Shade from your Texas sun will be a MUST for all of your small
trees. Even if they didn't dry out, the summer sun could heat up
the pots so badly that you would cook the roots -- and if the
roots were damp, you'd par-boil them. Last year, our club's
April show was held in sunny 90-plus-degree weather. It is
always outdoors (alas) and trees in dark pots really suffered. I
had a bald cypress grove there and I blame the loss of three
trees over the winter on that early exposure to heat.

Hope this helps.

Jim Lewis

On the subject of cooking your roots:

On a trip to visit Nick Lenz with our club, I noticed pieces of wooden boards propped up against all the pots in his collection of trees. When asked what they were for, Nick said to protect the pots from the sun. I thought then that it was a good idea.
This way if you wanted the tree to get sun but didn't want the pot to heat up you could just shade the pot. I realize this would not be good at an exhibit when on display but it should work good for any tree in your yard no matter what the size.

Len

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