Dec 4, 2024 by HTV9
Okay so this is embarrassing. As someone who cares about the environment and also a Wiccan I’ve tried to plant a whole lot of trees in my backyard. Because of course I would, it’s part of my religion to honor the Earth, right? Guess how many have died? All but one. Something about the crazy climate and soil conditions here. We have: drought, heat, frost, crap soil, deluges of rain for weeks on end when it does arrive, mold, mildew, invasive snails, and very large bugs. So this list is gonna be a list of trees that in theory work here, and also a list of the (RIP) trees and shrubs that I planted with my husband. I’ll add to the list of potentially growable trees as I find some and any trees that do manage to make it here past a few years of life after we plant them. And moving forward I plan to use a lot more mulch, like 3 inches thick. It’s surprisingly hard to find this information because most of the resources about it are pretty unrealistic about how “easy” they are to grow here. Why? Who knows? Planting season for trees in Texas is late November/early December so we’ll see what happens in late 2025 and through 2026.
Survivors on May 18, 2025:
This year I didn’t want to lose anything. Therefore I fertilized, put mulch around, and generally slaved over whatever I planted. Here’s what is still alive.
Additional elderberry cuttings
Holly bush
Bitter orange
RIP: River birch, oak, elderberry cuttings, pear, osmanthus, peach, holly, mandarin orange, and that one apple sapling that sprouted from a buried apple core which I actually saw a bird carrying away in its beak for some reason. Unbelievable.
The Survivor: A mandarin orange tree, which we’re going to have to keep alive through the Winter somehow.
RIP (April 4, 2025): It died. Darn!
It Lives (May 18, 2025): Kinda. The bitter orange tree that the mandarin orange was grafted on is now growing and sending out shoots. So earlier this year I pruned the dead mandarin orange off of it, and it’s doing surprisingly well
Didn’t plant but still grows here: Texas ash, mulberry, catalpa, crepe myrtle
In theory could work:
More Texas ash, mulberry, catalpa, crepe myrtle
Oak, just about any kind of oak
Albizzia
Pine, whatever will actually grow here
American hornbeam (Carpinus caroliniana)
Shore pine (Pinus contorta ‘Spaan’s Dwarf’)
Japanese black pine (Pinus thunbergii ‘Banshosho’)
Common juniper, unfortunately, which causes cedar fever aka The Pollening here every single Springtime. Tempting, and traditional for burning the foliage of for blessing a place and spiritual protection in some kinds of Paganism, but the Pollen.
Apple
Attempting:
Holly bush. Planted. As mentioned above, in May 18 2025 is still doing pretty good. This is American holly by the way.
Edits added 6/2/25 and 7/21/25
New Book of Days 
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