Watering through a Central Texas August without killing the garden
Under stage-three restrictions, when you water matters more than how much. Here is the schedule we actually run on our own maintenance properties.
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Notes from the field
Journal
Seasonal guidance, plant choices, and what we learn on Central Texas properties, written by the crews who do the work.
Eleven native plants that actually survive a Hill Country summer
Not the list the nursery hands you. These are the species we specify repeatedly because we have watched them come through drought, flood, and a hard freeze.
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French drain or dry creek: which one your yard actually needs
They solve different problems, and installing the wrong one is an expensive way to move water six feet and stop.
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What a landscape plan should include before you pay for it
A rendering is not a plan. Here is the checklist we would use if we were the ones hiring a designer.
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Autumn, not spring, is the real planting season here
Everything about a Central Texas climate argues for planting in October. Almost everyone plants in April anyway.
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Lighting a garden without turning it into a car park
Good landscape lighting is mostly about what you leave dark. A few principles that separate an atmospheric garden from a floodlit one.
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