Why do people think that the Southern areas of Houston are treeless? (Sugar Land: transplants, live in)

[Yn0hTnA]

Originally Posted by TheMoreYouKnow

The truth of the matter is that most people who don't or haven't lived in Houston or Texas for that matter don't have the slightest clue what Texas is like. I travel a lot for work and spend a fair amount of time on the East and West coasts as well as in the NE, I constantly run into people who honestly believe that people in Houston still ride their horses to work, show up with 6 shooters on their hip and dress like rodeo announcers 7 days a week. People are also absolutely shocked to find out that we aren't just tumbleweed and cactus down here in Houston.

The ironic part is that the vegetation, ecology, and landscape in Houston has strong affinities with the Southeastern US, and thus can be much lusher, and more jungle-like than many places where those people are coming from. The pictures I posted in this thread would show many people how off they are in their judgments of Houston, and Texas.

Originally Posted by Spade

I actually wish Texas embraced it more but yeah, I didn't see it much. But there is nothing wrong with it.

The whole "Texas cowboy" is such a farce in Houston.

[bu2]

Originally Posted by Spade

I lived in Miami and people thought this as well. Asking me do I own a Cowboy hat and Cowboy boots. Acting like we use reckon as much as we use y'all. They think all of Texas was some dusty sandy cactus filled place. Oh and I got the horse thing many times. I blame Hollywood for this. Those Westerners depicted a false sense of Texas. I never heard the word reckon until I went to Miami and they told me about it. I can count on one hand how many times I seen a Cowboy hat and Cowboy Jeans.

Do you hide in February when the rodeo is running?

[Spade]

^^ Never been to Houston during the rodeo.

Originally Posted by Yn0hTnA

The ironic part is that the vegetation, ecology, and landscape in Houston has strong affinities with the Southeastern US, and thus can be much lusher, and more jungle-like than many places where those people are coming from. The pictures I posted in this thread would show many people how off they are in their judgments of Houston, and Texas.



The whole "Texas cowboy" is such a farce in Houston.

Well if you think the cowboy thing is strictly western than yes, it is a farce. If you think that the cowboy thing is also big in parts of other parts of the South than no, it's not a farce at all.

[TheMoreYouKnow]

I never seem to get used to people who have never been to Houston before making fools of themselves when landing at IAH during the day, many of them openly comment about how many trees there are and how they didn't think Texas would be this "green". I had a woman sitting next to me a couple months ago comment about how she "never expected to see pine trees in Texas" as we landed in Houston. Really? I guess someone should inform Easy Texas and the Piney Woods.

[Yn0hTnA]

Originally Posted by Spade

^^ Never been to Houston during the rodeo.



Well if you think the cowboy thing is strictly western than yes, it is a farce. If you think that the cowboy thing is also big in parts of other parts of the South than no, it's not a farce at all.

True about the cowboy culture in the South. However, the cowboy thing done during the Houston rodeo is exactly that whole stereotypical Texas/Western affair I find a farce. I acknowledge the revenue the event brings to the city, but it does not fit the unique Houston culture. Not by a long shot.

[Spade]

Originally Posted by Yn0hTnA

True about the cowboy culture in the South. However, the cowboy thing done during the Houston rodeo is exactly that whole stereotypical Texas/Western affair I find a farce. I acknowledge the revenue the event brings to the city, but it does not fit the unique Houston culture. Not by a long shot.

Yes it does. As the rodeo culture was all over the state of Texas. Rodeo does not equal Western only.

[Yn0hTnA]

Even Galveston Island can support forest in due time:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/jtwill...7651409295906/
A tree population has sustained itself, under protection in the form of the Lafitte's Cove sanctuary. As time passes, it is probable for the vegetation on Galveston to succeed into dense, jungle-like forest.

[Gunion Powder]

Originally Posted by crone

The piney woods of East Texas meet the coastal plains in Harris county.

Exactly. Coastal plains. So even if you're in a part of town where there are literally no trees, one couldn't even describe it as barren, because you'll still be in an area with ample humidity and above average rainfall.

Tall trees or no trees, Houston is lush all over.

[Gunion Powder]

Originally Posted by Spade

Yes it does. As the rodeo culture was all over the state of Texas. Rodeo does not equal Western only.

I think he's referring to the what the Rodeo has become as opposed to what it once was. If so, I'd have to agree.

[Yn0hTnA]

Originally Posted by mega man

Exactly. Coastal plains. So even if you're in a part of town where there are literally no trees, one couldn't even describe it as barren, because you'll still be in an area with ample humidity and above average rainfall.

Tall trees or no trees, Houston is lush all over.

Good point. Any neighborhood in Houston has the potential to end up looking like the floor of the Amazon, even if built on the "treeless" coastal plain. There is just too much rainfall and humidity; combine that with the overall warm climate year-round, and you have plant paradise.

The only reason the coastal plain of Houston is "treeless" is because the region is underlain by clay soils. Clay soils drain very poorly when wet, and can be hard as rock when dry; clay soils also have a basic pH. This makes it hard to sustain straight-up unbroken forest, as forest vegetation likes well-drained soil types (ideally loam), and an acidic pH.

The coastal plain of Houston is more than wet enough for forest; it gets more rainfall per-year than forested East Texas locations like Nacogdoches, Lufkin, Tyler, etc, and more rainfall per-year than Atlanta, the "City in a forest." The forested sectors of Houston, like Kingwood, Woodlands, Spring, etc get less rain per year than many coast plain areas, like League City, or Alvin. However, the clay soil of Houston's coast plain is what ultimately prevents the straight-up unbroken forest, like that seen in Atlanta, or the East Texas locations I named. The entire Houston metro would be straight up unbroken subtropical rain-forest right down to Galveston if not for the clay soil.

Many rivers, though, like the Brazos, provide more well-drained, alluvial soils to the Texas coastal plain. In these areas(depicted in the pictures I posted in this thread), you see the subtropical rain-forest that would be wide-spread across Houston. Mix in Piney Woods pines with these forests, and you would have the forest that would exist in Houston without the clay soils.