Best Trees to Plant in Baytown, TX Yards
Pick the right tree and it shades your Baytown home for 50 years. Pick the wrong one and you spend a decade fighting it.
Overview
A well-chosen tree is the highest-impact long-term landscape investment a Baytown homeowner can make. Here is what we plant and what we avoid.
Live oak (the gold standard)
Long-lived, hurricane-tolerant when properly trimmed, and the iconic Baytown shade tree. Plant 25 feet from any structure for the long haul.
Cedar elm (fast and tough)
Native, fast-growing, drought-tolerant, and great for difficult Baytown soils. A solid live-oak alternative for smaller lots.
Crape myrtle (color and structure)
Compact, summer-blooming, and almost impossible to kill in Baytown. Avoid the dreaded "crape murder" topping cuts every winter.
Avoid these in Baytown
Bradford pears (split in storms), silver maples (weak wood, invasive roots), and Arizona ash (short-lived). All cause more problems than they solve.
Local resources for Baytown, TX
Helpful authoritative resources for Baytown, TX residents and property owners.