An Owl’s Breakfast

Barred owl looking for breakfast

Barred owls make their presence known at dusk by their distinctive “who cooks for you, who cooks for them all” calls.  We figure the pair is just checking in with each other before they go off hunting for the night.  Several recent evenings after the long afternoon shadows melted into near darkness, one of the owls glided to the ground near us.  It grabbed something from the grass and moved to a tree limb.  One evening it flew back to the woods and then returned to the ground in front us so we believe it was hunting for food to feed chicks. Later both owls were stealthily at work near the barn and trailer but we could barely see them as it was dark by that time.  We concluded that our little solar yard lights attracted bugs and small critters which is why we frequently see the owls hunting in this area.

Last Saturday around 7:00 a.m. while we were eating our breakfast, we were serenaded by the usual many bird dawn songs that get more abundant as daylight brightens.  We noticed a big bird flying among the trees in the distance and we were distracted by a song bird we could not identify.   Suddenly, the large bird glided through the air straight for us.  It was barred owl!  I guess it decided we were too big for its breakfast, so it perched on a limb nearby.  Suddenly, the cheery morning songs birds fell silent and their songs were replaced by repeated alarm calls of a single Carolina wren. Through the binoculars I saw that the little, but very vocal, wren had a bug in its mouth (how can it chirp with a bug in its mouth?).  It was probably planning to take the bug back to its nest to feed its chicks.  The bird of prey perched nearby clearly caused the wren distress.  

From the limb, the owl eyes and head actively searched the ground and trees. Most eerily, it seemed at times to stare straight at us. I was ready to duck if it spread its wings to glide our way. Mostly, it kept close tabs on a squirrel scurrying around the base of another tree.  The owl was very patient but we were not and we had work to do so we finally got up to start our morning project.  We don’t know if the wren got to its nest with the bug for breakfast or if the squirrel survived to scamper another day.

This is the first time we’ve seen the owl hunt in daylight so we believe it probably has a nest of chicks and to spend more time hunting.  Just like the little wren, not only was the owl hunting for its own breakfast, but also breakfast for its chicks.

Lemonade.  Some say that if life gives you lemons, make lemonade.   In that vein, we thought “if extreme drought gives you dead oak trees, make hardwood flooring!”

One summer morning in 2011 while drinking our coffee, we noted the difference in the woods due to the drought. We pondered how many oak trees would ultimately die due to the drought and how many we would cut down to prevent a hazard.  How were we going to dispose of such large quantities of wood?   We already had more firewood than we needed and chopping all of the dead trees into firewood, even with a hydraulic splitter, was more work than we wanted to contemplate.  Ronnie starting talking about buying a portable sawmill and making the trees into lumber.  At some point he mentioned that a friend of his knew of a mill in Huntsville next door to a facility that makes hardwood flooring. 

From there we had a eureka! moment.  Was it possible to harvest the dead water oak, have the mill cut the logs into lumber, dry the lumber in the mill’s kiln, and then take the lumber to the hardwood floor plant  to make hardwood flooring for the future Dogwood ranch house?  We began to get excited at the prospect of turning a tragic situation caused by the drought into something positive.  We would not have to waste all of those trees!  Flooring made from wood from the property would be unique and enjoyed for many years in the ranch house.

After hours of research, the plan was official.  We took an inventory of the dead trees, classified them by type (water oak, red oak, American elm and cedar elm), measured the trunk circumference and estimated the number of eight-foot trunk lengths we thought we get out of each dead tree.  We marked them with an orange ribbon and spray paint.  Our survey only included trees that were easy to get to and not those deep in the woods.  We ran calculations of how many board-feet the trees would yield and how many board-feet we need for hardwood flooring in the house.



Evan helping Ronnie paint the ends of logs

Water oak, a type of red oak, is commonly used for hardwood floors.  We took the dead trees down, cut the trunks into 10, 8 or 6 foot lengths and sealed the ends with a protective paint.  For dead trees near infrastructure, we hired professionals (“tree monkeys” as they all themselves) from Rodger’s Tree Service in Brenham.  As expected, Roger’s team did an efficient and professional job at a reasonable price.



Ronnie loading logs onto Frank's trailer

To haul the logs to the mill, we hooked-up with Frank Belt from Huntsville who was doing construction work in Brenham.  Frank was driving a large flat-bed trailer back and forth between Huntsville and Brenham every day so we hired him to pick-up the logs at Dogwood and drop them off at M&G Sawmill. http://www.mgsawmill.com/



Logs ready for Frank to Haul to M&G Sawmill in Huntsville, Texas

Unfortunately, the guys at the mill say some of the wood is not suitable for flooring because the logs are too soft in the middle, a common problem with large water oak. They will cut as much lumber as possible and dry it in their kiln for several weeks.  That’s where the wood is now.  We hope to get at least enough flooring for the living room. 

We also have logs from two red oak trees we plan to use for lumber to build the front door for the house.  Those logs will be included in the second batch we take to the mill.

Texas Drought

Dead. One hundred million to 500 million trees with a diameter of 5 inches or greater on Texas forestland succumbed to the 2010-2011 drought according to the Texas Forest Service.  A few hundred of those were on our little patch of Texas we know as Dogwood Ranch.  On Dogwood, most of the dead trees are water oak; many were huge beautiful trees over 60’ tall some with a trunk circumference of up to 80 inches – that’s a tree too big to hug!   

So far, we have taken down at least 15 large dead trees as they became safety hazards with the potential for large limbs, or the whole tree, to fall and damage persons or property.  Several large water oaks, including the ones with 80+ circumference trunks, were partially hollow inside or have a soft center, meaning the tree was starting rot.

Through much of 2011, we helplessly watched the drought take its toll on Dogwood.  Hundreds of trees had brown crispy leaves by mid-summer.  In the fall, those brown leaves hung-on to the trees, rather than being shunted as would occur on a healthy tree.  When a deciduous tree fails to drop dead leaves in the fall, it is a good sign that the tree, or a portion of the tree, is dead.  On many trees the bark began to fall off.

Little grass grew in the pasture spring 2011 and by summer, it was pretty much scorched.  There was not enough grass for the cows to eat so we had to buy more hay earlier in the year.  Due to the drought, we bought a stash of hay from Mississippi as hay in Texas was already scarce. 

The small pond at the top of the hill was dry by June.  We took this opportunity try-out the new John Deere tractor and dug the pond a little deeper so that when it did start raining again, we would collect more water. Thankfully, the pond on old Dogwood never went dry, although the water level was lower than we had ever seen it.  Since the pond didn’t dry-up like most ponds in the area, there is credence to our theory that this pond may be feed by a small spring or seep.   

Even cedar (juniper) trees died, which is amazing as they are so hardy.  One large tree by the barn is a huge brown thick mass of dead cedar.   According to our cattle foreman, this is the worst drought in memory the local old-timers who have never seen a drought so bad that it killed cedar!

The live oak trees at the top of the hill looked stressed all summer and through the fall.  They did not lose all of their leaves, but they shed some due to stress.  We noticed the foliage was thinner and not nice deep green.   There are a few live oaks that look like they have died, but most at least appear to be hanging-in.

Perhaps related to the drought are early morning coyote sightings this year. Several times after sun-up we’ve seen a coyote (once a pair of coyotes) trotting across the pasture and into woods.    Since we have never seen them before this year, we speculate that the coyotes are travelling further from the den for water and food so they are not getting back home until daylight.

Most heartbreaking of all was watching the ranch’s namesake dogwood trees die.  The leaves yellowed; were brown by late summer and turned black by fall.  Usually in the fall they have little bright red berries along with colored foliage, but not fall 2011.  Through the winter the black dry leaves remained on the trees.  I tried not to think about what was happening and even avoided going to the dogwood area most of the summer, fall and winter. If I did have to go over there to work on a project, I tried not to look at the trees.  I simply ignored what was happening as we were helpless to prevent it but hoped what seemed inevitable would not be true come spring.

Well, it its spring now.  Usually by early March, the dogwood trees are about to bloom with delicate white flowers to herald the arrival of spring.  Peak blooming is typically the third week in March.  This year there are no buds or flowers.  There will be no peak blooming week as there will be no blooms at all.

Last weekend, I finally made myself walk over and look at the dogwoods along the creek.  When about 10 feet from the largest tree, I thought about how beautiful these trees have been in all seasons, how we would anticipate the spring bloom and plan a party to share the brief dogwood blooming with others, how dramatic the scene looked when the entire stand of dogwoods were in full bloom together and how the honey bees would go nuts for about three weeks collecting pollen.  I remembered putting my 90+ year-old grandmother on the back of the ATV and motoring around the property so she could see the blooming white beauties, including taking her down the trail to see the wisps of white blooms deep in the woods – she truly enjoyed both the ride and the trees!  We received so much enjoyment from these trees over the years; they are part of what has made Dogwood special and unique.  With all of these memories in my head, while I was walking toward the trees still covered with the dead crispy leaves from summer discolored bark,  I couldn’t help it folks, I start to cry. How silly, they are just trees, but I just felt sad. 

After getting that out of my system as I wiped the tears from my face Ronnie looked over at the dogwoods and said “hey, I see some green on that one.”  We took closer look and sure enough, there was a little twig sprouting out on the trunk with a few little green leaves.  We surveyed the rest of the dogwoods along the creek and most, not all, had small sprouting green leaves!  Some limbs were dead andbreaking off, some of the tree tops had no leaves and some bark was discolored, but on close inspection many of the trees were pushing out little bright green stems with leaves.  Back in the woods, the dogwoods that enjoyed more shade during the harsh summer were covered in leaves!  Clearly there will be no delicate white blooms this year but perhaps these little trees on the forest edge are tougher than we gave credit.  It’s possible that this spring’s effort is their last gasp in a losing struggle to survive after being damaged due to drought, but at least now, combined with recent rains, they have a fighting chance! 

Hawk Chicks

Emilie and Eddie sitting in a tree . . . Ok, we don’t know their gender but we named the chicks Emilie and Eddie. Yesterday we spotted them, two red-shouldered hawk juveniles sitting in the nest tree. They look beyond “chick” stage as one was sitting on a limb outside the nest and they both have the rusty bands of feathers across their chest like an adult. They looked ready to contemplate learning the fly. Mom and dad were nowhere sight and we didn’t hear them calling so the chicks are old enough to stay in the nest alone. We had not been out to Dogwood Ranch for a month, since the “rat incident” of which I will spare this blog the details. Because we were gone so long, we missed the downy “chick” stage. The biggest surprise was not how much the chicks had grown, but that for the first time since we’ve been watching the hawks starting in 2003 the mating pair produced two offspring that survived to this stage. In the past we only have seen or heard one offspring per year. We take this change as sign that the mating pair are healthy and that Dogwood Ranch is primo red-shouldered hawk real estate for raising a family. I just wish the adults would eat more rodents!

Hawks are Back

Nesting again on Dogwood Ranch, the red-shouldered hawk pair built its nest high in a tree by the dogwoods. True to usual form, they piled sticks in the crotch of two large limbs about 60’ from the ground. Also as usual, they make it very difficult for us to see the nest, much less into it, because it is blocked by limbs and leaves of other trees. Using the binoculars or the telescope, we are able to see what we think are adult tail feathers and every now and then, the fuzz of a chick’s head. Two weekends in a row, while drinking our morning coffee on the porch we heard what sounded like a hawk call from the woods across the creek. But this call did not sound good, not like the strong fully-in-command calls we normally hear from the pair. We grew concerned that maybe one of the hawks was not well, desperately calling its mate. Whatever was making the sickly call from the woods, we soon were relieved to hear that it was not one of the mating pair. The sick call seemed to get the nesting pair’s attention, and they began calling to each other in load, strong healthy calls. One flew to the top of a dead limb on a tree we call the “hawk perch” because they seem to land there often. The bird landed, perched and flew off several times, with loud calls. After about five minutes, the weak call from the woods stopped and the mating pair quieted down. Strange. Could it be an intruder trying to invade their terrirory? Is it last year’s junior hawk (who we never actually saw last year) still hanging around mom and dad a year later? We don’t know but we are certainly glad the pair that we have enjoyed watching and listening to for so long seem healthy and are attending a new chick this year. We will keep an eye on the nest and hope to see junior take flight!

Lone Duck

Lone Duck arrived at Dogwood’s pond sometime in December along with fellow wood ducks (Aix sponsa). The wood ducks use Dogwood’s pond as a weigh point along their migration path and usually only stay 4 to 6 weeks. Early this year, when his buddies flew off to continue their migration, Lone Duck stayed behind on Dogwood Pond. He was the lone duck on the pond, gently swimming to and fro keeping at least ¾ of the pond between him and us. I guess he decided hanging out at Dogwood was the good life, so he decided to stay as while. He seems to like swimming close to the bubbles from the diffuser in the pond, maybe the bubbles tickle his tail feathers.

Lone Duck is a male. He sports crested head of iridescent green and purple with a white stripe from the eye to the end of the crest. The bill is brightly patterned black, white and red. Since female wood ducks have a gray-brown head and neck with a brownish, green, glossed crest we are confident Lone Duck is a male.

First notice of the wood ducks’ arrival at Dogwood occurs pretty much the same way each year. We pull up to the gate at Dogwood, rattle the chain lock and we are startled by a whoosh! The whoosh is the 10-20 wood ducks suddenly flying from the water up to the tree branches of the nearby woods.

After his buddies left this year, at first we thought that Lone Duck might be sick or unable to fly so he stayed behind. We expected to see him wither away left all on his own. Fortunately, he seemed to be healthy and was maybe just a loner. According to Wood Duck Society, some wood ducks don’t migrate with the rest, are loners and very picky about choosing a mate, as they should be.

Yesterday, Lone Duck was gone. Hopefully, he found a girlfriend who shook her tail at him enough that she lured him north. There are no ducks on the pond now.

Cedar Bridge – Part 3

Complete at last! After three years of planning, designing and building, the cedar bridge now spans the creek at Dogwood and is ready for traffic. Last weekend we inserted the top parts of the trusses. We did this by slipping them into to place. I can’t say it was an easy fit but certainly it was less difficult than expected. We had to drill out a few of the holes for the bolts but other than that, it fit together nicely. After placing each truss, we hammered in the bolts, tightened with washers and nuts and the job was done. We are pleased with the result and particularly with leaving the planks rough by not cutting them to the same width. They were installed with knot holes and all. The result is a nice rustic look perfect for the setting.

Although we initially had some help with cutting down the large trees and planning some of the trunks, for the most part, it was the work of just the two of us. We did the measuring, marking, re-measuring, re-marking, cutting, sawing, clamping, gluing, pushing, slamming, dragging, fitting, lifting, hammering, drilling, cussing, swearing and cursing ourselves.

We hope in the spring when dogwood trees around the bridge are in bloom we will have an official unveiling of the bridge and some nice photo-ops.

I have concluded that every couple should build a bridge together: literally and figuratively. If they are still speaking to each other when the project is done, it’s a good strong relationship. We are still on speaking terms.

That is not just water under the bridge!

Cedar Bridge – Part 2



Board cut from cedar

Cutting cedar and plywood to length and width per the final design was the task for the Fall of 2010. Using a portable generator to provide juice for the power tools, we constructed the trusses in the dogwood area holding the pieces together with “liquid nails” (glue), plywood plates and galvanized bolts, washers and nuts. Finding the necessary quantity of hardware required multiple trips to various hardware stores in Brenham: Home Depot, Lowes and McCoys. Checking out during an emergency run to Brenham’s Home Depot for more 6” long galvanized bolts, the young gal running the register was sure the $3 per bolt price was wrong. After verifying the price was correct she said, “Honey, those are some expensive screws-they better hold your stuff together good!” Of course they were bolts, not screws, but I let her slide on that as I certainly shared her sentiment on the price.  However, I’m not so sure my “stuff” is held together "good" with or without expensive bolts.


Piers and center cross beams



After building both trusses, we partially dismantled them for transport to the bridge location. Before beginning construction, we installed two concrete piers in the creek bed (the creek is seasonal so it only contains water after a heavy rain, which we have not seen much of lately). We dug two holes in the creek bed about two feet deep and parallel to the bank. We then put a 12” diameter cardboard tube in each hole so that about a foot stuck out above the hole. We filled the tubes with cement mix, added water and mixed well to make slurry. Rebar was inserted, metal brackets placed on the top of the wet cement and cement hardened. Using the metal brackets, on each cement pier we installed wooden posts and two large cross beams across the posts. The trusses and the other beams traversing the creek will rest on the cross beams for support in the center of the bridge and on the banks.



Beams and bottom trusses spanning the creek

Next, we constructed center beams to span the creek and set them in place from bank to bank. We also transported the bottom parts of the two trusses, in two parts each, to the bridge location. Each piece of the truss, was transported one at a time with the ATV and a little trailer.  The trusses still dragged on the ground behind the trailer. We then installed the bottom portions of both trusses and attached them together with those expensive bolts, nuts and washers.

The following weekend, braces were placed between the beams at approximate 3 foot intervals. We cut the cedar planks into six foot lengths and carried those six at a time on the Ranger to the site and placed them across the beams and trusses. It was starting to look like a bridge so we were spurred on to finish the planking. When all the planks were placed, we trimmed them to fit and screwed them down. We were Goldilocks on the planks as we had not one too few, not one too many, but just the right number for the job. Was it pure luck or precision planning?  Either way, we have a functional cedar bridge.

Next time we will install the top pieces of the trusses.  Also ramps on the banks are needed so that a vehicle can drive onto the bridge. 



Fully planked,  functional cedar bridge



The Cedar Bridge- Part 1

Enjoying use of the rainbow bridge over the creek in the front of the properly since December 2003 (see Speaking from the Ranch post of October 24, 2010); the cedar bridge will complete the loop over the creek in the back of the property. The genesis of the cedar bridge was twofold: 1) we needed a bridge over the creek in the back of the property to both walk and to drive across on the ATV, the John Deere and, now, the Ranger; and, 2) we needed a use for the large trunks of the huge juniper trees we planned to clear from the land (see Speaking from the Ranch post of September 29, 2010). Putting those two needs together, the cedar bridge plan was born.

In 2006 we cut down four very large cedar trees (with help from son-in-law Michael and his friend Tommy) in the area in front of the dogwood trees along the creek. Very little grass grew in this area due to the dense shade of the cedar trees. Once the trees were down, we chopped off all of the limbs and burned them in the usual brush burning pit. Four large cedar trunks were left. Rather than cutting those trunks into logs by cutting perpendicular through the trunk, using a special attachment on the chainsaw, we cut parallel to the trunk to create lumber. We cut both boards to use as beams to span the creek and thin wide planks for the decking on the bridge. Both Marcus and friend Larry assisted with the planking, but Ronnie and I did most of it.



Marcus and the planking



This was hard, dusty work requiring helmets with face shields and ear muffs. I also wore a face mask over my nose and mouth to reduce allergic reaction to cedar sawdust – that is potent stuff!
The bridge was designed on paper with the help of architect son Marcus. Although not a civil or structural engineer, as an architect he has an understanding of structure, stress, support and design. Over the last three years, the bridge was designed, re-designed, design-enhanced, design-modified, design-improved and ultimately, probably, over-designed. Although we initially wanted to only use cedar from the property, the new and improved design required adding plywood and other boards to ensure proper strength to support the equipment that we plan to drive over the cedar bridge.



Boards cut out of cedar to be used as beams



The span of the bridge is 32’ from bank to bank over a creek bed six feet below. The bridge will be six feet wide with two trusses on each side and two strong center beams all resting on large cedar logs as footers embedded in each bank.  We dug the holes for the footers with my father's old heavy pickaxe that is so heavy after a few "swings" I was out of breath and had to rest.  It's a heavy duty tool and did the trick with Ronnie and me switching-off using the pickaxe. 



One of the cedar trunks to be buried in the creek bank



Christy digging the hole into which the cedar trunk was later rolled-I'm not digging a grave!





Cedar trunk buried in the bank to be used as footer for the bridge. We flattened the
top with the same tool used to cut the beams and planks.



Thanksgiving Weekend at Dogwood

Thanksgiving is great time at Dogwood. Besides having the long weekend, the weather is usually cool enough to enjoy the warmth of a campfire but not too cold to enjoy activates away from the fire. Some trees have shed all of their leaves, while others are in various states of changing color. The dogwood and rusty blackhaw trees display brilliant red foliage, almost as dramatic as the fall color of the poison ivy hanging high in the trees. The pasture was shred last week so the remnants of the snow-on-the-prairie, broomweed and stalks of the KR bluestem were mowed over and no longer hip high. Zipping through the pasture in the Ranger or on the ATV is much more fun than when the grass and weeds are cut down.

After a nice family Thanksgiving feast in Houston (actually Pearland this year) we headed out to Dogwood Friday morning. We mostly worked on the cedar bridge construction project on Friday, finishing the first truss late in the afternoon. We were so busy; we didn’t even get our usual afternoon nap in our lounge chairs under the trees. For lunch we roasted hotdogs over the campfire in our work area on the edge of the woods. Oak smoked campfire roasted hotdogs with yellow mustard and pickle relish may not strike most as a gourmet meal to savor, but after working hard in the woods and thinking about an afternoon of hard work ahead, those dogs were delicious!

On Saturday morning, after watching the sun come up and start shining through the trees while we had our morning coffee and breakfast around the campfire, we decided we needed a break from bridge construction. Instead of starting the second truss as we should, we decided on an impromptu project; clearing the last cedar trees growing along the fence line between Old Dogwood and New Dogwood. We started work about 9:00 a.m. using the chain saw to cut the trees so that they fell on the New Dogwood side of the fence. Using the umpf of the Ranger and a strong rope, we dragged the trees into the pasture far enough from the woods to safety burn the cedar next year, and piled them up into a giant brush pile. We can’t burn them now as there is a burn ban in the county due the dry weather, plus, the trees don’t burn so well when they are green. Some of the trees were too heavy for the Ranger to pull so we cut those cedar in half to drag.

The main objective of this project was to remove the visual barrier created by the cedar so we can look up the hill at the magnificent oak trees we cleared a few weeks ago. It is a dramatic difference and gave us instant gratification in seeing results of hard work right away.

As we worked, we commented that on such a glorious, cloudless, cool fall day it was a shame no one else in the family was enjoying it with us. About 11:00 a.m. while clearing the fence, we got a call from Houston. Pat, Pete, Gail and Kevin decided to come out for a day at the ranch. We hurried the next two hours to complete the fence clearing and cedar dragging so that we would be ready to relax when the guests arrived. We cleared and dragged to the brush pile 13 cedar trees from the fence line by 1:00 p.m. when we declared the job a success.

Once everyone arrived and ate their picnic lunch, we gave tours of the property in the Ranger as none had seen New Dogwood. We tooled around in the pasture, around the mature oak trees that are cleared and those that are not, to the pond on the top of the hill and over by the barn. Kevin enjoyed tending the fire and throwing in sticks, just like the nephews and most little boys (including those like Kevin that are grown professional men!). Gail took photos and rest of us relaxed around the fire, with Pete and Ronnie taking breaks to check on the Arkansas v LSU football game.

It is fascinating to see how people gradually relax when they are outdoors on such a gorgeous day, in the trees and hanging around a campfire – being outdoors and away from the noise and hustle of the city, even for just a few hours, is just good for the spirit.

Mighty Live Oak Trees

Southern live oak trees (Quercus virginiana) have the widest canopy of any tree native to North America. They can reach heights of 80 feet and the canopy spread can be up to twice the height. For an 80 foot tall tree the shaded area under a mature live oak can be 160 feet in diameter. Live oaks can live over 200 years. The reason these oaks are considered “live” is that they are evergreen, only shedding leaves in the spring as new leaf growth begins.

In Texas, live oaks developed and adaptation to Texas soils and environmental conditions that are not conducive for propagation from the acorns. Acorns depend on animals and birds to carry the acorns away from the parent tree. Parent live oaks, to reduce competition from their offspring, encourage a fungus in the soil under the canopy to kill the germination of the acorns. What Texas live oaks do to reproduce, is they send up root sprouts from mature roots. Because the new shoot has access to the mature root system of the parent tree, survival rates are high. Many of these “cloned” sprouts from groves or “motts” as they are call in Texas that can consist of hundreds of trees that all share the same root system. These trees are a subset of live oak called Quercus virginiana var. fusiformis.

A testament to the live oak’s hardwood quality is the War of 1812 Navy vessel U.S.S. Constitution. Its frame was constructed from Southern live oak wood harvested from St. Simons Island, Georgia. The ship survived harsh British war ships' cannon balls that reportedly bounced right off the ship due to the live oak wood’s strength and density – thus the Constitution’s nickname "Old Ironsides" is due to the quality of live oak wood.

As discussed in the last post about soil types on Dogwood, live oaks prefer sandy loam well drained soils, thus they grow best in Dogwood’s sandy loams rather than the clay.

Although the brush under the live oak trees provide good cover for deer and a variety of birds, Dogwood’s mature oaks are to majestic and beautiful up on the hill not clear out underneath them to show case the trees. We have made the decision to clear out oaks and provide other cover and resources to make the deer happy.

Once cleared, these marvelous trees are and will be crowning jewels on the hill at Dogwood. So far, we cleared five live oaks. The process began with our now good friend Remedy mixed with water and a little dish soap in sprayer. In the heat of the summer, I sprayed the yaupon and juniper brush that choked and hid the oak trunks and that were growing up into the oak canopy. Mixed with the yaupon and juniper, green vines sporting vicious sharp thorns grew into the brush creating a nasty tangle. We mostly just call these vines “pokey vines” but when blood is drawn from being poked, scratched or tangled up in one, we use other descriptors not appropriate for post on this site. Taking care not the get the poison on the oak or any of its exposed roots, I sprayed the pokey vines also.

Since summer, the Remedy did its job and killed or severely weakened the yaupon and cedar. Over the course of two weekends this fall, we cleaned out the dead brush and that which was missed with Remedy. Unfortunately, I did not take “before” photos before the Remedy treatment, but I did take before and after shots of the clearing work but these will give you an idea of the diffrerence.  Also, why Blogger makes it so difficult to place photos in the blog, I don't know but it is.



Live Oak 1 - Before

 

 

  

  

Live Oak by Fence - Before

L:ive Oak by Fence - After

Live Oak Mott - Before

Live Oak Mott - After













The Dirt on Dogwood

Young field geologists quickly learn that although using a rock hammer to whack a chip off a rock outcrop and examining it through a field magnifying glass is an important investigative step, so is stepping back to take a good look at the overall landscape, horizon to horizon. In my field geology training days (so many years ago I don’t care to reveal the number) I learned to generally survey the field area with a broad 360 degree view before bending down to hammer on rocks, squirt hydrochloric acid on them to see if the liquid effervesces or scratch around for fossils. Taking in the big picture first may reveal changes in vegetation within the field area that give clues to the geology. Such changes could be that one type of tree dominates the hilltop while another dominates the hillside or a certain grass thrives on one side of a gully and scrub brush on the other. These vegetation changes, if naturally occurring, are due to some change from one micro-environment to another – usually soil composition or water availability.

We see similar micro-environments in the soils at Dogwood Ranch and how they impact the vegetation. Visiting Dogwood Ranch for a walk or drive through the property is the best way to appreciate these changes but the next best way is to look at an aerial photograph with a soil survey map overlay.

The National Resources Conservation Service (“NRCS”) division of the United States Agricultural Department (“USDA”) runs the Web Soil Survey, a free online service that will instantly generate a soil map of a designated area up to 10,000 square acres. http://websoilsurvey.nrcs.usda.gov/app/HomePage.htm.

This website also provides valuable information about each soil type on the map, including information about irrigation, surface water sources, water table depths, chemical composition of the soil, how different building material can be effected by the soil type, sanitation issues, natural resources available, wildlife suitability and a great deal more.

In my Web Soil Survey, I designated Dogwood Ranch as the Area of Interest (“AOI”) and then generated a soil survey map.

Dogwood has five soil types; although two are the same soil composition but have different slopes so the map puts them in different categories.

Soil #                    Soil Description                                 Acres in AOI       % of AOI
  8         Bosque clay loam, frequently flooded                      5.7                  12.2%

25         Crockett fine sandy loam, 1-5% slopes                  24.0                  51.3%

26         Crockett fine sandy loam, 5-10% slopes, eroded    7.4                   15.7%

32         Frelsburg clay, 3-5 % slopes                                   8.9                  19.0%

66         Tremona loamy fine sand, 1-5% slopes                   0.8                    1.8%

Soil 8 is on what we call “Old Dogwood”, the original 10 acre tract. Although the description says “frequently flooded” to our knowledge is has never flooded but during a heavy rain, ankle deep water runs from the adjoining pasture across area 8 to the creek.

Growing in Soil 8 is a great diversity in vegetation, including large trees such as red oak, water oak, American elm, cedar elm, pecan, hackberry, mulberry, Mexican plum and, of course, flowering dogwood. Notably, there are no live oak trees in this soil and the one pine “Christmas” tree was planted by the prior owners.

Soil 32 covers all of the open pasture and a little patch on Old Dogwood. This is the Freslburg clay which is basically the left over soil from weathering of calcareous shale and marl. There are no large trees growing area 32 but we did chop down a mesquite tree in the area. The clay is classic Blackland Prairie soil good for supporting grasses and forbs but not so great for mighty live oak trees. In the section of Soil 32 on Old Dogwood, there are 4 small live oak trees. I believe they were planted by the prior owners.

Soils 25 & 26 are both Crockett fine sandy loam, but only sandy in the top seven inches. From seven to 51 inches deep, the soil is clay, creating a claypan under the sand. This means that rain water can seep through the top seven inches of the sandy loam but then reaches what is effectively impermeable clay. The upper layer of sandy loam soil fills with water so if the water cannot seep into or below the claypan fast enough during a heavy rain, the water runs-off the surface onto Old Dogwood (Soil 8) and into the creek. The differences between Soils 25 & 26 is the slope and Soil 26 is more eroded than 25; the composition is the same. Nearly all of the live oak trees, some that must be close to 100 years old, are in Soil 25 & 26.

There is just a little patch of Soil 66 on Dogwood. It is the sandiest of the soils on Dogwood but still contains some clay. There are no trees in this area, only grass and forbs. This history of this general area of the property is that it was fenced years ago from the rest of the property as hay- storage area so perhaps any trees were chopped down years ago.

Careful consideration of the soil information from the Web Soil Survey will be necessary before any significant infrastructure projects begin as constructing a driveway or building on a concrete slab.

Just like the young field geologist using the vegitation patterns to get clues about the geology of the area, we can see the effect of different soil types on Dogwood Ranch by the plants that grow in each.  Come visit to see for yourself.

Expert Advice from the State of Texas

Expert advice is what we needed. That’s what we sought last week by inviting Larry Pierce, County Extension Agent- Agriculture/Natural Resources Texas Washington County, and Stephanie Damron, a Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Natural Resources Specialist to visit Dogwood Ranch. We asked for their advice about how to better manage the pasture for cattle and for wildlife.

Our neighbor’s pasture is adjacent to ours and not fenced from our property since we jointly own the cattle herd with the neighbor and the cattle run freely over both properties. The property line is marked by the surveyor’s stakes when the combined 80-acre track was subdivided into our 40-acre track and the neighbor’s 40 acres. Last March, the neighbor lightly disked his pasture. We’ve watched with interest the progress of the grass on his side of the property line all spring and summer. In late summer, the grass in his pastures put-up tall stems with seed heads that waive in the breeze. Now the grass is a light tan color and looks like amber waves of grain.  Its pretty and, I admit, we developed a bit of "grass-envy."  The entire disked pasture consists of this grass with the tall stems and turkey-foot seed heads. There are very few other grasses or plants in his pasture now.

Our pasture right next to his is full of flowering weeds. Weeds three feet high, some with white flowers, some with little yellow flowers and a pale green leafy plant dominate. There is also some grass of the type on the neighbor’s place and a few other grasses. When we drive through the pasture on the Ranger or ATV, we stir-up bugs, grasshoppers and birds. One time we surprised a white-tailed deer doe and her fawn hiding in the weeds. Inevitably, one or both of us starts to sneeze! Our pasture is somewhat unsightly with weeds the cows won’t eat.

As we stood with Larry and Stephanie on the property line they compared the pastures, Larry from an agricultural perspective and Stephanie from a wildlife perspective. They quickly identified the grass on the neighbor’s place is King Ranch bluestem (Bothriochloa ischaemum, var songarcia). The name sounds very Texas-ish but don’t let the name or good looks fool you. Larry explained that KR Bluestem is a noxious invasive grass imported from Asia and Central Europe. It was primarily brought into South Texas (by the King Ranch folks) in the 1920s and 1930s for its drought resistant qualities. When cotton farming declined in Washington County, Texas due to economics and a cotton root fungus in the soil, KR bluestem was introduced to prevent erosion. According to Larry, folks at the time thought that KR bluestem would save the soil, save the county, save Texas and thus save the world!



King Ranch Bluestem

 Things did not turn out that way. KR bluestem took hold rapidly, pushed the out the native grasses in the prairie remnants that remained in the area and invaded, creating single species grass fields. To make matters worse, KR bluestem is only marginally beneficial to cattle and has little advantage for native wildlife. Larry explained that disking a field to encourage KR bluestem, as our neighbor did, only slightly improved the pasture for cattle grazing.  Cows will eat it but it is not their favorite dish.

Asked how to control KR bluestem, Larry explained that so far researchers have not found an effective means to control the grass. Sprays of extremely high Round-Up concentrations can knock it back but the grass tends to grow back. Other usual methods of controlling grasses have not been successful in controlling KR bluestem.  Research continues.

Turning to our pasture, Stephanie explained that from a wildlife standpoint, our pasture was a good habitat for prairie birds. She pointed to three good seed sources: common broomweed (Xanthocephalum dracunculoides), snow-on-the-prairie (Euphorbia bicolor) and Texas croton (Croton texensis). Broomweed and croton are forbs, which are non-woody flowering broad leaf plants that are not grass. Snow-on-the-prairie is a euphorbia, kin to succulents and poinsettias. The white “flower” giving the plant its name “snow on the prairie” is not really a flower but is nonetheless referred to as a “wild flower”.


Texas Croton



Broomweed


















Snow-on-the-prairie

 When the snow-on-the-prairie plants were tall and blanketed the field with white blooms in July and August, we noticed the cattle would not even walk through that portion of the pasture. The reason is that the plant is a euphorbia and like all  euphorbia, has a milky white substance in its stems which is an irritant, especially to the eyes. It is poisonous if ingested. Cows aren’t particularly smart, but I guess they aren’t so stupid as to eat poisonous plants. Now that the “snow” has melted, so to speak, with the white flowers gone and stems dried, the cows will graze on grass through this area of the pasture. In addition to the croton, snow and broomweed, our pasture has KR bluestem and some sprigs of the native prairie grass silver bluestem (Bothriochloa saccharoides var. torreyana).

After talking with Larry and Stephanie, we’ve decided that we don’t want encourage the KR bluestem to take a stronger grip on our pasture. Eventually we plan to convert the pasture to native prairie grasses that both cattle and wildlife prefer. We realize now that this may be an even bigger challenge than we anticipated as first we have to knock back the KR bluestem enough for other grasses to have a chance.  Then the restoration area must be fenced off from the cattle who will eat the new grass as it comes up preventing the grass from becoming established.

Larry and Stephanie also discussed state and federal programs available to assist landowners with certain agricultural and wildlife activities. We are going to look into those in more detail. They also strongly recommended that we meet with a local representative from the U.S. Department of Agricultural who they say is the most knowable about soil and erosion concerns and federal programs to assist landowners with these issues. We have some erosional features on the property that we need to address.

We also inquired about why, over the last 18 months, large mature oak trees that looked healthy on Old Dogwood fell over, full of green leaves. Larry’s suspicion is a cotton root rot fungus that still infects the soil in the area from days when cotton was king. He also suggested we get the local U.S. Forestry Service representative out to look at the woods on Dogwood Ranch which he believes are unique in area.

I am now reaching out to those federal resources to investigate further what we should or should not do with the land and what assistance, if any, is available to assist us (without too many federal government strings attached!).