Native Plants

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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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August 08, 2011 - When you say that trees should be watered at the "drip line," do you mean that literally? I assume that the drip line means at the outside edge of the leaves or branches. Does that mean that waterin...
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Trees & shrubs, low water, no maintenance, disease & pest resistant
May 04, 2013 - We need few Trees and shrubs to meet the following needs:
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Installing limestone walkway around trees from Pflugerville TX
June 28, 2012 - Dear Mr. Smarty Plants:I wish to install a limestone walkway in my front yard, however, there are some roots(~ 1.25 inch) in the designated area. Will this hurt or kill the tree if I cut these away? T...
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Are palm tree seeds toxic?
July 08, 2011 - Are palm tree seeds toxic to other plants? I have palm trees around my pool and it seems that nothing will grow very good where the old seeds are in the ground.
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April 29, 2013 - I have four Colorado red cedar (Juniperus scopulorum). The deer have eaten from their height down. Now these narrow top to bottom evergreens have only tops left. Will the bottom fill in if I protect t...
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