Texas Trees

This past Texas trip I realized something astounding: Texas has normal sized trees.

That statement may sound odd, but that is the realization to which I came as I drove along. 

At home in the Pacific Northwest, we have trees. Oregon is the number one producer of Christmas trees in the United States, selling about 4.5 million trees a year, and Oregon is the number one state in softwood lumber and plywood production. Most of the western side of Oregon is covered with trees, and forests make up 47% of the state land area. Oregon grows trees. 

That said after I visited Texas for the first time last year, I came home with the unconscious belief that North Texas trees were small and few and that shrubs made up most of the area’s foliage. In fact, I was totally unaware I had adopted this erroneous belief. So this second visit I caught myself off guard when I looked at the trees and realized they were normal size trees. 

As I drove Highway 287 north to Wichita Falls, I noticed buildings all but hidden from view because of the trees growing around them. I saw homes with shady trees around their lovely properties. At rest stops, big semi trucks were dwarfed by the deciduous trees they parked along side. There was a spot or two when I picked up my camera and snapped a few photos as I drove along; I was so surprised.

With over an hour drive along this road alone, I had some time to contemplate this idea that had stuck in my head for the past year and had just been realized. “Why did I go home thinking Texas trees were small and few?” I asked myself. I came up with four reasons I believe helped lead me to my conclusion.

1) North Texas is flat. You get just a bit of rise and can see for miles.  
2) The types of trees are more the bushy kind that burst out in a rounded puff of leaves.  
3) Open space between trees are filled with dried green grass (in the summer).
4) Even tree heights and predominately deciduous.  
5) In sum, it was perspective. 

In North Texas the land slopes gently, dips and slightly rises, and does not have the obvious varied ups and downs of the PNW.  The majority of trees I saw in Texas have a more shrub-like shape, unlike the straight thick trunk coniferous type that predominate in Oregon. The greens in Texas during the summer have more of the yellow component, while blue is still a strong element in Oregon. Also, the trees are about two or three stories high, without as much variation in height to what I’m used to seeing. Throw in the fact that things look smaller the further out they are and that you can see greater distances in Texas, of course the scenery looked to me like a field of sage brush mile upon mile my first visit. 

So, a few facts about North Texas trees. 

1) Elm, Cypress, and Oak trees are the most popular and the most successfully grown North Texas trees.
2) Ashe Juniper, Bald Cypress,  Chinquapin Oak and Honey Mesquite are native trees.
3) Pecan trees are the Texas State Tree.
4) Texas A&M has a guide to choosing the right trees – if you’re interested in growing trees in Texas.