Will adding palm trees in around the Houston metro make it more beautiful and pretty looking? (Highland Village: transplants, 2013)

[PedroMartinez]

Originally Posted by testmo

palms arent just homes to rats and roaches (roaches will live in any tree, rats will live in any brush) they are also homes to bats. a single bat can eat up to 1,200 mosquitoes in a single night.

I have recently heard that bats eating lots of mosquitoes is actually a myth.

Edit: I did a bit of searching finding information saying bats did eat mosquitoes in a significant quantity and that they didn't.

I then found this:

http://batcon.org/index.php/media-an...ArticleID=1048

Apparently, bats do eat mosquitoes and can make a fairly decent dent in the local population.

We found that significantly fewer egg clutches were laid in enclosures with bats than in enclosures without them. There were, in fact, 32 percent fewer egg clutches in the bat enclosures than in controls. This reduction occurred only within flight cages and not in containers just outside the enclosures, confirming that female mosquitoes were present and that the bats were eating many of those that entered the cages. This observation also suggests that mosquitoes do not alter their egg-laying behavior in the presence of bats.


The number of egg clutches in the same enclosures was reduced by 31 percent on nights when bats were present compared to when they were not released into the flight cage. A final comparison found no difference in egg clutches between the control and bat enclosures on nights when bats were not released. These two comparisons demonstrate that the presence of bats is the only factor that explains the reduction of egg clutches.

[studiobtm]

None of you are pure enough. Only plants from the Creteceous period should be allowed. Everything else is a modern, artificial affectation! Death to those who disagree!

[King Joey]

Originally Posted by majicdonjuan

Palm trees are a great idea in Houston. I really don't know how you can dislike well kept palms, but I completely understand those who have reservations about them because many of the palms in the city are neglected (though this seems to have improved in my most recent visit last week). I also agree that they look fairly awkward in isolation - I believe you need to have a critical mass of them for them to look "natural".

Speaking of natural, if I see one more person post that we need to plant native trees not palms, I am going to SCREAM! The only reason they are not natural looking is because there are not enough of them in the area. Houston has a subtropical climate and a need for more landscaping - we should act like it and plant more palms.

Native Palms:

Texas: 2
California: 1
Hawaii: 1

On a side note, I am happy that many of the freeway medians are getting young trees planted, especially on the south side of 610 where it is sorely needed.

A big YES to everything you typed!!!

[Metro Matt]

Originally Posted by majicdonjuan

Palm trees are a great idea in Houston. I really don't know how you can dislike well kept palms, but I completely understand those who have reservations about them because many of the palms in the city are neglected (though this seems to have improved in my most recent visit last week). I also agree that they look fairly awkward in isolation - I believe you need to have a critical mass of them for them to look "natural".

Speaking of natural, if I see one more person post that we need to plant native trees not palms, I am going to SCREAM! The only reason they are not natural looking is because there are not enough of them in the area. Houston has a subtropical climate and a need for more landscaping - we should act like it and plant more palms.

Native Palms:

Texas: 2
California: 1
Hawaii: 1

On a side note, I am happy that many of the freeway medians are getting young trees planted, especially on the south side of 610 where it is sorely needed.

The Beltway is nicely landscaped too.

[case44]

Originally Posted by OptimusPrime69

I've noticed a lot of the new shopping plazas are adding palm trees for aesthetic purposes and I enjoy them quite a bit. I think Houston should add them along their freeways and parks and whatnot. They're so pretty to look at, not to mention they add to the flora diversity as well as stay green year round.

I want to start a palm tree iniative in Houston? Anyone with me?
yay or nay?

I think that palm tree initiative began when the settlers from elsewhere set up shop in the 1800s. You can never have too many palm trees since Houston already has so many.

Go ahead. .... Plant them.

[Metro Matt]

Originally Posted by case44

I think that palm tree initiative began when the settlers from elsewhere set up shop in the 1800s. You can never have too many palm trees since Houston already has so many.

Go ahead. .... Plant them.

Exactly.

Houston's history of having palm trees dates back to the early Spanish explorers & missionaries who landed here from Galveston. Its not like its some new fad or anything they've been here for hundreds of years.

Los Angeles & New Orleans are the same way except in LA most of them were planted in the 1930's as a massive beautification project in preparation for the 1932 Olympic Games.

Not quite sure how they got introduced to places like Phoenix & Las Vegas. I'll have to research that some more. Quite possibly they wanted to be like LA & went on a planting spree who knows.

[majicdonjuan]

Originally Posted by Metro Matt

The Beltway is nicely landscaped too.

True, but I rarely use it. I'm one of the semi-old-schoolers who still considers the Beltway "281 territory"

[tonyp709]

Originally Posted by crone

Why do we all move to Houston and try to change it into someplace else?

Let's plant stuff that is native. No problems.

If it wasn’t for the palms trees here in Houston, I would have never moved here. Houston is sub-tropical just like my northwest FL hometown Panama City, and I have to say that Houston has a larger variety of palms than PC. The palm population in PC is more densely populated, but due to Houston’s size, I would say that there are more palms here. Despite the opinions of others, I don’t think that the palms are out of place. I beg to differ with anyone that feels that palms should be restricted to terrains that consist of mountains and beaches. Tell that to Orlando, FL. Hopefully, we all know that FL does not have any mountains, and the closest beach to Orlando is about 45min to an hour away, just like Houston. But no one complains because of the perception of Orlando being in Florida. People like you will often talk about how palm trees should not be planted in Houston because they’re not native or in their natural habitat. However, you all fail to realize that with the exception of the Washingtonia’s (Cal and Mex fan palms) all of the palms in Cal are not native, and as tropical as south FL is, the majority of the palms and plants are not native there either. Florida has 12 native palms, and the only popular natives are the sabal palmetto and the Florida Royal. Hawaii is also guilty of having several species of imported palms planted on it’s islands. In fact, Hawaii only has 1 palm that is native to it’s islands, which is the Loulu palm. Every other palm in the aloha state including the coconut palms were widely planted. Therefore, if California, Hawaii, and Florida can import palms from around the world to emulate or enhance a tropical paradise; why can’t Texas? Beauty IS in the eye of the beholder, and I personally think that the palms here compliment the city making Houston beautiful (in my opinion). No, it’s nothing like Miami (neither is the majority of the state of Florida for that matter) or even Southern Cal, nor will it ever be like either of those places. Houston is it’s own and offers the best of both worlds, whether you’re a palm enthusiast like myself or if you prefer a traditional shade tree. Never the less, Palms are on the rise in H-Town whether some individuals like it or not. In time, palms will begin to grow wildly in Houston, like the Mex fans and Sabals already do.


btw the live oak is not native to Houston.... it's native to central Texas, Oklahoma, and mountainous areas in Mexico.. infact, several of the shade trees and shrubs that you see in Houston are planted imports... just food for thought

[Nairobi]

Originally Posted by tonyp709

btw the live oak is not native to Houston.... it's native to central Texas, Oklahoma, and mountainous areas in Mexico.. infact, several of the shade trees and shrubs that you see in Houston are planted imports... just food for thought

Where did you get this information from? As I've always known, the Southern live oak (which Houston is know for) is native to the Southern US. New Orleans and Savannah are known for them as well.

[portlanderinOC]

When I moved from Portland to Houston, I was surprised at how few palm trees there were. Being it a semi-tropical climate, I expected more of them.
Honestly though, after living in SoCal around so many dang palm trees, they just look tacky and are only there to make a place look "exotic". It's annoying if you ask me.