Native Plants
Q. Who is Mr. Smarty Plants?
A: There are those who suspect Wildflower Center volunteers are the culpable and capable culprits. Yet, others think staff members play some, albeit small, role. You can torture us with your plant questions, but we will never reveal the Green Guru's secret identity.
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Saturday - April 24, 2010
From: Pearland, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Trees
Title: Tree for sound block near Houston
Answered by: Nan Hampton
QUESTION:
I live in Pearland, just south of Houston and am looking for a tree that I can plant along my fenceline between my neighbor and me that will block noise. We have a pool and entertain a lot, but they are older and complain about the noise. I have seen in some of your other postings wax myrtle or Texas Mountain Laurel. Will these grow well in Houston? The area gets full sun.ANSWER:
Morella cerifera (wax myrtle) will certainly do well in Houston, but Sophora secundiflora (Texas mountain-laurel) is not likely to do well since its range is the Texas hill country. Mr. Smarty Plants assumes you want an evergreen tree to act as a noise barrier all year long. Here are some other trees that are evergreen and are native to Harris County.
Magnolia virginiana (sweetbay)
Juniperus virginiana (eastern redcedar)
Prunus caroliniana (Carolina laurelcherry)
You can find other trees, though not necessarily evergreen, for your area our Texas-East Recommended page.
Here are photos from our Image Gallery of the plants above:
More Trees Questions
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September 12, 2006 - Is there any source of seeds or plants for Texas Mulberry?
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Evergreen replacement for liveoaks with oak wilt in Austin
January 26, 2008 - One day after moving into our very first home and first home in Texas (just north of the Wildflower center in Sendera Southwest Austin) we discovered that all of our Live Oaks have Oak Wilt. After tre...
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Proper time of year to plant evergreens in New York
October 25, 2008 - Dear Smarty Plants,
Is it too late to plant evergreen Thuja, blue spruce and firs in Cleveland, New York?
Vicki
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A Crabapple for the Austin, TX area.
May 06, 2014 - I am in search of crab apples. Don't they grow in Austin? I can not seem to be able to locate any here. Any suggestions?
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