I know everyone says it but go to your extension agency and ask them for the best trees for your area.

Consider whether deer love it. You could spend a fortune only to hv $&@#% deer absolutely destroy it.

+Sit back, relax, buy some books and start talking about what you want your garden to do for you. Are you a Vegetable gardener, want a swimming pool, orchard, wildflower meadow.. There is a great book called The American Meadow by John Greenlee. I could see developing Swaths of larger grasses combined with dark green sedges and wildflowers.

I garden on 17 acres and it is TOTALLY different than gardening a lot.. Most of it , I have left wild and I manage the wildness. I have developed view lines from where I spend most of my time. I play with dimension and emphasize the stages. I create separate rooms in my mind. barriers are for piercing but create great privacy. The farther away, the larger the planting. small details are for by the house, pathways or where you spend time. I'd take it a bit at a time. I have been working on my cactus garden last year. This year I am working on a stone wall , but I am starting a bunch of wild grasses for plugs for next years project. You need to ask are you going to mow this place or are you going to get grasses that need no mowing OR WATERING. When one works on a large garden, one always has to think of how one will do this and keep it. Mowed areas must be defined apart from un-mowed areas. I go for the wild look and I love my short grass prairie grasses. I am lazy. I don't own a mower. Is there a HOA with expectations? My type of garden really pisses them off.

There is so much to think about with an blank slate like this. Keep it this way for a year and see what comes up and do your research. Maybe there are some surprises under that dirt.

In east Texas I would look for forestry land owned by a papermill and

Collect shrubs and small trees, not the pine trees they planted. Trees like yaupon holly and other.

Would also till an area and plant sunflowers. Then another area till and

Plant Crimson clover. Redbuds are native to parts of Texas and of course

Dogwoods. Your neighbors may have tree seedlings to share. Native dewberries attract birds too. Native black cherries, and mulberries are favorites of the birds.

I would not mow, just wait and see what the Brits plant for you.

Jo

That was to be wait and see what the birds plant for you.

Where are you located approximately ,Zonally and what type of soil do you have. I could see red clover and other flowers in swaths in your meadow and some surprise lilies and rain lilies popping up through the field of green.

Lots of options but you need to tell us where you live so we'd have a better idea of what trees will thrive. If you want fall colors, there are some tough maples to try. I'd also try out some fruit trees. Fast growing trees like Montezuma cypress and Mexican White Oak (alternative to Live Oak).

I think he is between Houston and Galveston. He has lots of green grass.

He might like pyracanthias too they grow fast and will feed the birds. Rain lilies and blue eyed grass. A few long leaf pines and a tulip tree or two.

Don't you love auto correct! You can edit these entries . look to the upper right above the entry. I have to do it all the time and I still miss mistakes.

I guess with those types of low and dangerous wildlife, I would want to keep my tall grasses out of my people areas. You have different problems from me. I am in short grass prairie and far from any real water. I don't see why you can't put grass over a gas line. They just might tear it up and don't dig too deep. I use small plugs to plant and then let them grow.