Last reviewed September 2026
Know your ground before you buy a single plant
Austin is really two growing regions inside one city, and the line between them decides most of what follows. Dig a hole a foot deep, fill it with water, and time it.
- Drains in under two hours: thin soil over limestone caliche. Common west of Mopac and out through Lakeway, Bee Cave, Dripping Springs and Spicewood. Alkaline, fast draining, tough on anything that wants rich soil.
- Still holding water after six hours: Blackland clay. Common east of Interstate 35 and out through Manor, Elgin, Pflugerville and Hutto. It swells in spring, cracks open in August, and drowns plants that need sharp drainage.
- Somewhere between: much of Round Rock, Cedar Park and Georgetown sits on shallow clay over rock, so plan for both extremes.
- Amend with compost, never sand. Sand mixed into clay sets up close to concrete.
The palette, by the job each plant does
A bed that holds up has four layers: structure that stays green, color that carries the season, grasses for movement, and shade for the long run. We pick from these.
| Layer | What we plant | Conditions it wants |
|---|---|---|
| Evergreen structure | Texas mountain laurel, cenizo, evergreen sumac, agarita, yaupon holly, dwarf wax myrtle | Full to part sun, sharp drainage, almost no summer water once rooted |
| Season-long color | Autumn sage (Salvia greggii), Turk's cap, flame acanthus, blackfoot daisy, damianita, rock rose, four-nerve daisy, mealy blue sage, fall aster | Sun for most, Turk's cap and rock rose take the shade under live oaks |
| Pollinator and monarch plants | Gregg's mistflower, purple coneflower, antelope horns and green milkweed, frostweed, zexmenia | Full sun, no pesticides, left standing into fall for seed and shelter |
| Grasses for movement | Little bluestem, Gulf muhly, Lindheimer muhly, sideoats grama, inland sea oats | Sun for all but inland sea oats, which is our go-to for dry shade |
| Understory and small trees | Mexican buckeye, Mexican plum, Texas persimmon, possumhaw holly, American beautyberry | Part sun, good drainage, room to reach mature width |
| Shade for the next generation | Bur oak, chinquapin oak, cedar elm, Texas red oak, bald cypress in damp low spots | Deep planting hole, wide mulch ring, patient watering for two full years |
This is a working list, not a catalog. We match the final selection to your light, soil, slope, drainage and how much maintenance you actually want to do.
How we plant, step by step
- Dig the hole twice as wide as the pot and no deeper. The top of the root ball sits slightly proud of grade so it does not settle into a bowl.
- Loosen the roots. Pot-bound roots left circling will strangle the plant years later.
- Backfill with the native soil plus a modest amount of compost. A rich pocket in poor ground keeps roots from ever leaving the hole.
- Build a shallow water ring, then soak until the whole root ball is saturated, not sprinkled.
- Mulch three inches deep and pull it back a hand's width from every stem and trunk.
- Water deeply twice a week for the first summer, weekly in the second, then only in drought.
The Central Texas planting calendar
| Window | What to do |
|---|---|
| October to early December | Best window of the year. Roots establish all winter before the first heat. |
| Late February to March | Second window, plus the annual cutback of grasses and perennials to a few inches. |
| April to May | Top mulch back up to three inches before the heat arrives. |
| June to September | Water what is already in the ground. Avoid new installs and hard pruning. |
| Late September to October | Sow wildflower and bluebonnet seed on bare, scratched soil. |
What we avoid, and what we remove
- Nandina, ligustrum, chinaberry and Chinese tallow. Invasive here, and nandina berries are toxic to birds.
- Bermuda grass creeping into new beds. We edge deep and steel-edge where it borders turf.
- Anything sold as Texas native without a region. West Texas and East Texas natives often fail on Austin clay.
- Sheared shrub balls. This palette looks right when it is allowed to keep its natural form.
- Spray irrigation left on a lawn schedule after the lawn is gone. Native beds drown on turf timers.
Keep reading
Pair this with our planting list by sun and soil and the Austin xeriscaping guide, or see where we work on the areas we serve page.
Common questions
Can I ask for specific plants from your palette?
Yes. Bring us a list and we will tell you honestly which ones will hold up in your light and soil and which ones will struggle. If a plant you love is wrong for the spot, we will suggest the closest native that will live.
Where do the plants come from?
We source from Central Texas growers so the stock is already hardened off to our heat and our alkaline water. Plants trucked in from a wetter region often look perfect in the pot and fail in their first August.
How much water does a new native bed need?
Deep soakings roughly twice a week through the first summer, then taper through the second year. After that most of this palette needs water only in extended drought. Check the current Austin Water watering stage before you set a schedule.
Will a native bed look bare in winter?
Not if it is layered. We keep evergreen structure in every design, cenizo, yaupon, evergreen sumac, agarita, so the bed still reads as intentional in January while the grasses and perennials are cut back.
Do you install native beds on free yard restorations too?
Yes, at a smaller scale. Net profit from paid installs funds the free work, and those yards get a low-water pocket planting so the family is not left with something that needs constant care.