By Kelly Geer, Urban Tree Merchants
PART TWO:
Changing trees. Autumn breeze. Falling leaves. Cooler temps are often a reminder to look up and take in the beauty of the trees and nature around us. But let’s take a deeper look at the beauty hiding behind the bark in five of the most popular trees in North Texas.
American Elm
American elms are fast-growing, easily transplanted, and will grow in many situations, tolerating wide differences in rainfall, soil, and light conditions. This classic vase-shaped landscape tree has a beautifully symmetrical crown with spreading branches and can grow up to 90 feet tall with a trunk diameter of up to 3 feet. Once dry, Ulmus americana wood is heavy, hard, strong, and tough making it durable for cutting boards, tables, and other heavy-use furniture pieces.
Bald Cypress
Bald cypress trees add grace and beauty to many of Texas’ most cherished waterways. A member of the Redwood family, they are among the first trees in Texas to lose their leaves in the fall (hence the name “bald cypress”) and the last to bud in the spring. Cypress is also called the “wood eternal” because the heartwood is resistant to decay. Bald cypress is used for heavy construction, including docks, warehouses, boats, and bridges. Bald Cypress (Taxodium distichum) is light in weight and light in color making it a beautiful choice for furniture and décor.
Cedar
Juniperus virginiana, Eastern Redcedar, is an evergreen tree that may grow 30 to 40 feet tall. The heartwood is light brown, red, purple, and aromatic, contrasted by the white sapwood, and is commonly used for cedar chests. The wood is also often used to make fence posts and rails as it is naturally rot-resistant. It also repels insects, lending to its appeal for use in clothing storage, pet bedding, outdoor furniture, planters, and more. Eastern Redcedar is easily grown in average, dry to moist, well-drained soils in full sun. It will tolerate a wide range of soils and growing conditions, from swamps to dry rocky glades. It can even grow on seemingly barren soils that few other plants can tolerate. It prefers moist soils but is intolerant of constantly wet soils.
Cottonwood
Cottonwoods (Populus deltoides) are massive shade trees that grow naturally throughout the United States. You can recognize them at a distance by their broad, white trunks. They have lustrous, bright green foliage in summer that changes to brilliant yellow in fall. Cottonwood trees are the fastest growing trees in North America. A young tree can add 6 feet (2 m.) or more in height each year. This rapid growth leads to weak wood that is easily damaged by the elements (such as storms). Planting cottonwood trees in home landscapes leads to problems. These messy trees have weak wood and are prone to disease. In addition, their massive size makes them out of scale for all but the largest landscapes. Cottonwoods need a location with full sun and lots of moisture. They grow particularly well along lakes and rivers as well as in marshy areas. The trees prefer sandy or silty soil.
Pine
The loblolly pine (Pinus taeda) is considered the most commercially valuable of all southern pines. Pine trees are coniferous trees and part of the evergreen family, and they consist of four types of leaves, with needles being the most common type. Today native pines are used for construction, furniture, pulpwood, flooring, land management and more. The beautiful heartwood is yellow to orange, with lighter sapwood. They are also very easy to care for, are a natural air freshener, provide great shade, and help prevent erosion.
If your tree dies or needs to be removed, consider giving a piece of the tree a second life in your home or office. Before you contact a Certified Arborist or ISA Certified Tree Care Company to remove the tree, reach out to a local sawmill or woodworker to talk about your options for having a part of the tree made into a custom wood furniture piece or wood décor item. At Urban Tree Merchants, we are a tree-to-table company which means we walk with our clients through every stage of the design process from log collection, milling, and drying to finishing, epoxy work, custom bases, and installation. Learn more on our website or follow us on Facebook or Instagram.