Native Plants
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Ask Mr. Smarty Plants
Ask Mr. Smarty Plants is a free service provided by the staff and volunteers at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.
Questions From Near You
Katy, TX
When does Bouteloua dactyloides (Buffalograss) go to seed in southern US?
When does Bouteloua dactyloides go to seed in the southern United States, mainly Texas?
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Katy, TX
Chlorotic disease in scrub oak from Katy TX
Please tell me how to treat my scrub oak as it has chlorotic disease. Parts of the tree are fine and others have yellow leaves. It has not been injured in any way.
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Katy, TX
Care of Live Oaks
We have Two Young Live Oaks in the front of Our home. We had them treated for insects, ect. Now what can we do to make them Full Green and Happy Happy Happy again.Thank You
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KATY, TX
ID for Caribbean mystery plants.
I AM TRYING TO FIND THE COMMON NAME FOR TWO FLOWERS I TOOK PICTURES OF ON A CARIBBEAN CRUISE. I TOOK ONE IN HONDURAS AND ONE IN GRAND CAYMAN. DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHERE I CAN GO TO TO GET HELP IN ID...
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Katy, TX
Small trees for property edge in Katy TX
By deed restriction, I must have five trees on the side of my small suburban lot just west of Houston, TX. Due to the lot layout, the trunks are only about 8-10 feet from the house, with the trees abo...
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Katy, TX
Ticks on native grasses in Katy, TX.
Are there native grasses that are less susceptible to tick infestation than others?
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Katy, TX
Looking for tree to absorb sound from neighbor's pool
Our neighbors have put in a new pool with a harmonic pitch sound which resonates in my home. We have tried rubber mats and foam on the fence. Nothing is working. My pool guy suggested trees as the ...
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Katy, TX
Growths on Shumard Red Oak leaves from Katy TX
Our beautiful Shumard Red Oak has developed lots of light green grape like growths on the leaves. Please inform us what this could be and how we should treat it?
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Katy, TX
Status of Texas Olive tree in Katy, TX
I have a Texas Olive tree and it has very few leaves. Is this normal?
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Katy, TX
Live oak bark splitting in Katy TX
We have a 7 yr old live oak that looks like its bark is splitting open in branches and top leaves look wilted. If that sounds like oak wilt, do we need to have the tree removed? We live in a subdivisi...
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Katy (Houston), TX
Southern Woodferns in TX
I have recently bought some 3 gallon southern woodferns, and have planted them in the shade in a low spot with clay soil. It seems to be a good location for the ferns, but a week or two after transpla...
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Katy, TX
Planting Live oak trees in Katy, TX.
We are building a house in a neighborhood where the HOA requires two live oaks in the front yard. Our lot is pie shaped leaving a very small front yard once you take into acct the driveway and sidewal...
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Katy, TX
Live Christmas tree in Katy, TX
My husband is really bent towards having a live "Christmas tree" in the front yard. I hate to use anything non-native so I am looking for a native Texas juniper shrub or a small tree that can be tri...
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Katy, TX
Sequence of Seeding Wildflowers and Grasses in Texas
In the How To article on meadow gardening, it recommends that a good chunk of your garden (50%-80%) should be native grasses. The kind mentioned in that article are typically warm season grasses. In...
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Katy, TX
Pruning Live Oak trees to limit height.
I notice many of my neighbors here in Katy (Fort Bend county) would have landscapers cut the lower limbs/branches of the live oak trees in their front yards, and the trees naturally keep getting talle...
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katy, TX
need recommendation for small evergreen shrub in Katy, TX
recommendation regarding small to mediun evergreen palnt in full sun in 2feet by8 feet area.
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Katy, TX
Evergreen large shrub/small tree for screen in Houston
I live on the west side of Houston Tx. I need an evergreen large shrub or shorter tree between myself and a busy neighborhood road. There is a power line above this so we would like something that e...
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Katy, TX
Problems with non-native fruit trees in Katy TX
I have several species of fruit trees growing. pear, lime, orange, pluot, plum, variegated orange, peach, lemon all planted in ground, some this year and some last year: My lemon (approx 15 gallon) an...
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Katy, TX
Fertilizing wild bluebonnets
Can you fertilize wild bluebonnets? If so, with what and when?
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Katy, TX
Determining whether a wisteria is native in Katy TX
If a wisteria is blooming after the leaves are out (there are a couple of blooms right now, in July), is it a sure sign that this is a native Texas wisteria?
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Katy, TX
HOA chopping down wax myrtles from Katy TX
My local HOA just chopped down 80+ wax myrtles saying that they lived out their life span..they are roughly 18-20 years old..is there a species of wax myrtles that lives only 20 years..or did they co...
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