The Trees of Austin

One of the things that struck me most about Austin when I was there was the respect given to its trees. Although Houston has many trees, more than many other cities in fact, the trees are treated like disposables. They are planted to fill in spaces on newly-developed properties, then when they get too big are chopped down, or all the limbs are lopped off in the worst kind of tree pruning possible. Thus, there are nearly no trees older than 60-70 years anywhere in Houston. This tree is a rare exception.

Austin, perhaps because it's a much smaller city, has more trees and respects them. Old trees are built around, not chopped up. This makes finding hundred-year-old trees a common and beautiful occurrence. Here are pictures of various oaks and yews(?). Some of them were taken on the campus of St. Edward's University, a small private university located on a hill out in the boonies, even though it's just 3-4 miles from downtown, visible from campus. (Some of these pictures were taken with a 1.3 MP phone camera.)

This three to four-hundred-year-old tree, called Sorin Oak (named after the founder of St. Edwards's,  is the largest tree in Austin. 

A stand of oak and yew trees near St. Edward's.

The Great Outdoors Nursery, to which a whole post will be dedicated to later, is built around this oak, estimated at 400 years old.

The branches of this oak, and others like it, are wonderfully convoluted and twisted.

Trees on an apartment building/hotel, seen when lost along the lake.

Another ancient oak tree on the State Capitol Grounds.

On the grounds of the State Capitol complex.

Bell Tower of UT.

Near the primary greenhouse of UT

These trees are planted all over Austin. The flowers smell like beer. 

More trees by St. Edwards.

Twisted tree near the library on St. Edward's campus.

An experiment with setting the white color manually. The tree was too mysterious not to pass up, and the usual settings didn't capture its aura, as seen below.