Suggestions: Before/After Feb Freeze as of today.

[Collectorpalms]

What would you do?

My Wall of palms in distance gone. 25 Washingtonia in total. 

 

my new view…..

Edited April 27, 2022 by Collectorpalms

[amh]

Loblolly Pine For native.

Power lines? Space?

Do you want to be a d$ck, revenge, spite; need more info.

[Allen]

Don't get too down.  Plant some more palms if you are going to stay there.  There may not be another event like that again.  

[OC2Texaspalmlvr]

Cold hardy bamboo for sure. 

T J 

[amh]

33 minutes ago, OC2Texaspalmlvr said:

Cold hardy bamboo for sure. 

T J 

This.

 

The driveway will help keep it in check on your side and who cares about the other side.

Trunking sabals too.

[OC2Texaspalmlvr]

3 hours ago, amh said:

Trunking sabals too.

I was gonna add this too but got lazy 

T J 

[Swolte]

Is this area irrigated? Is the wall south facing?

What is nice about it is that it is a focal point for traffic before cars make a turn. I'd probably won't do the formal rows (never a fan of that) but would center it around a Filifera/Filibusta (something that gets tall fast). Plant a massive sabal next to it (to the left - Causiarum?) and a needle palm (to the right). This gives you different textures, shines,  greens, and heights. Space them well so you have room to plant some shrubs or flower powering things in between. Given the site is a focal point for a long road, I'd go for flowers or leaf contrasts that can be seen from a large distance. Hibiscus Moy Grande, for example (deer eat them with me but shouldn't be a problem for you),  would probably pop like crazy. Endless possibilities for ground cover. I have to admit, I am not a fan of verbena, but the Endurascape series are starting to impress me if you're really into bright colors for long periods.

Edited April 28, 2022 by Swolte

[Xenon]

If you want to continue the xeric-ish look, maybe some Parkinsonia aculeata for an airy semi-arid woodland feel? For lower growing things maybe more Agave, Mangave, Yucca, Hesperaloe, hardy bromeliads etc? For flowers, Cordia boissieri will bloom its head off throughout the warm season and would only dieback in colder winters (easily maintained as a large shrub) as well as the old standbys like Tecoma stans 'Gold Star' and Pride of Barbados. I'd replant the Washingtonia for some vertical interest too and maybe Brahea and Nannorhops 

[Collectorpalms]

10 hours ago, amh said:

Loblolly Pine For native.

Power lines? Space?

Do you want to be a d$ck, revenge, spite; need more info.

Loblolly Pine, have had three total. Two have died.  The soil PH was around 8 or 9 and when I first tested it, And clay. I planted pines hoping to lower the soil Ph.  The one that is left elsewhere looks wind swept because it was growing under Washys, and extends over the driveway. I am sure it bugs tall trucks, but it’s on my property so I am not cutting it down.  Adds a bit of a Tsunami/ Japanese effect to its area now.  Bad things is that once they loose lower limbs the don’t re-sprout. 

As far as Revenge and Spite…. We’ll when I Bought my House that was a post oak Savannah and you couldn’t see another house or building. It was rezoned a month before I bought house from residential 1, to commercial. So I had no idea for several years. I was lucky for 10-15 years with no building. But the owner is an A$$. There was a 15 or 30 ft “green buffer” that had native trees (mostly on other side of wall they had to build) they couldn’t build on. But on a Saturday afternoon ( with zoning closed) they bulldozed those trees. I was lied too…. Sidewalks and ramps evidently classify as “green”.  They needed To destroy the buffer zone to have a flat parking lot. I fought for those new trees on the other side of the wall. It was a battle… but alas it’s not over with the new sidewalk coming. The trees in the front are going now.

Edited April 28, 2022 by Collectorpalms

[Collectorpalms]

10 hours ago, OC2Texaspalmlvr said:

Cold hardy bamboo for sure. 

T J 

Sourcing interesting cold hardy Clumping Bamboo has been an issue. Ideas? What I find runs over $100 for 5 gallon or larger sized plants. Each panel is 5FT wide I’d need around 10-15 of the same clumping bamboo. 

[Collectorpalms]

6 hours ago, Swolte said:

Is this area irrigated? Is the wall south facing?

What is nice about it is that it is a focal point for traffic before cars make a turn. I'd probably won't do the formal rows (never a fan of that) but would center it around a Filifera/Filibusta (something that gets tall fast). Plant a massive sabal next to it (to the left - Causiarum?) and a needle palm (to the right). This gives you different textures, shines,  greens, and heights. Space them well so you have room to plant some shrubs or flower powering things in between. Given the site is a focal point for a long road, I'd go for flowers or leaf contrasts that can be seen from a large distance. Hibiscus Moy Grande, for example (deer eat them with me but shouldn't be a problem for you),  would probably pop like crazy. Endless possibilities for ground cover. I have to admit, I am not a fan of verbena, but the Endurascape series are starting to impress me if you're really into bright colors for long periods.

As of lately, I believe the focal point is the neon lights from the hotel. It’s hard to beat that! So I am not “trying” to focus on it at the time, It will drive me loony’s toons and raise blood pressure. 

My ideas so far have been all over the place. Bamboo, live oaks, Sabal grove, cuttings garden, bulb garden, xeriscaping... 

But you did hit a key landscaping point with the curve as being at least a good focal point. I looked at it from both vantages points, coming and going. To me a crescent shaped island with a mixed planting ( some of y’all’s ideas) with the specimen as a big palm like a CIDP is going to look good. What’s better is that there is room for three eventually big palms spaced about 15 feet apart. Only issue is only CIDP I have found were $150 each for something I’d normally pay 29.99 for. I do have Sabal Causarium growing, along with various other Sabals and cycads in my container ranch in waiting. 
Alas, basically my whole yard is some type of public easement due to being a corner property is a busy area, part of my driveway and that area is above a sewer line, but no power line. ( I called urban planning, no plans for a new sewer line). The Washingtonia were purchased for about $5 each, so a low investment in key. In todays money I’d spend about $1500 total in plants and another $? for a truckload of garden mix to raise the soil.
 

It’s probably a winter spring 2022/23 project, but I can collect/grow plants in the meantime.

[Collectorpalms]

7 hours ago, Xenon said:

If you want to continue the xeric-ish look, maybe some Parkinsonia aculeata for an airy semi-arid woodland feel? For lower growing things maybe more Agave, Mangave, Yucca, Hesperaloe, hardy bromeliads etc? For flowers, Cordia boissieri will bloom its head off throughout the warm season and would only dieback in colder winters (easily maintained as a large shrub) as well as the old standbys like Tecoma stans 'Gold Star' and Pride of Barbados. I'd replant the Washingtonia for some vertical interest too and maybe Brahea and Nannorhops 

I have some of those plants ( New Agaves, Yucca, Cordia, Tacoma Gold Star. washingtonia are already ahead of you they are reseeding. Issues is after the freeze. Everything is a hodgepodge mess. As if a bulldozer would be easier to start over. Filling in holes and making sense of this yard it is nearly impossible. Sure if I had good soil and heavy machinery I could move everything into its correct home and presto it would look right and wouldn’t even need to buy another plant. Like those palms under the new unexpected backpower line or those on the new proposed sidewalk. 
But yes that area is non-irrigated, now sunny, Laredo like hot with reflected heat, occasionally floods 2-3 times a year which can be fixed by making a stream bed, and I don’t like dragging water hoses to. 

Edited April 28, 2022 by Collectorpalms

[jwitt]

If only some cold hardy robusta free filifera seed could be had.  Thinking......

[amh]

8 hours ago, Collectorpalms said:

Sourcing interesting cold hardy Clumping Bamboo has been an issue. Ideas? What I find runs over $100 for 5 gallon or larger sized plants. Each panel is 5FT wide I’d need around 10-15 of the same clumping bamboo. 

You might ask @TonyDFW what bamboo he is growing. It appears to be a running type, but it would block your view of the apartments.

I'm surprised at how high your soil pH is; I'm in the hill country and I'm on the more neutral side of alkaline. I've seen pines growing all over Bryan.