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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Viability of Texas Mountain Laurel in Florida
March 12, 2008 - Dear Mr. Smarty Plants
While visiting Pinnacle Peak in Scottsdale we saw a beautiful Texas Mountain Laurel tree. What are the chances of this surviving in the Ft. Myers, Florida area. Either in t...
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July 31, 2013 - I planted 3 Texas Red Oaks several years ago. The trees are in a tight cluster just a few feet apart. At the end of last summer, one of them began to develop brown spots and yellowed leaves. This summ...
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