Jump to content

Recommended Posts

36 minutes ago, Texasota said:

Exactly. Shade trees make a huge difference here.

Which makes it even more perplexing that the City routinely allows developers to hack down mature sidewalk shade trees with a 20' canopy for darn near every urban construction project.  "Oh, don't worry, a new 5' tree with a 3' spread will be planted in its place......".   

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

14 hours ago, kdog08 said:

 

They just don't provide much shade in a city that needs shade along sidewalks. 

In Houston we can grow a decent variety of palm trees from Pindos, Queens, to several varieties of fan palms some more cold hardy than others. They are beautiful and give a feeling of the tropics. For shade purposes I would think deciduous trees are better. They leaf up during the hot season and un-leaf during winter ( as brief as ours is)  allowing sunlight through. The crepe myrtle if turned into a "tree shape"  would look beautiful in our area. If is shade is what one wants can't beat the live oak or the magnolias that grow around here. Either way shading our streets and sidewalks would make the city a more pleasant place.

Edited by Twinsanity02
grammar error
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

14 hours ago, UtterlyUrban said:

Which makes it even more perplexing that the City routinely allows developers to hack down mature sidewalk shade trees with a 20' canopy for darn near every urban construction project.  "Oh, don't worry, a new 5' tree with a 3' spread will be planted in its place......".   

 

Pretty sure the city actually does not allow that.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

25 minutes ago, Houston19514 said:

 

Report it to the city

The ordinance doesn't apply to trees on private property. Only trees on the City right of way. If the removed trees were on a lot, the City doesn't have any control .

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Ross said:

The ordinance doesn't apply to trees on private property. Only trees on the City right of way. If the removed trees were on a lot, the City doesn't have any control .

They lined the street so I don't know. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 4/5/2017 at 5:46 PM, kdog08 said:

 

They just don't provide much shade in a city that needs shade along sidewalks. 

That's only a problem if they are the only type of landscaping being used. But in most cases, various types of broad leaf trees are planted with the palms, so the shade requirement is never neglected.

 

The sidewalks aren't even where I would favor as a place for palms; they look best when they spread (en-mass) across green-belts and parks, like in the photo below. Hermann Park seems like an ideal place for it:

Prado in Montevideo

BotanicGardenPrado.jpg

https://www.cruisebe.com/parque-prado-montevideo-uruguay

.

On 4/6/2017 at 7:59 AM, Twinsanity02 said:

In Houston we can grow a decent variety of palm trees from Pindos, Queens, to several varieties of fan palms some more cold hardy than others. They are beautiful and give a feeling of the tropics. For shade purposes I would think deciduous trees are better. They leaf up during the hot season and un-leaf during winter ( as brief as ours is)  allowing sunlight through. The crepe myrtle if turned into a "tree shape"  would look beautiful in our area. If is shade is what one wants can't beat the live oak or the magnolias that grow around here. Either way shading our streets and sidewalks would make the city a more pleasant place.

The problem with deciduous trees is that they can make a landscape look quite dull when they have gone bare. But, I can accept certain varieties of subtropical/tropical origin, like the crepe myrtles, or the bald cypress. Luckily, many far ranging varieties in the US become more "semi-evergreen" in warmer climates like the South.

Edited by AnTonY
  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

15 hours ago, AnTonY said:

That's only a problem if they are the only type of landscaping being used. But in most cases, various types of broad leaf trees are planted with the palms, so the shade requirement is never neglected.

 

 

Well yes obviously as I was referring to just palm trees

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 minutes ago, AnTonY said:

I understand your viewpoint, I just showed why the requirements aren't necessarily neglected.

 

Fair enough. Highland Village on Westheimer is a place that actually gets some foot traffic that is lined with just palm trees. Just never understood that type of streetscape. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 hours ago, kdog08 said:

 

Fair enough. Highland Village on Westheimer is a place that actually gets some foot traffic that is lined with just palm trees. Just never understood that type of streetscape. 

It's just the palm-boulevard type of landscaping. It's quite tacky when the palms are just by themselves, without any trees (or even shrubs) in the mix, and also when they are used on the sidewalks. Medians serve as better areas to line with palms.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, AnTonY said:

It's just the palm-boulevard type of landscaping. It's quite tacky when the palms are just by themselves, without any trees (or even shrubs) in the mix, and also when they are used on the sidewalks. Medians serve as better areas to line with palms.

 

 

Maybe look glamorous, don't require much water, can grow surrounded by concrete without lifting it up, are ever-green, create focal points and don't litter a parking lot with 4 tons of leaves annually? 

 

How can a tree be tacky lol? 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 4/10/2017 at 6:38 AM, iah77 said:

 

 

Maybe look glamorous, don't require much water, can grow surrounded by concrete without lifting it up, are ever-green, create focal points and don't litter a parking lot with 4 tons of leaves annually? 

 

How can a tree be tacky lol? 

If you'd have just read previous pages of this thread (or even just scrolled further up), you'd have seen that you are quoting someone who clearly supports the use of palms in landscaping, even reviving the thread just to defend their use:

Anyways, "tacky" was clearly in reference to the style of planting, not to the palms themselves. I support palms in landscaping, I just feel that their presentation is better as components of a sort of "vegetation wall," well blended with trees, shrubs, and flora that are evergreen (bolded because I dislike deciduous trees, my problems with them going beyond just annual mass leaf-litter issues), rather then just them lining streets by themselves. Basically, something like Gulf Freeway:

https://www.google.com/maps/@29.7403574,-95.354988,3a,37.5y,177.3h,87.18t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sC9aVuu94Gr4wwB5Y_8eGsg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

 

And as I said in another previous post, I also feel green-belts, parks, etc (and even medians) are better areas than sidewalks for en-masse plantings of palms:

 

Edited by AnTonY
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

They mowed the bulldozer scraped two blocks here at the corner of Jensen and Sydnor last week.  Not sure what exactly it indicates. But, it's the first heavy equipment spotted on the site since the soil remediation completed in 2013. Also, CenterPoint re-ran all the power lines and replaced all the power poles around the site recently. Not sure if that means anything either. 

One more interesting thing is that I cannot figure out... A residential trailer was placed in the middle of the property and someone is living in it. It's not a construction office either. Someone with their dog lives in it. Very curious. I figure it has something to do with tax status. There appears to be no other function. Anyone know what that could be about? 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Naviguessor said:

They mowed the bulldozer scraped two blocks here at the corner of Jensen and Sydnor last week.  Not sure what exactly it indicates. But, it's the first heavy equipment spotted on the site since the soil remediation completed in 2013. Also, CenterPoint re-ran all the power lines and replaced all the power poles around the site recently. Not sure if that means anything either. 

One more interesting thing is that I cannot figure out... A residential trailer was placed in the middle of the property and someone is living in it. It's not a construction office either. Someone with their dog lives in it. Very curious. I figure it has something to do with tax status. There appears to be no other function. Anyone know what that could be about? 

Maybe it's this Special Districts

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...

A couple interesting observations at the KBR site. 

1.  So, mid size trees are being planted in a grove like fashion in the lots which were previously scraped. I've speculated that these have been removed from Midway's HEB/Washington Project and are just being stored here. I doubt the intent is to reforest the site. 

2.  Many of the larger weeds and wild flower areas along Bayou St, within the KBR's boundaries, have been marked with small landscape flags. Obviously this is so landscapers don't mow them down.  It's nice, but I'm not sure why. Not much traffic here, except dog walkers, sleeping cops, cyclist who know how to get to the bayou trail and the people that live in the mystery trailer. 

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...