comes to mind when one thinks about live oak trees. These classically beautiful trees with spanish moss along streets with historic antebellum homes are unforgettable.

Live oak grows across the Southeastern United States. It is found on the east coast from southeastern Virginia to Florida and west to southern and central Texas. It grows predominantly in sandy soils of low coastal areas but it also grows in dry sandy or moist rich woods. It has a resistance to salty soil and salt spray from the ocean and does well on barrier islands.

Live oak is monoecious. This means that they have separate male and female reproductive units on the same plant. They produce flowers every spring from March through May and the acorns mature in September and fall off by December. Live oak acorns are long, dark brown to black and tapered. They are sweet and very popular with birds and other animals.

If the acorns fall on moist, warm ground they will germinate soon after falling. Germination is the beginning of the growth of the acorn seed. The leaves that develop during germination absorb the moisture which makes food available. Roots are produced which then find their own water to produce shoots. Seed leaves in live oaks stay below the surface of the soil and shoots sprout up abundantly from the roots.

Live oaks don’t get very tall, rarely above 50 feet but the crown or expanse of the tree can have a span of 150 feet. It is a very popular shade tree because of this. The wood of the live oak is very hard and strong and was used years ago for shipbuilding. The wood is not used today as it is predominantly a shade and ornamental tree.

Live oaks have a tendency to grow in large, dense groups with interconnected roots which make it highly susceptible to oak wilt disease which is a fungus. This fungus is transmitted from one live oak to another through the connected roots and is one of the most serious tree diseases. It kills hundreds of trees in Austin, Texas every year in patches because of their tendency to grow in groves. Certified arborists providing Austin tree services are very experienced at diagnosing and treating oak wilt.

Symptoms of oak wilt are usually found on the leaves which develop yellow veins that eventually turn brown and fall off the tree. The crown of the tree thins outs until it dies. Oak wilt can be costly to treat and control and an accurate diagnosis is critical. A certified arborist providing tree services should be contacted to ensure proper diagnosis and treatment.

About the Author: Andrew Johnson is the owner of Central Texas Tree Care, a leading tree service provider in Central Texas (Travis County and surrounding areas) offering services such as pruning and removals, cabling and bracing as well as arborist reports, diagnostics, pest management, fertilization and Austin tree service trusts. For more information please visit http://www.centraltexastreecare.com.

The Life Cycle of the Tree

A tree’s life cycle begins with germination. An adult tree will drop a seed to the ground, usually in fall or winter, and the seed will lie dormant until spring. When the conditions are right, the dormant seed will start to receive warmth, water, sunlight and oxygen. This will spark the growth of the baby tree embryo and begin its life cycle.
The baby tree will sprout a root, which will instinctively seek out groundwater. If it finds it, the root will then become submerged in the earth. As it takes root, a stem will sprout up towards the sun, usually carrying the seed casing with it, up into the air. As it straightens up and grows upright, it will drop the protective casing and start its life as a seedling.
Seedlings need extremely favorable conditions to survive to adulthood. Just a few too many days of dry conditions or sunlight can quickly kill a seedling. If you are growing a seedling, you will need to pay attention to the weather. Water your baby tree about every week to ten days. If conditions are dry and hot, you may need to water it twice a week. More is only necessary if you notice wilting leaves, or if a tree starts losing its leaves in the summer.
Water generously, enough to soak down to the bottom of the roots. For baby trees, this may only require a one minute watering from a water hose, but for larger trees, it may be closer to fifteen minutes. Do not water your trees too often. If you are in Texas or other arid hot climate, you may need to water more. Keep up this watering pattern for about the first year.
One watering exception is during the late fall. Trees need to prepare for winter. Watering or fertilizing during this time will keep the tree growing and prevent it from becoming dormant. Let the tree become dormant and drop its leaves. When the weather becomes cold and the tree has no leaves left, then you can assume that it is in a dormant state and continue your watering schedule. Make sure that you insulate the ground around the tree with mulch and snow if possible.
Trees will spout leaves and some will flower in the spring. The flowers will turn to fruit in fruit trees. Other trees may just grow seeds. The seeds will eventually drop and lie dormant through the winter months until spring arrives again. Then, the combination of sunlight, oxygen and water will spark the seed to germinate once again. If conditions are exactly right, then the seed will produce another tree.
This is the life cycle of the tree. It can be helpful to understand what is happening to your tree as you plant and take care of it for the first year. After the first year, you will need to contact an Arborist to find out if your tree is ready for pruning. Pruning at the right age is important to the strength and growth pattern of your tree. If you are in Texas, precise and expert trimming is necessary not to kill trees in the harsh Texas environment. Call an Arborist for tree trimming Austin questions.

Dendrochronology: Tree Trimming Austin TX

Many people require Austin tree service to maintain or remove trees on their property. If you are having a tree removed, you may be curious about the tree’s age. Dendrochronology uses trees rings to figure out the tree’s age. If you would like to know more about dendrochronology, read on!
Many people have heard that you can count the rings of a cut tree and determine its age. But why is this true? Does each ring actually represent a year of the tree’s life? Not exactly. The sun has different levels of activity that affects weather patterns here on earth. The climate fluctuations change the color of the rings, thus making it possible for scientists to pinpoint the exact year of the trees birth.
The rings can sometimes indicate one full year if the climate changes enough between summer and winter to cause a ring to form. This happens when a tree has a rapid growth season followed by a slow growth season. If the tree is growing in a climate that consistently changes with the seasons, then the rings will actually represent one year each.
Sometimes there will be multiple rings for one year. If there is a lot of rain, then the tree will grow a wide ring. If there is a drought, then the ring may be very slender. If conditions alternate between wet and dry in one year, then many rings can form during that time period. This is how scientists can use tree rings to see what past weather patterns must have looked like.
Trees do not necessarily need to be cut down to be dated. Samples can be drilled out of the tree and the sample can be used to measure growth. If multiple rings for one year are suspected, scientists will sometimes use an average size of the rings to get an approximate age. Core samples from other trees can help determine the exact age of another tree. If they can pinpoint a certain climatic event and narrow down a tree sample’s ring to a precise year, then they can use it to help date another tree that may not have such a defined pattern.
If you live in a mostly arid climate, such as Austin, TX, you should be able to fairly accurately date your own trees. Humidity and moisture surges can make it harder to accurately determine a tree’s age without many regional samples. So, if you live in Austin, you can count the tree rings from your tree and be fairly confident that you have an accurate age for your tree.


About the Author: Andrew Johnson is the owner of Central Texas Tree Care, a leading tree service provider in Central Texas (Travis County and surrounding areas) offering services such as pruning and removals, cabling and bracing as well as arborist reports, diagnostics, pest management, fertilization and Austin tree service trusts. For more information please visit http://www.centraltexastreecare.com.