Baymule’s Farm

[baymule]

Look into dwarf cultivers. They will only grow about 15 ft tall, still provide shade, but won't threaten your house in a storm.

I’ve never seen a sycamore fall over. They also live a long, long time. The young trees grow 6-10 feet a year and you can bet I’ll water it good and provide sheep barn clean out for it. I love the peeling bark, it shows the new bark underneath, making the trunk and branches mottled in browns and white. If I wanted, I could tap them for syrup. Sycamores aren’t as good as maples on sap, ii read where it takes 50 gallons of sycamore sap to make one quart of syrup. Nah, I don’t think so!
Dogwoods are an understory tree and stay medium to small. Redbuds don’t get big either. Both bloom and are beautiful in the spring.

 

[bobm]

I’ve never seen a sycamore fall over. They also live a long, long time. The young trees grow 6-10 feet a year and you can bet I’ll water it good and provide sheep barn clean out for it. I love the peeling bark, it shows the new bark underneath, making the trunk and branches mottled in browns and white. If I wanted, I could tap them for syrup. Sycamores aren’t as good as maples on sap, ii read where it takes 50 gallons of sycamore sap to make one quart of syrup. Nah, I don’t think so!
Dogwoods are an understory tree and stay medium to small. Redbuds don’t get big either. Both bloom and are beautiful in the spring.

Bay... about 10 years ago, I planted 3 Redbud trees... 3 years later we had about 30 mph winds for a day. All of them broke about 2-3 ft. height. They regrew , and again we had 30 mph +/- winds and they broke off again. I then removed them and planted Japanese maples . Problem solved for me, but I doubt that these trees may not like to live in HOT Texas.

 

[baymule]

Believe it or not, Japanese maples thrive here, but they are toxic to livestock so I admire them from afar.
We have winds here on a regular basis. The trees grow up with wind, so they usually don’t snap off.

 

[baymule]

It’s 104F no wonder I’m so tired. I went to the farm at 7:30 this morning, just got back an hour ago. Tree cutter, Domingo, was already there, with 2 helpers. They were working on Tree #2. I went to the side behind the house and started taking down the pipe fence panels.

They are easy, just tap the pin out with a hammer.

I got up to the front and stopped. After they went to the backyard, I finished taking the panels loose, but left them leaned against a T-post, too many tree branches to crawl over, trying to carry the panels to my pile I was working on.

A guy came for the free firewood and Bennet loaded his trailer. He’ll be back in the morning.

Branches of Tree #2.

They moved equipment to Tree #4 in the backyard. One of the guys went up in the bucket with his chainsaw to cut the limbs. The tree was real close to the house.

Propane tank was right under some branches, none of them hit the tank. These guys were good.

Then they moved to the end of the house for Tree #3 and took it down, one piece at a time.

 

[baymule]

Here they we’re taking down the tall very dead pine. They roped it off and used the tractor to pull it, when it fell, it fell right along the fence line, but not on my property.

Bennet was going to cut Tree#5, but decided he’d rather have Domingo cut it down. They cut a deal, for Domingo to get a steer to raise for his freezer.

And this concludes the tree cutting for now. Now lots of clean up!

 

[bobm]

Believe it or not, Japanese maples thrive here, but they are toxic to livestock so I admire them from afar.
We have winds here on a regular basis. The trees grow up with wind, so they usually don’t snap off.

 

[bobm]

Bay... for education purposes ... please tell us all why the Japanese maples are toxic to livestock ?

 

[baymule]

Bay... for education purposes ... please tell us all why the Japanese maples are toxic to livestock ?

I admired the blaze of color in the Japanese maples, so I researched them. I always do research before I plant anything. I found that Japanese maples are toxic to livestock and decided against them. I let the sheep graze the yard and they will stand on hind legs like a goat to browse lower branches.

 

[bobm]

I admired the blaze of color in the Japanese maples, so I researched them. I always do research before I plant anything. I found that Japanese maples are toxic to livestock and decided against them. I let the sheep graze the yard and they will stand on hind legs like a goat to browse lower branch

Bay... You are probably thinking of Acer rubrum ( Red maple, Soft maple, Swamp maple ) which it's leaves are toxic to horses. Acer palmatum ( Japanese maple ) COULD be toxic to horses only if they eat at least 1-2 lbs. at a single serving of dry or wilted leaves but NOT to livestock, pets, or humans ( Japanese people eat the leaves ). Since you do not have any horses now, you can plant Japanese maple trees and enjoy them to your heart's content without any worries.

 

[bobm]

Since your new farm has lots and lots of Oak trees ... the oak tree acorns contain tannin acids and when dogs eat them, can cause upset stomachs, kidney failure , to even death. Dogs can also get intestinal blockage. Just saying ! edit to add : the oak acorns are also toxic to horses... causes diarhea, abdominal pain, intestinal blockage, etc.