Native Plants
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Ask Mr. Smarty Plants is a free service provided by the staff and volunteers at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.
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Saturday - February 14, 2015
From: Austin, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Planting, Soils, Trees
Title: Need fast growing deciduous trees for Austin, TX
Answered by: Jimmy Mills
QUESTION:
We'd like to plant several fast growing deciduous trees in a full sun yard with a hard alkaline soil in the western edge of Travis Heights in South Austin. I've noted several locations in our neighborhood where Sycamores have grown very rapidly--Jo's Coffee on South Congress is one. Which Sycamore does best in our climate and soil? How wide/deep must the hole be? How must the soil be treated before planting? What is the range of planting season?ANSWER:
Planting a tree is a good thing to do, and this link from TreeFolks suggests that fall is the best time for planting in this part of the country.
Sycamore Platanus occidentalis (American sycamore) is a good choice but the Tree Selector from Texas A&M can provide you with other choices. Be sure to look at the "Tree planting tools" feature.
Here are two links about soil from Bachmans.com:
understanding soil
acidifying soil
The next step is to plant your new tree, and here are three links that can give you some help:
from our step by step guides, How to plant a tree
from mikesbacyardgardening.com includes a video
from treehelp.com
These should provide sufficient guidance to get you on you way.
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