If you haven’t noticed, some of Central Texas’ trees aren’t looking so good.
Live oaks with leaves sprouting from the branches and trunk. Ash trees with a sporadic green on only half of the canopy. Loquat, fig and citrus trees with growth at the base of the tree and nowhere else.
Joshua Erickson, forestry program manager for the Austin Parks and Recreation Department, said we’re seeing evidence of unprecedented damage to Austin’s trees, and even with his own friends and neighbors, he finds himself the bearer of bad news.
Many trees that are suffering now aren t going to make it through the summer, and even if they do, we are going to be seeing some funky trees for years to come, he said.