Where are you in Texas? Xeriscape in Houston is very different from xeriscape in San Antonio.😊.

Just outside of Houston in the Katy area. Thx!

First off, adding rocks will only increase your dry heat there. People generally only add rocks in cold hardiness zones to heat up microclimates...but otherwise spend a lot of time removing them!

And also yes, you don't need actual desert plants to xeriscape in Katy!

Mostly native shrubs/bushes like Lynn's Legacy Cenizo, Southern Wax Myrtle, Shrubby St. John's Wort, Feijoa, Hummingbird Bush, Upright Rosemary, etc should all work well there.

Native, heat-resistant, taller shrubs/small trees include Texas Mountain Laurel, Texas Persimmon, Goldenball Leadtree, etc.

And remaining gaps can be filled in with irises and native prairie wildflowers (which usually have rhizomes or grow roots up to 15' deep).

Just try to use at least 80% natives to help support the local ecology, as well as they are all naturally xeriscaped, too!

What a beautiful house! You may want to hire a landscape architect to lay out a plan and then do the planting yourself.

Also consider using crushed granite instead of river rock. I have river rock in San Antonio. After a few years leaves settle in between the rocks making a good medium for sprouting weed seeds. Weed roots go right through landscape fabric; another mistake. Even large nuggets of pine bark mulch is easier to keep weed free than river rock.

Looking forward to reading suggestions and seeing what you decide on. Wishing you well!

If you're thinking gravel mulch is going to save you from weeds, think again. It's not. It's going to save you and any future owner from making changes to whatever plan you install. What a chain around the neck, I think.

Rocks help with drainage. Do you have a lot of clay . If you are wanting too do xeric there you will near to build up mounds of dirt . Yuccado and Peckerwood gardens who are in Hemphill texas ( not far from you) starts their mounds with rock and construction trash like bits of concrete ; river rock and then they do a thick mixture of 1/3 native soil 1/3 decomposed granite; 1/3 compost. and then cover with the 2" of gravel mulch. You should visit Peckerwood gardens to see their choice of plants. This area does get more rain than further west but they get it in huge down pours all at once and then they can get long dry spells and humid heat in-between the floods I have a friend who made just a huge addition of sand and compost above her clay. It was a huge commitment. Everyone thought she was crazy because adding sand to clay makes concrete. She only mixed a bit of her soil into it .Mostly she mounded it on top.

Peckerwood Gardens Now the .John Fairey Garden is a huge resource and unfortunately now closed due to the plague. Yuccado is also closed but forever.

Rocks do not automatically help with drainage, unless it is a flower pot and water can escape through a hole in the bottom after running through the rocks. Sloping ground helps with drainage.

..... not sure how xeric you really need to be.

True, but still something worth considering for much of Texas due to anticipated growth in population/demand, rising cost of water, increasing irrigation restrictions, and other uncertainties. While Houston is well below the state average in single-family residential outdoor water use, Katy usage is actually more like Dallas.... and we've been disparaged in the recent past as a relative "Water Hog".

Texas Home Landscaping contains a number of bed designs and plant profiles well worth mining for ideas to use yourself or discuss with a designer. Can check local library or bookfinder.com for inexpensive options.

Many of the plants in Native and Adapted Landscape Plants by Texas AgriLife Extension and Austin also work well beyond central Texas.

Best wishes with what looks like a lovely opportunity. Hope you will let us see what you decide to do with it.