In our opinion, we have not fully recovered from the drought of this immediate area that began about 6 years ago. The "immediate area" is important to note because in some adjacent areas, such as east of here in the blacklands, rainfall seems to have been adequate to reach underground levels. But right here, the drought is still with us. Yes, we have had rain, but it either arrives in runoff quantities or in small doses. The runoffs help the rivers, and the small doses of water evaporate quickly. This abnormal rainfall will show up in disparate tree rings should some of our larger oaks be cut in future years. When someone in the future were to cut a tree and look at the growth rings, they will wonder what happened in the 2015-2021 time frame as the rings will be closely spaced indicating little growth. One of our indicators of drought is Lake Bridlewood, and most residents probably noticed that it went dry this spring. That has not happened more than once or twice to our recollection.
Droughts in Texas are common, and this year, we not only had a dry winter, but a cold one on top of all that. The St. Valentine's Day cold spell, on top of dry conditions, hit many plants that I would call border plants quite hard. For example, the Huisache, the Palo Verde and similar vegetation that seem to be creeping northward over many years only to now have this reminder that all is not warm and friendly up from the safety of the Valley. I often wonder how the olive orchards that were being commercially established in northern Hays County have survived this brutal season. Typically, olive trees survive to the south of San Antonio, but are considered risky plantings to the north. Yesterday travelling on the road to Lockhart, we noticed entire groves of some thorny brush all black and seemingly lifeless. These are not Mesquite, because all those seem to have survived quite well. As the summer progresses, we intend to keep an eye on these stands and conclude how or whether they survived and the variety of plant in question.
And then there are the webworms that nearly ate all the leaves on our 15 ft. Shumardi Oak this spring, but now with some watering and the recent warm weather and rain, these planted oaks are putting out the second round of leaves. Good for Mother Nature. Its not an easy call to poison the webworms as they are a favorite food of the Cuckoo. We did not spray the webworms and all seems to be okay now, so that was a success.
The Live Oaks seem to be very hesitant to put out leaves this spring, probably due to lack of rain and the cold spring. I am sure they will survive, but probably show some damage and appear stressed. That means we need to provide special treatment to these trees when we can and watch for any invasion of pests. I think the webworms are gone, but we never know where the Oak Wilt disease is lurking. So, if you cut limbs from the Live Oaks, seal the cut with a pruning aerolsol spray found at local stores. Otherwise, wait until winter to prune any Live Oaks.
Regarding all of our seemingly dead plantings, we are waiting to see what comes up from the roots or out from the side of the trunks before we tear them out. The big stand of Palo Verdes that we had growing at the culvert crossing on Steeplebrook Drive are being monitored. Yes, we know they are considered invasive, but when its tough to grow things in this harsh environment, even invasive stuff can be tolerated knowing that Nature steps in from time to time and fixes things. Two cases in point are the Russian thistle and the Bastard Cabbage that nearly overran us five years ago, but now is hard to find in our area.
Bluebonnets you ask? What bluebonnets? They need water in the fall and winter and did not get it so the seeds will probably sit in the ground until this fall and then, if they are still alive, will produce some plants. Look for the immature plants in the fall and if they are not visible, chances are we will not have any stand of bluebonnets the next spring.
Meanwhile, the plant nurseries are doing a thriving business.
