Salt Cedar Trees

The Salt Cedar or Tamarix, is probably one of the most undesirable trees in the desert Southwest.

We are including in our list because some people may actually like it and the tree can be found in many landscapes around Las Cruces, NM.

The Salt Cedar tree grows to about 20 feet high with wispy branches and leaves, the branches being attractive to nesting birds.

The flowers are the best part of this tree, they are a feathery pinkish color and really very pretty. Some people may beg to differ on the flowers, as they are high pollen producers and very allergenic.

Now comes the bad part, the Salt Cedar tree can take-up over 200 gallons of water per day and the leaves that it sheds contain so much salt that they actually sterilize the soil beneath it, preventing other plants from growing.

They are very hard to get rid of once established, so if a volunteer Salt Cedar has popped up in your garden, you had better pull it up soon!