I am on rock and no dirt too, and I am always bring the stuff in. I am not familiar with Gardenvilloes dillo dirt. Some people don't like it because they say it has some heaVY metals in the sewer sludge. I do not know if that is true or hearsay. For the natives I like a dirt put out by Geo Growers in Dripping springs that is comprised of a washed decomposed granite and compost. It is leaner than the normal garden dirt. One can make it by mixing a washed granite sand into regular garden dirt. But the garden dirt I use for salvias

Plants that I recommend for little watering are Mexican oregano!!!!!!, Salvia regla, Salvia melissodora, salvia gregg 'Pink Preference', Ageratina havenese. The copper canyon daisy might like to be in dirt and not a pot. Is this full sun, part shade? which way are you facing North west east, south?

What kind of look are you going for?

The beds face are directly facing south. The look I am going for is "less rock, more green." Seriously.

I have used dillodirt to top dress a lawn. It may be too much for an entire planting bed, though would be good to mix into whatever you get. If you are going for native plants, they usually don't want a super rich soil

Do not use dillo dirt. It is made from sewage. Go with actual soil and probably some compost. Geogrowers in Dripping Springs has been recommended and it's not that far from you. As far as plants, here are the things that have handled the heat: flame acanthus, rosemary, antique roses, gregg's blue mist and iris. Unless you have trees to shade, the plants will have some shade during the summer, none in winter.

Carla

Anyone considering using Dillo Dirt might want to do a little research first.

Thanks for comments on dillo dirt.

YIKES Ragna, The person almost lost a leg rolling from lying on the field at ACL! 9 months of steroid shots. The whole article was amazing. If any one missed it . Its is linked to Ragna's green "Dillo Dirt" above. REALLY worth the gander.

Bringing in dirt from anywhere means bringing in weed seed. The dirt can be sandy, silty or clay, but it will have seed in it. Expect to pull weeds for the first year and possibly more. Many soils (especially clays) in Texas are calcareous, that is derived from limestone, chalk and limey marls. They are naturally high in minerals, but need lots of organic matter to unlock those minerals. This information comes from a book—Gardening Success With Difficult Soils by Scott Ogden. Plan to add composted plant matter and manures to these imported soils. Sandy soils need compost primarily to hold water and nutrients that naturally leach through.

"Garden soils" are mostly composted tree trimmings. In fact, potting and garden soils don't contain soil at all. Even the minerals perlite and vermiculite found in potting soil add no mineral nutrients. The addition of major and minor mineral nutrients is important. Dillo Dirt is a product of Austin's waste recovery efforts that combines sewage sludge with tree and lawn trimmings that are composted together for several months.

In my opinion you should start with real soil and add 20% compost to it—1 container of compost added to 4 containers of soil. Overfill the beds you make, and water them well to settle the soil. It may settle by half over the next year; wait to plant shrubs until the soil level stops radically settling. Expect to top off these beds next year with more compost-enriched soil. Each year after that 1/2 inch of compost should be added as a top dressing to maintain soil fertility.

My advice is long term, because that is, IMO, the better way. Too often people buy plants and bring them home without knowing where to put them. One really should consider what the plants need in the way of water, sunlight, soil and climate before digging a hole and plopping them in.