Opinions please. So are they trash and all should be removed? Is leaving a few a good idea? We have been living at our home on the North end of Ray Roberts now about 6 years. I have thinned some out around the big oaks but have more and thinking about taking them all down. I do like the green and privacy aspect of them during the winter and they seem to be native to the area but they sure are dusty and pollen and all of that junk...

Most people select the female trees to save which drop a blue berry and not pollen.

A cedar will make a nice tree if trimmed up and taken care of.

I hate every one, but do realize that they can provide needed privacy from roads, neighbors, etcetera. Heck, you can even trim some big ones up to make a decent shade tree that doesn't look half-bad, if that's all there is in the area. As far as wildlife goes, they do provide thermal cover that is vital in a serious, deep freeze. No cover on the "look at me" ranches by Mountain Home are why so many axis died in the big freeze recently. (On the flip side, in a Texas summer, a big, open area with some sporadic shade can help animals keep cool, catch a breeze, and not be so heat stressed.)

I like mine.

During the Big Chill a couple years ago, the only ground not covered by ice and snow were under our cedar trees in the front pasture. The deer would feed on grass there.

Nothing wrong with eliminating the pollinators but they are very hearty, healthy, native trees that will always do well here. Great for screens and privacy.
I have a lot of them on my place along with many other native species. I don't cut any down unless needed.

Without cedar out deer would not survive the winter. Can be up to 25 degrees warmer under thick canopy on cold winter nights..

It’s a personal choice and they do provide great privacy but I’d remove all of them around any hardwoods and leave some on the boundary lines. Me and cedars have a love hate relationship and when I pass by one I tend to make it disappear more times than not if I’m on a piece of equipment.

Lots of them around here (Fairfield) are dying….very large to very small and everything in between. I have several on our 5+ acres that I have to cut down.

I would only leave them, if they provided privacy from neighbors or the general public.

Inside my perimeter, they've all been cut down.

In dry country, they drink way too much water, that could be going to better trees. My friend that has a ranch in Sanderson, TX (10 sections) wants them all gone for the water usage reasoning.

I have lost a lot of cedar in the past 2 years, I’m assuming due to drought.

Oaks have faired decent although the freeze got some.

I just manage mine, tag and cut down the males and plant oaks among them. Great tree for a privacy screen year around. You don't want them too close to structures due to the fire hazard, they are like gasoline when dry.

I've been playing around with wood from limbs that sweep to the ground and are even buried. That wood is much harder than most, wonder if it would make good knife handles or the like.

I get the cover part, but I absolutely hate them.

Akin to trans participation in female sports, crippling inflation & an uncontrolled border, I cannot believe we are even having this discussion. Some of youins must have something different from the Mountain Junipers we get to "enjoy here in the Hill Country.

A few of the ones on our property are dead in the last couple of years as well I assume from the drought. Those have been and are coming down for sure...

They do have a few (very few) good properties. I'd love to get rid of about 90% of the ones on my place.

So far on my ranch I have no trannies, no illegal aliens and the only large cost increases have been insurance premiums. I do have plenty of cedars though.

In Oklahoma it's an invasive species and on my place they get removed.
Has Ol Thumper out for 1.5 days with equipment and Bushwackers for 4 days grinding cedar trees. There is ground here that hasent seen sunlight in years, but now it's growing grass and hardwood trees.
I love the new look and so do the deer & turkey.

Same here.

I just transplanted some for screening.

A cedar will use up to 13 gallons of water a day and when you have a dozen around an oak tree, it will eventually die. About the only thing they're good for is a good solid corner post and stays. My grandfather was a rancher and he hated cedars. If you didn't control cedars they would take over a pasture in no time and it would be useless for grazing cattle. When we worked cattle we did the majority of it on horseback. Trying to flush a dozen head out of a cedar thicket is next to impossible. If we did get them out, both cowboy and horse would be blooded up. Some people learned how to cuss in the military, I had it down to an art by then. It's the only way we could make it out is follow the cussing chousing cows. My grandfather would burn pear sometimes during hard times. While burning pear, if he came up on a cedar that was 3 ft or less he'd burn it. They are very susceptible to fire. There is one more use, we always had one as a Christmas tree every year. Too poor for a regular tree and an artificial just didn't seem right.

It's nice when you're driving west ino the Trans Pecos and the cedar trees stop.

They are essential to a balanced wildlife habitat. They are like most things. Too much isn’t good and not enough isn’t either. I make them work well on my property by thinning out the thickets and trimming up the ones I keep. I have an abundance of hard wood as well and there are trade offs to both. If you enjoy bird life and deer both species need cedar different times of the year.

Love or hate?
I never thought of it, but I do know I hate crape myrtals!

As for cedar, I love the way they look!

Cedar wood makes GREAT GUITARS!

...!

Cedar is the spawn of Hades, God invented fire just for cedar control, Now people fear fire and the spawn is sucking the soil dry

I've been told the Comanche would light fires in the Hill Country right before they headed back north for the year. When I hunted Mozambique, we would stop and just light some grass on fire to improve it for future hunts.

Fire keeps things "in balance."