Trees, Shrubs and Conifers: Who Wants to See A Beautiful Scene, 1 by liveoaklady

liveoaklady wrote:
Sofer, no, the tree does not shed any limbs. If you prune a young Quercus virginiana as you want it to look , the lower branches will grow just as they are. The lateral lower branches may twist and curve depending on which way it wishes to receive light. Some of them curve downward and touch the ground. That is a main characteristic of the live oak--it is short and spreading. I tell people if they do not have the space or do not want a spreading tree, then plant a palm tree or an upright oak. Here in Louisiana the dummies in the highway department planted live oaks in the median of the interstate then got angry when they spread their limbs into the roadway. Resulting in-------a waste of beautiful trees.
The live oak, being short and squat when it is fully mature, can withstand hurricane winds better than any tree. People were saved during Hurricane Katrina by clinging to live oaks. One man tells the story of how he kissed a branch of a live oak for four hours, hanging on for his life, while wind and water raged around him.
Most of our live oaks in New Orleans withstood Katrina. If it were not for our oaks at the moment, New Orleans would be naked indeed.