Responsible Homeowners Adapt to the Hill Country

Just as in many other areas of life, planning is the key to success in landscaping. Rarely has this been more true than in the Texas Hill Country, where changing conditions are forcing many people to rethink their ideas about maintaining the land they own.

Unstoppable Changes

Two unstoppable changes are coming to the Texas Hill Country. First, the population is changing. More of our residents are not earning a living from farming and ranching, but instead retiring here or living here to work in other areas. With a lot of these folks come ideas they may have brought from elsewhere—ideas like large St. Augustine front lawns. St. Augustine grass has many advantages in a southern climate, but it is very thirsty. It is a real struggle to keep it alive in the Hill Country through August every year.

Secondly, the population is growing. The early settlers here relied on rainwater stored in cisterns and were very cautious with their water usage. Wells and pumps have greatly improved that early situation, but groundwater is not a limitless resource. Aquifers have been and can be depleted. Many homeowners here have experienced a well going dry.

As these two changes continue to take place, scarce water will force changes. For some, the changes will be involuntary and unpleasant. Communities like Fredericksburg regularly impose watering restrictions to conserve water resources during the summer. Folks who have put in expensive lawns have had to choose between letting their landscape investment go brown or face considerable fines and the irritation of their neighbors.

Still others have adapted. Xeriscaping is not an “all or nothing” choice. For many, it has meant small changes like mulching around trees, reducing turf areas and moving to drought-resistant plants. People building new homes have had the option of starting with the environment in mind, put in native grasses, and have been rewarded with great looking property that still looks great after a hot, dry summer.

While there are as many solutions as there are homes, success in adaption does have one common thread: a plan. Planning to adapt costs little and provides a roadmap to beautiful property that is also responsible and maintainable.

We’re the xeriscape guys. We want to tell you more.

Drought Alert!

You’re in your shower in the morning and all of a sudden there are air bubbles in the water. With a sinking feeling, you start to realize that your well is running dry.

Ever since settlers first moved to the Texas Hill Country, people have been anxiously looking at the sky and hoping for rain. Even annual rainfall amounts are deceiving. We might get 12 inches in a week of rainstorms followed by six weeks of hot, dry weather.

In 2007, we had a beautiful growing season that only happens once in a few decades. Open fields were green from May all the way into September. It’s great when it happens. In 2008, though, there was no significant rain from May until October. All the vegetation that wasn’t heavily watered went from brown, to crunchy brown, to grey.

The plants that grow here naturally have adapted to the changing conditions. It is amazing to take a country drive just days after a rain shower. Fields that were brown a week ago are green and lush looking, because the plants are adapted to quickly and efficiently use any water that they’re given.

The idea of xeriscaping is to take advantage of plants with this ability. The Greek word xeros means “dry,” and the idea of xeriscaping is landscaping that can survive and look great even when water is scarce.

No landscape will look its best in an extended period of drought. On the other hand, there are some landscape investments that are lost for good when it gets dry, and others that spring back as soon as the rain comes again. Which kind do you want?