The brightly colored growths at the base of this elm tree are the fruiting bodies (conks) of a Ganoderma rot. The rot is consuming the root crown and butt of the tree. The result is a loss of the physical support for the tree. If enough damage occurs, the tree may fall. If you notice something like...
These two live oaks are chained together. The idea was for the straight tree to keep the leaning tree from falling over. As the years have passed, the trees have grown and are now growing around the chain. This is not the best way to do this and if left alone, the chain will girdle the tree and...
A recent storm caused a vertical split to form in the trunk of this live oak. You can see daylight all the way through. This particular tree was beating Oak Wilt and has a full canopy. However, it's now a safety hazard and will be removed. Sometimes you just can't win.
Using Triclopyr based herbicides like "Remedy" can be useful to control unwanted brush and trees. However, that chemical can be deadly to nearby shade trees like live oaks. This picture shows leaves from a large live oak that was accidentally dosed with this chemical when spray from a nearby...
About 40 feet up on this live oak in Hallettesville is a huge beehive. A piece of honeycomb was found on the ground under this tree. Quite a busy operation with literally hundreds of bees tending to the hive.