If you happen to live on a lot with deep, acidic soil, you can actually get Loblolly pines to grow pretty well in Austin.
Anywhere along the river can typically support them.
There used to be a really nice one at my mom's hair salon at 34th and Guadalupe. I saw it last year and it looked like it was dying from drought sadly.
There's also a whole grove of them at Greenlee and St. Anthony in 78703.
Loblolly pines are actually incredible trees. The word "Loblolly" actually means a marsh, or a swampy pit. The native habitat of these trees tend to be lower, wet areas. They have now been cultivated and genetically modified to grow extremely quickly and on a wide variety of sites.
The Bastrop "Lost Pines" are also pretty interesting. They are a distinct provenance of Loblolly pine that need significantly less water than their East Texas counterparts. While they are more drought tolerant, they are probably LESS tolerant of a long period over-saturated soil than their East Texas cousins. They won't grow as fast, but they are more likely to survive the significantly less rainfall amounts that we receive here.
by austintreeamigos
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