Texas deep freeze carnage thread

[Enchubben 5502]

5 minutes ago, Player said:

I think your guy is trying to make you feel better about the NLAA fucking he gave you.

I picked one up for less than $30 yesterday at Sprinkler Warehouse on Jackrabbit Rd.

Maybe so. Maybe you should have shared that with the rest of the group before I paid $225 to have it replaced. 

[TwiceHorn 31069]

2 minutes ago, The Ace of Aces said:

My parents in BFE East Texas never lost power or water cause they’re in the LA shared grid. They lose power on 70 degree April days sometimes since all lines are through dense pine trees. Sharing works. 

Nevertheless, I think hooking up our massive demand and failing grid to another grid is not necessarily a complete solution, and maybe no solution at all.

[Okie State 3747]

Got damn at paying $225 to replace that valve.

I bought two on Amazon last weekend and they showed up today.

[George 487]

Woohoo. Survived the blizzard last week. Quarter+ sized hail hits this week. Fucking ice. 

[Chopper 17055]

My BIL owns a large landscaping business in Austin. Said he's seen a ton of decimated swimming pools --- broken pipes, cracked tile, broken valves, broken pumps. I'm afraid to see what's going to happen when people decide to try their irrigation systems. 

[Okie State 3747]

Not exactly carnage, but I was just installing new foam insulation and tape on my spigots and noticed the one on the North side has a crack in it that sprays when you turn it on. Just installed it a few weeks ago.

[hornian 5186]

Ok, I think most people have the immediate plumbing stuff addressed (ie no active leaks). What about plants?

I have a (had a?) large blue agave in my front yard. Most of the arms are mush. But the center stalk is erect.  Will it make it?

Have (had?) a big spineless prickley pear cactus that looked like it melted. Ironically, the ones with thorns look fine. Would have rathered the opposite. 
 

Have (had?) a couple of big sago palms, the fronds are all yellow. Are they goners?

 

[BradInATX 9208]

Ok, I think most people have the immediate plumbing stuff addressed (ie no active leaks). What about plants?
I have a (had a?) large blue agave in my front yard. Most of the arms are mush. But the center stalk is erect.  Will it make it?
Have (had?) a big spineless prickley pear cactus that looked like it melted. Ironically, the ones with thorns look fine. Would have rathered the opposite. 
 
Have (had?) a couple of big sago palms, the fronds are all yellow. Are they goners?
 

Our sagos are yellow too, but greening up a little bit on the bottom so I'm hopeful they'll make it. I lost a few really nice prickly pears though, which sucks.

[Brisketexan 104219]

Just now, BradInATX said:

Our sagos are greening up a little bit on the bottom so I'm hopeful they'll make it. I lost a few really nice prickly pears though, which sucks.

I'll be honest.....I didn't think anything could kill prickly pear.  But as I drive around and see the carnage....I was clearly wrong.  They all look to be toast.  Like....all of them.  It's going to be fascinating next hunting season to be in a landscape where all the prickly pear is dead, and has to start over.

I'm also wondering how many trees are going to die.  Oaks etc. -- big natives -- should make it.  But I think a lot of ornamentals and invasives will die.  Cedars, of course, other than broken limbs from the weight of the snow, ARE FUCKING FINE.  NOTHING CAN KILL THEM.  EVIL NEVER DIES.

[utee94 15732]

8 minutes ago, hornian said:

Ok, I think most people have the immediate plumbing stuff addressed (ie no active leaks). What about plants?

I have a (had a?) large blue agave in my front yard. Most of the arms are mush. But the center stalk is erect.  Will it make it?

Have (had?) a big spineless prickley pear cactus that looked like it melted. Ironically, the ones with thorns look fine. Would have rathered the opposite. 
 

Have (had?) a couple of big sago palms, the fronds are all yellow. Are they goners?

 

I've read you need to cut away the mush on plants like the agave, and try to protect the center from any further freezing, by covering.  The mush can rot and grow other bad stuff on it (mold?) that will harm whatever good part is still left.

Our sago palms usually come back bigger than ever after we have enough of a freeze to turn their fronds yellow, after we cut them back.  Of course, they've never gone through such a deep freeze that lasted 6 days before either, obviously.   You can go ahead and cut off all the bad yellow fronds and also this will be a good opportunity to remove any pups it might be growing.

Edited February 28, 2021 by utee94

[BradInATX 9208]

I'll be honest.....I didn't think anything could kill prickly pear.  But as I drive around and see the carnage....I was clearly wrong.  They all look to be toast.  Like....all of them.  It's going to be fascinating next hunting season to be in a landscape where all the prickly pear is dead, and has to start over.
I'm also wondering how many trees are going to die.  Oaks etc. -- big natives -- should make it.  But I think a lot of ornamentals and invasives will die.  Cedars, of course, other than broken limbs from the weight of the snow, ARE FUCKING FINE.  NOTHING CAN KILL THEM.  EVIL NEVER DIES.

Some of my prickly pears look like they made it. No rhyme or reason that I can figure out as to which ones melted into jello and which didn't.

[mchookem 15873]

we had two giant fan palms around the water feature in our pool... they were HUGE, easily 20+ feet tall in the center...nothing but stumps now 🙁

[utee94 15732]

4 minutes ago, mchookem said:

we had two giant fan palms around the water feature in our pool... they were HUGE, easily 20+ feet tall in the center...nothing but stumps now 🙁

That sucks.  We have three large, mature Mexican fan palms around our pool and they all seem to be okay.

[Dr Fear 1264]

My parents in BFE East Texas never lost power or water cause they’re in the LA shared grid. They lose power on 70 degree April days sometimes since all lines are through dense pine trees. Sharing works. 

Where abouts? My in-laws lost power in San Augustine for a few days.

[The Ace of Aces 5102]

39 minutes ago, Dr Fear said:

On 2/25/2021 at 3:57 PM, The Ace of Aces said:

My parents in BFE East Texas never lost power or water cause they’re in the LA shared grid. They lose power on 70 degree April days sometimes since all lines are through dense pine trees. Sharing works. 

Where abouts? My in-laws lost power in San Augustine for a few days.

Outside Longview  the Nac/SA issue was damage from the ice - Longview and n/e got mostly all snow and sleet and little freezing rain so no physical infrastructure issue  

 

[BrazilHorn 6575]

Got new tankless outdoor hot water heater installed yesterday. Just waiting on a filter cover for our whole house filtration system from Aquasana to come in and then we will be 100% back in business.

[Horn_Spanker 524]

Guess I'm gun shy?  Hear there's a storm coming tonight so I'm filling water jugs and charging everything that charges!

[Trey3216 15321]

4 hours ago, hornian said:

Ok, I think most people have the immediate plumbing stuff addressed (ie no active leaks). What about plants?

I have a (had a?) large blue agave in my front yard. Most of the arms are mush. But the center stalk is erect.  Will it make it?

Have (had?) a big spineless prickley pear cactus that looked like it melted. Ironically, the ones with thorns look fine. Would have rathered the opposite. 
 

Have (had?) a couple of big sago palms, the fronds are all yellow. Are they goners?

 

This is the pile of Live Oak leaves that have been shed since Friday.  About 1/4 of the tree (fairly normal) and every time the breeze does anything another bundle drops.   This sumbitch is gonna fully shed this year.   That doesn’t happen all that often.  
 

the pile is about 30 feet long and 15 or so feet wide at the middle, and about 18 inches or so deep.    Now we break out the lawnmower 

[Post Oak 20174]

Just went for a run, and those leaves were blowing all over the place.  

Here comes the pollen

[PantsTent 2002]

Planted 6 Xylosma tree/shrubs that was supposed to grow into a privacy hedge a year and a half ago.  They were about to take off and do the job but are now toast. Sucks...about $700 and 2 yrs down the drain.  The plants are in the Austin plant buying guide and hardy to 10F.  I guess we went below 10F.

[Post Oak 20174]

That sucks. I planted 4 live oaks in November.  I watered them good and now I'm hoping for the best.  

 

I'll feel better/know more in about a month.

[Okie State 3747]

Most of our plants look like shit same as everyone else. I'm thinking/hoping all the trees and most of the shrubs will be okay. We had a whole row of bottle brushes that really took off this year and attracted a ton of honey bees and hummingbirds. Really hope those make it, but they look like they're toast. Planted some Texas sage a few months back and they look to be fine. Lime tree is probably fucked.

[Trey3216 15321]

I’m pretty sure my loquat tree is dead as well.  Damnit, that was a fruit producing machine.   

[BradInATX 9208]

I'm going to be planting some citrus trees in planters made of bourbon barrels chopped in half this spring. I decided I'm going to put them on casters so I can roll them inside for hard freezes in the future.

[Captainant 27249]

12 hours ago, BradInATX said:

I'm going to be planting some citrus trees in planters made of bourbon barrels chopped in half this spring. I decided I'm going to put them on casters so I can roll them inside for hard freezes in the future.

We just planted some citrus trees in planters before the freeze and did exactly that. When you bring em in, be sure to put down something to catch the water coming out of the soil - we used our weather tech mats out of our cars and they they had a good quarter inch of water in em 

[Bigbend1812 12873]

Welp, looks like i will possibly lose all the palm trees in the back yard.  Fuck you, Winter! 

Edited March 1, 2021 by Bigbend1812
Spelling. Cause fuck all.

[Armybrat 40646]

16 hours ago, PantsTent said:

Planted 6 Xylosma tree/shrubs that was supposed to grow into a privacy hedge a year and a half ago.  They were about to take off and do the job but are now toast. Sucks...about $700 and 2 yrs down the drain.  The plants are in the Austin plant buying guide and hardy to 10F.  I guess we went below 10F.

My 25 year old wax leaf ligustrum hedge in the back yard ain’t looking so good and has started dropping leaves like the oaks out front since this pic was taken a week ago.

 

[Armybrat 40646]

Landscaper service trimmed said oaks Saturday...

 

[Ten Bears 2475]

I have two 30 foot and a 15 foot Mexican Palms, a Mountain Laurel and a Kumquat tree that all look like they are dead.  We will see.  Those palms really tied the yard together. 

[next2naus 436]

installed 

[OneOfTheOutOfFocusGuys 2054]

four trees coming down today.  two were over a power line and the freeze spooked me into doing what I should have done a while back.  two more go over the pool, are shitty hackberries anyway, and not interesting in having them collapse while i'm swimming and abbott me.

[Post Oak 20174]

I had one hackberry nearly fall on my neighbor's house over the summer.  Went ahead and took down 3 more that didn't have long.  Now my backyard just roasts in the summer but they needed to come down.

I hate hackberry trees.  

Edited March 1, 2021 by Post Oak

[BradInATX 9208]

1 minute ago, Post Oak said:

I had one hackberry nearly fall on my neighbor's house over the summer.  Went ahead and took down 3 more.  Now my backyard just roasts in the summer but the needed to come down.

I hate hackberry trees.  

Username checks out.

[Post Oak 20174]

3 hours ago, BradInATX said:

Username checks out.

 

[Nueces River Rat 5521]

5 hours ago, Ten Bears said:

I have two 30 foot and a 15 foot Mexican Palms, a Mountain Laurel and a Kumquat tree that all look like they are dead.  We will see.  Those palms really tied the yard together. 

The Mountain Laurel is probably not dead and just has leaf burn...  The Palms are going to be hit and miss all over the place.    The best you can do is trim them back and see if any green emerges.   If not, they will rot pretty quickly and if they are close to your home you have a danger of one of them falling on to your house.  Or at the very least, becoming a home base for insects.

[Guest Lobo]

Hackberries are good shade trees, but they are worthless.  They'll snap if you look at them wrong.  Those berries stain patios like a mo-fo.  and they suck up all the water around them leaving nothing for the surrounding trees except what lands on them directly.  

[Nueces River Rat 5521]

6 hours ago, Armybrat said:

Landscaper service trimmed said oaks Saturday...

 

Thank God for lawnmower with leaf catchers.   I went over my brown yard just to bag the Live Oak leaves and stopped 20 or so times to empty the bag.  Normally they lose their leaves in March into April and produce the yellow pollen crap that gets all over your car, house, etc.   I guess we get to do this early this year?   

[Nueces River Rat 5521]

2 minutes ago, Lobo said:

Hackberries are good shade trees, but they are worthless.  They'll snap if you look at them wrong.  Those berries stain patios like a mo-fo.  and they suck up all the water around them leaving nothing for the surrounding trees except what lands on them directly.  

Yes they are.   And they are fricken hard to kill even if you cut them down to a stump and remove it.  It's off springs often pop up as little seedlings.  If they are in your lawn, easy to take care of with regular mowing.  But if they are in another part of the yard where you might not pay attention to that often like around a fence line, if one of those seedling takes off, it's a constant battle with some pruning sheers to knock it back down.  I used to poor gas on them to kill the seedling and that didn't work.

[Armybrat 40646]

My front yard is xeriscaped with gravel and normally looks like this below. It isn’t difficult to blow out the usual tree sticks & leaves that fall in normal times, but this next cleanup will be a PITA.

 

[Nueces River Rat 5521]

1 minute ago, Armybrat said:

My front yard is xeriscaped with gravel and normally looks like this below. It isn’t difficult to blow out the usual tree sticks & leaves that fall in normal times, but this next cleanup will be a PITA.

 

Blower with a vacuum attachment?   

[mchookem 15873]

our backyard is normally pool, pool decking, rock and grass... this weekend you cannot tell where one section ends and the next begins...the mature live oak is shedding every single leaf. i'm talking foot-high drifts of leaves.  the wind blew and it looked like it was snowing leaves. we had to sweep/rake a path for our miniature dachshund to even get to the yard! the piles are easily 3x her height.

we're just hoping it's not dead. surely not! 😕

[Guest Lobo]

Yep, thankfully our big one that I finally took down about 6 years ago is in a tree "bed/island" in the back, so a big chunk of its root structure was actually above the soil surface of most of the backyard.  So every few months, I dry out what's left of the system with diesel...then just hack the shit out of it with a pickaxe.  I think it's finally deader than dead but damn if the root system won't just shrivel up and die.  And of course, where it's rotting on the underside of the old stump 'n main root, proved to be a little safe haven for all kinds of fun critters.  I'd torch the whole fucking thing but for the fact that three really nice oaks use that same tree-bed/island as their home and they've all taken off nicely since the hackberry left town.  

[Tailgate 3010]

What is truly another Tailgate mishap...

I was in Kohler, Wisconsin two years ago picking out a bunch of stuff for the house as my buddy got hooked up there as an EVP (Kohler) and invited me up.

After getting toilets that open when you walk by and give you BJs....the rep goes...”you need a generator.”

I was like “wtf” “we never lose power for more than a few minutes....we don’t need one.” Even though at that time it was either free or 60% off.

Yeah...I’m not the brightest star in the sky.

[Fuck Tim Beck 3806]

10 minutes ago, Nueces River Rat said:

Blower with a vacuum attachment?   

And it still won't suck up as much wood as South Austin's mom. 

[Armybrat 40646]

9 minutes ago, Nueces River Rat said:

Blower with a vacuum attachment?   

No, just blow it across the driveway to the grass side yard then pick it up with th the mower & grass catcher.

of course it doesn’’t get all the tree crap out, but still looks good.

[InkaUtexas 25285]

1 hour ago, Armybrat said:

My front yard is xeriscaped with gravel and normally looks like this below. It isn’t difficult to blow out the usual tree sticks & leaves that fall in normal times, but this next cleanup will be a PITA.

 

Well just invite the neighborhood kids over, hire them to clean it up, and then yell at them to get off your damn rocks, I mean yard. 

[Armybrat 40646]

Nah, that’s what grandsons are for.

[ROFL BOX 6644]

5 hours ago, Nueces River Rat said:

poor

*pour

[ROFL BOX 6644]

5 hours ago, Nueces River Rat said:

Thank God for lawnmower with leaf catchers.   I went over my brown yard just to bag the Live Oak leaves and stopped 20 or so times to empty the bag.  Normally they lose their leaves in March into April and produce the yellow pollen crap that gets all over your car, house, etc.   I guess we get to do this early this year?   

 

12 hours ago, Armybrat said:

Landscaper service trimmed said oaks Saturday...

 

Those shingle don't look like "Painted Desert" to me.

Are you seeing other Roofing Contractors on the downlow?

[Anastasis 23326]

Should I be worried about my oaks.  They don't look happy.