U Bar U Retreat & Conference Center

According to Sally and Andy Wasowski in their book Native Texas Plants: Landscaping Region by Region, the Edwards Plateau is a:

"…beautifully rugged land with live oaks, Texas (or Spanish) red oaks, Ashe Junipers (which form the eastern cedar brakes), mesquites, and lots of wildflowers.  Curly mesquite grass and buffalo grass abound….In the winter the grasses are a rich gold, the rocks are white, and the junipers, live oaks, and evergreen sumacs, Texas mountain laurels, yuccas, stools, and agaritos are a welcome green.  In the spring there are two waves of color—our famous bluebonnets come first, followed by everything else in reds, pinks, oranges, purples, blues, and whites and dominated by various kinds of yellow daisies."

There is no end to the beauty of our native vegetation at U Bar U.  However, poor grazing practices have divested much of the land of the diversity that wildlife thrive on.  Humans have destroyed predatory populations in favor of grazing animals.  The result is an infestation of cedars that has practically cover the landscape.

Examining the land in the fall discloses that the most diverse oaks run along the ridges: bur oaks, post oaks, Spanish oaks.  The Quakers planned to free these oaks from the live oaks and cedars that are choking them out.  U Bar U is on track to continue this reclamation process.  We will harvest desired seedlings and spread them around to benefit the wildlife and add diversity—and along the way make the view more interesting.