I would put a strong second on the Bur Oak (Quercus macrocarpa) Easy from seed, fast growth and drought resistant when established. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quercus_macrocarpa Live oak would also be a good choice. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quercus_virginiana The English Oak would be fun. (Quercus robur). Fast growth, drought tolerant. Good dense foliage and shade. There are the Hackberry trees. There are several species, the most common is the Common Hackberry (Celtis occidentalis) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celtis_occidentalis Kentucky Coffee Tree would also work there (Gymnocladus dioicus) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kentucky_coffeetree The Yellowwood tree is one to consider. It loots a bit like a flowering beech because of it's grey bark. But again, it has a deep taproot so it is drought tolerant. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cladrastis_kentukea You may want to try the Deodar Cedar. Being in a warmer zone, this tree would probably grow well. It is the fastest growing of the true Cedars and will get to be a very tall tree. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cedrus_deodara The other true Cedars, Cedar of Lebanon and Atlas Cedarwould be very good choices but they are very slow growing trees. A foot a year at most. More like to get 6 inches a year. Another choice for an evergreen is the Sierra Redwood (Sequoiadendron giganteum) For a tree that will eventuall get huge, it is a very good and well behaved tree in it's youth. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sequoiadendron_giganteum Oddly enough, the Swamp Cypress (Taxodium distichum) does not need to be in a swamp and is surprisingly drought tolerant, when established. The seeds for these can be found on line. Where possible I prefer to plant the seed where the tree is to grow. This allows for quickest establishment of the tree and better acclimation. However, you can also start them in pots if necessary. Particularly if there are vermin that would eat the seeds or the seedlings. Google these and see if any strike your fancy. By the way. How much land do you have and how much water do you get? That would be interesting and helpful in getting the trees started.

Hi, You have mail.

First I don't have any seed for you sorry my tree is not big enough. Second there are 3 different populations (in Texas) of Acer grandidentatum one is in Ft.hood another in the Hill Country around Bandera (Lost maples area) these two share similar genetics to a Chalk Maple Acer saccharum var. leucoderme). (Acer saccharum var.grandidentatum) which is what most people have in central Texas. (Acer grandidentatum var grandidentatum) is in the Guadulaupe mountains and reaching as far north as Utah and as far south as Northern Mexico.I have a Acer saccharum var. leucoderme which was collected in east Texas and has performed well in my Alkaline clay of Austin.My point being you may be able to find the Chalk maple seed easier. The seed also needs cold to germinate typically moist stratification for 90- 120 days @ a temperature of 33-39 degrees.Many of these seed will not have a viable embryo. Put the seed in water if they drop to the bottom that is what will germinate @95%. Discard the floaters. Art

These last photos were a great tutorial for me on erosion, overgrazing, and desertification. Looking at these, I think I now know what they mean when they say that the Big Bend region is plagued by overgrazing. A lot of the former ranch land out there looks a lot like your 3rd picture: a landscape of mostly sand, punctuated by lonely trees jutting out. I figured it was caused by drought or wildfire or was just the natural look of the land. But it's none of those things. It should be either be a lush prairie or a healthy-looking woods - more like your other pictures. The ground should never look like sand. Not unless you're on a beach or in the Sahara Desert. This also explains why beaches look this way. The waves continually strip all vegetation and nutrients away. And that's why coastlines are always eroding and moving. There's nothing to anchor them. Ecologically-speaking, a sandy landscape is a dead one. If you see sandy ground, you're looking at ground that was ecologically destroyed. I think it's amazing that you're bringing it back. All it needs is a number of years of decomposing leaf litter to stay in place and the worms and bugs and microorganisms will return and revert into living soil once again. Much of my yard was badly-eroded, unmulched and swept clean leaf litter for many, many years by previous owners. It looked "clean" to them. That's how most folks in my neighborhood still keep much of their yards. Bare dirt. The wind blows some of it away. Every time it rains, more of it washes away. It gets drier and drier and lower and lower in a downward spiral. My yard must have gone down at least 6 inches in depth over the years. Then I started to let leaf litter accumulate on the ground year-round. Now I'm the oddball freak of my neighborhood. But things actually grow in that area now. It's only 2 or 3 years later. Before that, nothing would grow. Not even weeds. It was almost as bad as the land in your 3rd picture. But now the soil level has raised maybe an inch. I find earthworms and bugs in it now. It's slowly coming back to life.