Live Oaks are semi-evergreen; so, why am I writing about fall color on a live oak? Sometimes live oaks will produce fall color. But, usually not in the fall. When it happens it’s in the winter. I was somewhere between Hamilton Pool and Johnson City driving between jobs when I ran across these shining examples.
The City of Austin has been planning for some time now to do a major restoration to Waller creek. If you are not familiar with this creek, it is one of the major tributaries that funnel into Lady Bird Lake on the east side of downtown, mostly along Red River, just west of IH-35. Waterloo Park is the main city park where you can check out the creek.
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It’s funny to me what gets “diagnosed” as lightning strikes. It seems to me the average homeowner thinks the only two afflictions known to trees are oak wilt and lightning. Hopefully, this simple post 
will shed some light for many of you wanting to know if your tree was struck by lightning, and if so, what you should do about it.
The main thing you need to look for is a narrow wound that stretches the length of the trunk from the upper canopy to the ground. Typically, lightning doesn’t strike the tree half way down the trunk. It hits somewhere out near the tip of the canopy. Then, the charge travels down the trunk of the tree into the ground. In this picture, the strike barely blew-off the outer layer of bark. (more…)
I'm Keith Brown, owner of Austin Tree Experts. This is my repository of tree knowledge. I hope you find what you are looking for. Let me know if you don't.
