It's been cold in Austin lately (relatively speaking), and the trees show it. The dry year has led to some unusually colorful leaves on lots of trees. As always, the standout reds come from Flameleaf Sumac (Rhus lanceolata) and, sadly, the highly invasive Chinese Tallows (Triadica sebifera) that seem to be everywhere. The Shumard Oaks (Quercus shumardii) tend more to burgundy or even just brown, but they still manage to stand out. The Spanish Oaks (Q. texana) are similar, though they sometimes turn more red. Yellows dominate here. The Cedar Elms (Ulmus crassifolia) started early, so most have lost their leaves now, but the Pecans (Carya illinoensis) are going strong. Some are a rich orange-yellow, but the pale yellows are more common.

If you have oaks in Austin, this is the time to be pruning. The trees are mostly dormant, so they will be less stressed by lost foliage. We also have to consider the risk of Oak Wilt (Ceratocystis fagacaerum) infection. In the cold weather, the fungus will not be producing spores, and the insect vectors are inactive. We still dress wounds in case we see one of the warms spells that always seem to be right around the corner--indeed, the forecast calls for mild-to-warm temperatures over the next few days. If you are worried about the potential for a December outbreak, plan to prune the oaks next summer.

The mild weather also makes this a good time for planting trees here. Though nothern climates would likely kill a new transplant, our warmer winters allow roots to spread into the native soil before the heat of summer (which can come as early as March here). Spring planting here means pouring on tons of water and still risking the loss of your new trees. Get digging!

Yesterday I pruned two large Catalpas (Catalpa bignonioides). We don't have many around here, so this is maybe the third or fourth time in 15 years that I've climbed one. These had lost all their leaves, but the long, bean-like seed pods made it easy to see most of the live branches. I still had to do the old thumbnail test on a few to make sure I didn't remove too much live tissue. I was very impressed with these trees. Though my Silky saw ripped through the wood like it was paper, my attempts to simply break off dead branches were not very successful. Even though my tie-in point was in a smallish, very flexible branch, I quickly got over any concerns that the tree would fail on me. The aroma of the cut wood was very distinctive, and I enjoyed it when the wind wasn't blowing sawdust into my nose and eyes during the cuts. Still, these trees were assholes! Starting with rope installation, my first throw missed the mark and caught on a 1/2-inch branch with a tight crotch; I tried to pull it out and promptly wedged the throwbag in so tightly that I had to use the other end of the line. No amount of tugging was going to break that twig (see above)! Once I got into the trees, they poked me, tangled my ropes, grabbed my carabiners to make recrotching almost impossible, and caught every branch I dropped before it could reach the ground, so I had to fetch them and refetch them as I descended through the canopy. I finally finished with a begrudging respect for a species that I hope not to encounter that closely in future. Next time, I send one of the boys.

All of this was made worse by the cold snap. We Texans, especially south of Waco, don't see enough freezing weather (or even sub-40, as we had this day) to be good at dealing with it. I have learned over the years to dress in many layers, but I forget some details over the 9-month summer, so my bottom layer on this day was a cotton union suit. Cute pajamas, maybe, but lousy insulator. I'm committed to man-made fibers now (until next winter, anyway). At one point, I was on the ground between trees, and had to resist the urge to bury myself in the client's leaf pile to warm up. As always, the best cure for cold turned out to be getting back to work.

As I will now.