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By Barbara Elmore,
HCMG
Tall Trees of Cibolo
National Forest
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We all giggled when our
friend, trying out her
new camcorder, recorded
the scene enveloping us
at the "Cibolo National
Forest." It was a slip
of the tongue prompted
by a hike in the heat of
the afternoon sun at
Cibolo Nature Center in
Boerne. |
But any of us could have
made the mistake. Part
of the beauty of the
nature center
(www.cibolo.org)
and its trails are the
tall cypress trees that
reduce people to antlike
height in photographs.
We were in the riparian
forest portion of the
nature trail, and it
does resemble a national
forest. And it's not
inaccurate to call the
cypress a national tree.
According to the Arbor
Day Foundation website (www.arborday.org),
bald cypress trees are
native "from Maryland
along the eastern coast
to Texas and as far west
as the Mississippi
valley."
More to the point, if you
are interested in seeing
different kinds of
native Texas trees and
ecosystems, put a trip
to the nature center on
your list of things to
do. And if you are
researching trees
appropriate for your
landscape, you might be
interested to know that
you don't have to live
on a river or creek bank
to grow cypress trees.
You will, however, want
to look at your lot size
and purpose of the tree
before deciding whether
the bald cypress will
work for you. The mature
bald cypress will grow
50 to 70 feet tall.
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Here a few facts about the
bald cypress, courtesy
of Jan Wrede's book
Trees, Shrubs and Vines
of the Texas Hill
Country:
• They are old. She
notes that they were cut
from Hill Country rivers
and creeks to make the
old homes and barns of
the area that still
stand.
• The wood is not very
strong but is rot
resistant, one of the
reasons it was used in
home construction.
• They grow fast and are
desirable ornamental
trees if they get enough
water.
Another idea for tree
shoppers is to check out
the shopping portion of
Arbor Day Foundation
website. Fun-to-use
features provide a list
of the 10 most popular
trees for Zone 8
(Fredericksburg,
Kerrville, and other
parts of Texas) and a
second list of the trees
that grow well in Zone
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Take some time if you go
to list Number 2. The
trees that grow well in
our area start with
glossy abelia and finish
with a Japanese zelkova.
The list covers almost
30 web pages. But the
variety and the online
shopping options can
broaden your planting
perspective. For
example, the
tree-shopping portion of
the website allows you
to put the type of trees
you are interested in
from evergreen to
shrubs; your soil type
and the sun exposure
your tree might receive;
and certain
specifications such as
height, spread and
growth rate.
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Happy shopping! And if
you want to see some
real trees, visit Cibolo
Nature Center. |
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