Nature in the City - Austin Blog

Alert! Tree Emergency!

Austin, we need to prepare for a very serious problem that could have big impacts on our urban forest. Even if you don’t know much about trees, you can help! 

Ash trees (Fraxinus spp.) could be attacked at any time by a destructive insect called Emerald Ash Borer (EAB), Agrilus planipennis. All species of ash can be hosts for EAB. This beetle was acciden…

Margret Hofmann was born in Germany in 1925. Growing up during the rise of Hitler and the Second World War, she witnessed the destruction of lives and places she loved. The experience left her committed to fighting for the things she cared for most. “The burden is that you feel you have to fight apathy… I have an increased sense of appreciation to have food, to sleep at night.”

Margret immigrated to the United States in 1946, eventually settling with her hus…

“Hackberry? That’s a trash tree.” Most of us in Central Texas have probably heard someone say this at least a couple of times. Few species of tree are hated as much as the lowly hackberry. But is this justified? Let’s take a closer look at one of our most prolific native species.

Hackberries are in the Genus Celtis. The name “Hackberry” is derived from Scottish “Hagberry,” or “Bird Cherry.” There are nearly 70 species worldwide. Common names include beaverwood, nettlewood, and sugar hackberry. In the Austi…

How Tree Roots Work Part 1  |  How Tree Roots Work Part II: Digging Deeper

Soil Ecosystem

Did you know trees communicate with each other through a network like our World Wide Web? Tree roots live underground, but they are not alone. They are part of a vibrant ecosystem. Of course, soil contains large organisms like insects, worms, moles, and spiders, but the smallest lifeforms are very important to tree health. There are more bacteria in a teaspoon of soil than people on the planet. Other tiny soil organisms include fungi, algae, and protozoa. All of t…

We’re nearing another Texas summer in Austin and it’s getting easier to imagine the record-breaking 110-degree weather recorded last July. Fascinated by the role that the landscape plays in urban heat and microclimates, students at Texas State University analyzed land surface temperatures across Austin. While this is something anyone can ‘feel’ when they step out in a black t-shirt, it’s interesting to take a step back and view the cityscape and urban heat on a larger scale. Students processed data provided by USGS and NASA, utilizing ArcGIS online to analyze and present their findings.  

A Wealth o…

On the first Friday of most months, members of the Urban Forestry team of Austin’s Parks and Recreation Department (PARD) can be found in a maintenance lot off Stratford Drive*. Mopac looms to the east. Ready with chainsaws and log lifters, they offer the public a unique free resource: Austin-grown wood. PARD oversees the management of over 288,000 trees on Austin parklands. Keeping those public spaces safe is the first priority for their Urban Forestry team, es…

How Tree Roots Work Part I  |  How Tree Roots Work Part III: Mycorrhizae

Image Courtesy of the International Society of Arboriculture.

Severing roots along one side of the stem often leads to the tree falling the other direction. …

On April 1, 2010, eleven 7-9 year-old Brownie Girl Scouts planted a landscape near the public right of way at 2701 South Lamar in Austin, Texas which was designed to soak up carbon dioxide and urban heat. The girls learned about planting trees and caring for the environment.

The Urban Forest Grant supplied funding to purchase trees, mulch, compost and a small irrigation system for the landscape project. Other funding for the project came from cookie sales and parent donations. 

Healthy red oaks change leaf color in autumn in Central Texas. Image Credit: Bill Oriani, Flickr

Oak wilt is one of the most destructive tree diseases in the United States, and it is killing oak trees in central Texas at epidemic proportions. We’ve covered an introduction to oak wilt in our Oak Wilt 101 article. Now we take a deeper dive into the topic of…