Should I have Cedar Trees removed? (Austin, Spring: house, neighborhood, allergies)

[cheermomof4girls]

I am having a house built and unfortunately the only trees that made it on my property are cedar trees. My dad said I should see if I can have them removed because they take up too much water and they are not worth it, and plant an oak of some type. There are only 2 of them and they are in the back yard. We are building in the Bluffs at Canyon Springs and there is a lot of limestone in the ground.

[aggie4ever01]

I have 8 cedar trees in my yard and have no trouble with them. I hadn't heard anything about them requiring a lot of water but with all the rain we've had I wouldn't have had a chance to find out I guess! I kind of like having a little greenery inside my fence.

[01Snake]

Originally Posted by aggie4ever01

I have 8 cedar trees in my yard and have no trouble with them. I hadn't heard anything about them requiring a lot of water but with all the rain we've had I wouldn't have had a chance to find out I guess! I kind of like having a little greenery inside my fence.

The don't need water, they just take it....and a lot of it!! haha

If you have no other trees, I'd say keep them if they are a decent size. I've got a few really big ones that I kept and just trimmed up so they look good.

[KimK]

If they are trees that are referred to as Salt Cedar or Tamarisk (I think that is the name), take them out. They propagate prolifically and are a definite threat to the habitat to include sucking out enough ground water to fill a lake. Texas does not appear to take their intrusion very seriously. New Mexico is beginning to see the light and is funding their spraying to have them killed all along the Rio Grande. I have had a lot of them sprayed to kill them (but I have lots of acres). You can cut them down but be very attentive that they have not already sent out a bunch of new ones. Spraying takes three years to kill them and their offspring. Animals do not drink near where they grow especially if they are growing around a canal or a pond. You can contact your Soil Conservation district to get further info and possibly help getting rid of them. If we are talking about the same tree, they have a pretty ferny quality to them, they get huge and they have pinkish blooms in the spring. Their damage to the environment is not worth their being an asset in your yard. Good luck.

[cheermomof4girls]

[quote=01Snake;1385479]The don't need water, they just take it....and a lot of it!! haha
QUOTE]

I think that is what he meant. I lived in an area northwest of Austin near Cedar Park. During a certain part of the year, cars and homes are coated with the yellow pollen (?) that the cedar trees produce. I was thinking about that as an issue also. But I guess, they are still going to be in the neighborhood anyways, unless everyone in the area cut theirs down too.

They are not really small, but they are not shade tree size either.

[TXtrkgrl]

I would remove them. They will drip sticky sap during the summer.
We cut cedars every chance we get, the birds eat the purple berries and then poop them and another cedar tree grows.

The government is paying us so much an acre to have the cedars cleared off of our place (that should tell you something).

I would plant some other trees and once they get to a good size then cut the cedars down. After all this is Texas and shade from a cedar tree is better than no shade at all.

[Eily71]

It's been a wet year so cedar pollen may be exceptionally heavy this fall. I have seen cedar pollen so thick after a wet year, that it looks like smoke from a wildfire.

And don't forget the allergy aspect......it's not called Cedar Fever for nothing.

[Turtle_Mom]

We kept our large Cedar because it was our only shade over the deck. It left so much black powder-y stuff all over our furniture and deck! I have also heard that they will leech water - and ours was near some good oaks. So we just cut ours down too. It's a shame with they are they only trees in your yard though, that would be hard for me to do!

[SA Greed]

We have one and it seems to be just fine. Always green all year around and the grass around it is the most plentiful. I would agree that if you have allergies, you may want to take it down. As for me, I have a funny story about this. When we were building our house, my father in law came over to see the progress. He said, “nice house, but you got to get rid of that tree.” I asked why, he said it messed with his allergies. I turned to my wife and said, “We are keeping the tree!!” we all laughed. 8 years later, it’s still up.

[sarahdsmom]

I have some and so do the rest of my neighbors. Everyone complains about allergies but, unless everyone cuts them down you'll still have allergies-not to mention there are hundreds of other conifers that spread pollen in Texas and cause allergies.
Apparently, they take more water than other plants around them. I have oaks mixed in around them and some ivy that the previous owner put in and everything is fine & green year round.
I'd leave them.