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Texas Gardening

Dallas Landscaping Advice

8 years ago

I live in north Dallas. My house is very formal, pink brick with stone accented arches, large windows, and some nice brickwork mostly obscured by the current landscaping. The front faces west. We have ugly box hedges with bare areas and gigantic overgrown hollies. There's a cypress at each end of the house and a crepe myrtle in the center. I want to tear out everything but the cypresses and crepe myrtle, but I don't know what to replace it with. I want something low maintenance that will look good year round that can take both the harsh summer Texas sun and can survive or come back from the short periods of freeze. I'd also like various plants that flower at different times of year. The beds are 6-8 feet from the house to the edging stones (rough cut stacked white marble) with irrigation and good drainage. Based on the house, I need something fairly formal that won't obscure the architecture too much. Climbing flowering vines could work in some spots, but with the size of the beds I need something more. Any suggestions or ideas?

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Comments (5)

bostedo: 8a tx-bp-dfw
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
There's a portfolio of border/island bed designs in Greg Grant's Texas Home Landscaping that I've found a helpful source of ideas. Bookfinder.com should be able to locate some copies for less than $5 delivered.

Edit: My '04 version is titled Home Landscaping: Texas - good to see this fixed on newer editions.
User
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
My favorite shrubs are dwarf Yaupon Hollies. I love everything about them: evergreen, very drought-tolerant, aren't messy.....and depending on where they're planted, never need pruning (but are very easy to shape for more formal plantings). They can take our Texas conditions better than anything I've ever grown. If you're wanting a layered look, other dwarf shrubs could be planted in front of the Yaupons (or whatever), such as dwarf Nandina varieties (which have nice red winter color).

For flowering plants, there are many possibilities. Lantana is wonderful and hardy, Daylilies, Mexican Heather, too many varieties of Salvia to list (and some will flower all summer, some in the fall), and on and on.

Another great resource is to find an established nursery in your area, and get suggestions from them. Take pictures to show what look you're after. I also like books by Howard Garrett, Neil Sperry, and the one bostedo mentioned.

It might be worthwhile, if you're still undecided at some point, to hire a professional landscape company for more advice.
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James
8 years ago
you could add miniature crape myrtles, supposedly average 1-3 feet tall, would give you some color choices.
water0125
8 years ago
We have a climbing yellow rose (yellow lady banks, I think). I am in FW. It has been evergreen for us. It puts on a lovely show of yellow at the beginning of spring, before anything else starts flowering. It does need some regular chopping, to keep it from climbing everywhere, but I think that its worth it!
Gretchen W.
8 years ago
I have miniature crepe myrtles that are with some taller crepe myrtles and even a couple that started from seed. I belong to a Meet Up group called Denton County Gardening (You don't need to Live in Denton County to join.)

Every year we have plant swaps - no money is ever exchanged & it is a chance to meet many gardening folks in and around the DFW metro plex and save money by exchanging plants.

Besides lantana that is very heat hardy their is coneflowers that love the TX heat and don't need lots of water.

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