Several disaster relief events have been announced across the Greater Houston area in response to Hurricane Beryl.
In the wake of Hurricane Beryl, which caused an estimated $28 billion-$32 billion in damage in the U.S., small businesses and aid organizations are working to accelerate recovery efforts.
We get questions from time to time regarding how to handle or what to do with a damaged tree. “Should I cut it down? What can I do to save the tree?” I ran across a publication that our Texas Extension Disaster Education Network (EDEN) published. It was a publication called the “Tree Care Kit”. I hope the following information will help you assess a trees properly before writing off a damaged tree as a “goner.” Homeowners should evaluate their trees by asking the following questions:
• Other than the storm damage, is the tree basically healthy and vigorous? If the tree is basically healthy, is not creating a hazard, and did not suffer major structural damage, it will generally recover if first aid measures are applied immediately after the storm.• Are major limbs broken? The larger a broken limb is, the harder it will be for the tree to recover from the damage. If most of the main branches are gone, the tree may have little chance of surviving.• Has the leader (the main upward-trending branch on most trees) been lost? In species where a leader is important to upward growth or a desirable appearance, saving the tree may have to be a judgment call. The tree may live without its leader, but at best it would be a stunted or deformed version of the original.• Is at least 50 percent of the tree’s crown (branches and leaves) still intact? This is a good rule of thumb on tree survivability. A tree with less than half of its branches remaining may not be able to produce enough foliage to nourish the tree through another season.• How big are the wounds where branches have been broken or bark has been damaged? The larger the wound is in relation to the size of the limb, the less likely it is to heal, leaving the tree vulnerable to disease and pests. A 2- to 3-inch wound on a 12-inch diameter limb will seal over with new bark within a couple of years.• Are there remaining branches that can form a new branch structure? The remaining limbs will grow more vigorously as the tree tries to replace its missing foliage. Look to see if there are branches that can eventually fill out the tree’s appearance.• Is the tree of a desirable species for its location? If the tree is in the wrong location (such as a potentially tall tree beneath a power line) or is an undesirable species for the property (messy fruit, etc.), it may be best to remove it if it has serious damage.
Then, make the decision
In general, the answer as to what to do about a particular tree will fall into one of three categories:
1. It’s a Keeper If damage is relatively slight, prune any broken branches, repair torn bark or rough edges around wounds, and let the tree begin the process of wound repair.2. Wait and See If a valuable tree appears to be a borderline case, resist the temptation to simply cut the tree down and be done with it. It may be best to stand back for a while and think it over. Remember that time is on your side. After careful pruning of broken branches, give the tree some time to recover. A final decision can be made later.An Easy Call: A mature shade tree can usually survive the loss of one major limb. The broken branch should be pruned back to the trunk. In the months that follow, large wounds should be closely monitored for signs of decay.Minor Damage: Although the tree has been damaged, enough strong limbs may remain on a basically healthy tree to make saving it possible.Too Young to Die: Young trees can sustain quite a bit of damage and still recover quickly. If the leader is intact and the structure for future branching remains, remove the damaged limbs and allow the tree to recover.Easy Does It: Resist the temptation to prune too heavily. Remember that the tree will need all the foliage it can produce in order to make it through the next growing season. Remove only the damaged limbs, then wait and see what happens.Hold Off: A healthy, mature tree can recover even when several major limbs are damaged. With large trees, a professional arborist should be brought in to assess damage and to safely accomplish needed pruning and branch removal.3. Say Goodbye Some trees simply can’t be saved or are not worth saving. If the tree has already been weakened by disease, if the trunk is split, or if more than 50 percent of the crown is gone, the tree has lost its survival edge.
Don’t Try to Do It All Alone: Some of your trees may have damage that’s too close to call, or they may have hidden damage. If that is the case, you’ll need a tree professional to help you decide what to do. Don’t hire just anyone who shows up at your door. Tree Tragedy: This otherwise healthy young tree has lost too much of its crown-the leafy head that is vital for survival. It will probably not be able to grow enough new branches and leaves to provide needed nourishment and will never be able to regain its former beautiful shape.Hopeless Case: About all that’s left of this tree is its trunk. The few remaining branches can’t provide enough foliage to enable the tree to make it through another growing season.
Farewell to a Friend: A rotten inner core in the trunk or structural weakness in branching patterns can cause a split trunk-the tree equivalent of a heart attack. The wounds are too large to ever mend, and the tree has lost its sap lifeline between roots and leaves. This tree is all but dead.Hope this will help you make a more informed decision regarding damaged trees.
Don’t forget to send your garden questions to Plant Answers at 9020 Airport Rd., Conroe TX 77303 or e-mail me at mpotter@ag.tamu.edu. You can also contact our Master Gardener Help line at 936-539-7824.
On Saturday mornings when Carolyn Meadows Walker opens the front door of the Heritage Museum of Montgomery County to start her docent shift for the day, she is literally at home in the space.
Since 1986, the county’s local Heritage Museum has been housed in the 1924 Grogan-Cochran Home in Conroe’s Candy Cane Park. It’s also the home where Walker, now 80, was brought as a newborn after her birth at the Conroe hospital in 1944.
She lived with her grandmother in the house as a teen and for 10 years it was her home with her own family before the family donated the house for use as a museum.
“I just love it. I go around (in volunteer work) flooded with memories,” she said.
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Grogan-Cochran home’s original owner
The Grogan-Cochran Home was built in 1924 by James G. Grogan Sr., who was prominent in the lumber industry at that time, according to historical marker text on the home.
The house was constructed with wooden shiplap walls and floors from local pine produced at the Grogan-Cochran Lumber Co., sawmill. The house was originally located near downtown Conroe at 615 North Thompson Street.
In 1934, Grogan sold the house to his oldest sister, Laura Grogan Cochran and her husband T.M. Cochran for their family. Over the years, it became known as the “Cochran home” as several generations of Cochrans lived there and many Cochran family events like holiday meals, weddings and parties took place there.
Laura and T.M. were Walker’s great-grandparents. Her grandparents Virgil C. Cochran and his wife, Lucille, later lived in the home.
A grandmother’s influence
When Walker was born, she and her mother came back to the Cochran home to recuperate before returning to Falfurrias where her father’s job was at the time.
“The family came to visit me (a newborn) there. It was enough to make mother homesick (for Conroe) and she told my father ‘get us home,'” she said. Her family returned to Conroe and they lived there while looking for a home in Conroe.
Later as a teen, she lived with her widowed grandmother who had a major impact on her youth. Walker’s graduation party took place there and while she always wanted her wedding reception there, it was not to be as her grandmother passed prior to her wedding day.
From roughly 1975 to 1985, Walker lived there with husband and young son.
‘Seeing memories everywhere’
She feels fortunate that each museum director has allowed her to continue to volunteer there and share stories of her family home with visitors.
The home’s interior has a long hall down the center with rooms on either side. As a girl staying with her grandmother, the hall was never heated. She remembers running from the rooms down the hall to the kitchen quickly to stay warm. She also has fond memories of her son riding his little tricycle up and down the hall as a boy.
What is now Gallery I was a bedroom and as a girl it would bother Walker that she could hear people who were trespassing at the community pool at night as she was trying to sleep.
It was also her job to decorate the Christmas tree which went in the front corner of what is now Gallery II.
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A keeper of history
As volunteers were looking for a spot to place a new heritage museum for the county in the mid-1980s, Walker decided to donate the house for the cause. In 1985, it was moved from North Thompson Street to Candy Cane Park a few miles away.
“The house looked it and felt it (like a museum),” Walker said of her reason for donating the home.
In a 2015 article in The Courier, JoCarol Oberman, past president of the Heritage Museum Board, recalls the moving of the house took place in the fall of 1985 and took the better part of a day.
The home was split in two to be moved and the highest part of the roof was taken off.
Oberman remembered it was quite a spectacle that day in town as roads had to be closed and power lines lifted.
Even though Walker agreed to the house being moved, she said it was “heartbreaking” seeing her beloved home cut in two halves.
Seeing the house being moved she questioned “What have I done?” The relocated home opened as the museum in early 1986. In 2015, the Strake-Gray Home and small roughneck houses were moved to Candy Cane Park and became a part of the complex.
Celebrating 100 years
Museum staff members are celebrating the centennial anniversary of the house this year. Joe Kolb, who is an artist and museum volunteer, has created a line of keepsake items available at the museum’s gift shop commemorating the milestone.
In addition to displaying Montgomery County historical items, the museum also hosts programs throughout the year. Next up is a children’s rock painting program on Aug. 3.
Programs geared for adults will return in September. Current temporary exhibits at the museum feature the history of the Conroe Lake Conroe Chamber of Commerce and the Rotary Club of Conroe.
In the aftermath of Hurricane Beryl, Conroe ISD is looking at the possibility of requesting Federal Emergency Management Agency assistance due to the estimated $1 million in damage from the storm.
The average single-family home rent price hit a record high of $2,373 in June.
From school supplies and backpack giveaways to free heath screenings, there are plenty of events happening across the Greater Houston area to get students ready for the 2024-25 school year.
While home sales in the Houston area slowed, it coincided with an increase in available homes.
Airbnb.org announced plans July 18 to provide free temporary housing for Houstonians displaced by Hurricane Beryl in partnership with nonprofits Alexander JFS and Tejano Center for Community Concerns.
A new mural in downtown Montgomery aims to highlight the history of the rapidly growing city.
Montgomery’s history dates back to the 1800s and a livery stable would have been seen in the city’s downtown, historians say.
After getting three livery tokens discovered near their property, Anthony and Rebecca Noreiga of Texas and Beyond and North Houston Art Gallery commissioned a mural to commemorate the history of the building that once served visitors conducting business at the former courthouse or shopping in town.
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The mural — displayed on a wall of the North Houston Art Gallery off Liberty Street — depicts two men, one who works at the stable and the other dropping off his horse. In the background, “Easter eggs” are scattered all across the mural that showcases Montgomery’s history, such as the Texas flag, the old Methodist Church and the famous goat that would hang around town begging for water.
But as the star of the mural, the stable stands above everything else.
Rebecca Noreiga said commissioning the mural was a way to preserve history. “We want folks to come down and appreciate it,” she said.
Learning about local history
When the Noreigas first moved into the downtown area, they inherited three livery tokens.
Brothers Billy Ray and Donald Duncan found the tokens in the early 1990s after doing some metal detecting near the property across from the N.H. Davis Pioneer Complex and Museum.
In the 1800s a livery was a stable where horse owners paid a weekly or monthly fee to keep their horses. Montgomery’s history dates back to 1837 and a livery stable would have been common in the city’s early history.
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The Duncan brothers have been prospecting in the historic city for decades. In 1994, on what was then a vacant lot across from the museum, they found these three tokens with the numbers 19, 18 and 4.
On finding them, Billy Ray said he thought they were probably livery claim checks because they knew there had been a livery stable in the area due to historic records.
The tokens were used to claim the owner’s horse that was staying there.
Mural serves as inspiration
Local artist Amy McCain grew up in Montgomery, which made her feel that she was a good candidate to paint the mural. After being commissioned, it took her about three weeks in May to finish the mural, she said.
Prior to the Montgomery mural, she was commissioned to paint a mural that depicted Conroe in 1942. Being a part of Montgomery’s history is something that she loved about painting the mural.
“I think it’s really fun to be a part of, because my grandfather grew up in one of those houses in the Historic District,” McCain said. “It just makes me feel proud to contribute. I think it’s really great that (the Noreigas) are keeping the history of Montgomery going.”
Working on the mural has already inspired her, she said.
“It was kind of an eye opener for me,” McCain said. “It makes me feel like I just want to get more involved.”
Visitors and residents of the city are encouraged to view the mural and take pictures.
The Noreigas have owned the property at 14259 Liberty St. since 2022. The property was previously Pecan Hill Florist.