Wind Damage Follow Up

We ended up hiring some tree experts to cut up and haul away the tree that had fallen during the strong storms last week.  Not only did they haul away the fallen part of the tree, but they cut down the remaining 2/3 of the tree that was still standing because it was rotten enough on the inside and needed to be removed before the rest fell in another wind storm.

Before:

After:

It is always sad to lose a tree, especially one that has been growing since the house was first built in 1981.  But, it means there is an opportunity to plant something new.  I'm thinking I might plant one, or maybe a couple fruit trees in its place.  I already have a Florida Prince peach and a fig tree and I'm considering planting a pomegranate tree here.  What do you think?  Do you have any thoughts on what fruit tree I should plant in my Central Texas garden?

Wind Damage

Storms blew into Round Rock on Thursday night, bringing some much needed rainfall to the dried-out landscape.  However, it also brought some strong winds (26mph with gusts of 40mph).  The wind was so strong that it caused a very large branch (about 1/3 of the tree) to break off of our backyard tree.  The section of the tree that snapped off fell onto our fence and into the neighbor's backyard.  The tree is obviously very heavy and fell with some force, because it caused some major damage to the iron fence.  Thankfully no people or pets were hurt.

Taking a closer look revealed that the tree probably already had some rot, which made it especially vulnerable to the strong winds.  

Jon will have his work cut out for him this week in sawing up the fallen tree and hauling it out of the neighbors yard.  We'll then need to replace a section or two of the iron fencing.  Oh, the joys of being a homeowner!