306,000,000+
That's how many trees were lost in Texas during the 2011 drought.
With a population of 25 million, it means that for every single person in Texas, more than a dozen trees died in just one year.
Astonishing
(click above for article)
We lost a few trees on the property ourselves. One was an integral part of two trees in a future landscaping project that I had in mind but alas, now I only have the one. With all the acreage we have, most of it grown up with trees and plants, it's hard to tell how many were lost. The Mesquite trees which are so prevalent on the farm are extremely drought tolerant and I don't believe we lost any of them. But with so few other tree varieties on the property, the loss of just a few was significant and noticeable as you walk around.
So, by the Spring of next year, we have set a personal goal of planting two dozen new trees on our property (a dozen for each of us), not counting the fruit and pecan trees that we already have of course.
We're looking at the best varieties for our area, making sure they are drought tolerant and native to this area and best for our overall zone conditions.
With a population of 25 million, it means that for every single person in Texas, more than a dozen trees died in just one year.
Astonishing
(click above for article)
We lost a few trees on the property ourselves. One was an integral part of two trees in a future landscaping project that I had in mind but alas, now I only have the one. With all the acreage we have, most of it grown up with trees and plants, it's hard to tell how many were lost. The Mesquite trees which are so prevalent on the farm are extremely drought tolerant and I don't believe we lost any of them. But with so few other tree varieties on the property, the loss of just a few was significant and noticeable as you walk around.
So, by the Spring of next year, we have set a personal goal of planting two dozen new trees on our property (a dozen for each of us), not counting the fruit and pecan trees that we already have of course.
We're looking at the best varieties for our area, making sure they are drought tolerant and native to this area and best for our overall zone conditions.
That is trully sad :( So far we've planted 8 trees since we moved in 3 years ago and once we clear out dead tree we'll plant more.
ReplyDeleteIt's a good feeling planting a tree isn't it? Fruit trees are always fun of course with the promise of future harvest, but just regular leafy green trees, it just feels fun to do. Almost like we are giving something back, which I guess we are in a sense.
DeleteIt's truly sad to lose the beautiful trees that give us so much. Living in the bush on a farm in Australia, unfortunately we live with the threat of drought and so I can understand. Your plan to plant more trees that are native to your area is great though !
ReplyDeleteThanks! yes, we can relate to droughts, it was horrible in 2011. Thankfully, this year has been wet and normal, maybe even a bit above normal, so that's good. Native trees are the way to go! I bet you have some awesome native trees, ha.
DeleteThat is sad to lose so many trees. Good that you are planting to replace them tho. Looking back at some of your blog posts you asked for book recommendations. I don't know if anyone suggested the four by Terri Blackstock, "Last Light", "Night Light", "True Light", and "Dawn's Light". Makes you think about how to cope if an EMP happened. We both enjoyed them. Thanks for visiting my blog. Hope you will come again! Nancy
ReplyDeleteWe have a large park here in Houston and it's SO sad to see so many trees dead and gone. BUT the glimmer of hope is the tens of thousands they are planting. Someday it will be full again.
DeleteWow, thanks for the tips on the books, I've never heard of that series. I think I mentioned I read "One Second After" and that was very eye opening, from a prepping/self sufficient perspective. I will definitely look at these! And of course I'll be back to your blog, I really enjoyed it! :-)
Sadly we lost 100s yes 100s on our property in 2011. It forever changed the look of our back acreage. It will take us years to clear all those trees. Its a bit scary, hopefully a fire will never break out here, with all of us (neighbors etc.) having lost so many trees it would go up so fast there would be no stopping it. Most of us simply cannot clear the trees in a timely manner due to expense. But we are all working on them as best we can. We too are trying to plant as many new trees as we can :O)
ReplyDeleteHundreds??? WOW, how sad. I mentioned above that here in Houston, our big park, "Memorial Park" lost hundreds, probably thousands, and I know how it changes the entire look of property. That's a thing people don't think about, and I'll be honest, I didn't either. Just thinking about all the dead wood just piled up and laying around. LOTS of work. And what do you do with it all? Hopefully you've had a wet year this year like we have. I don't want any more repeat of 2011. We had just purchased the property and I thought "what have we gotten ourselves into? Ha.
DeletePlant plant plant, I guess that's all we can do. Then hope we're all around in 20 years to enjoy them, ha.