I don't know what the background is on the California varieties in Austin. I know that I bought my house a few years ago, and from what I've seen, CA plants aren't readily available at local nurseries. I don't know why. If I had to guess, I would have said that it was because some of the main retail sellers have since gone out of business or moved, but I really don't know. Maybe I'm just not going to the right nurseries. Anyway, I am just getting into plants now and this is the first I've heard of locals being overly adventurous with them. I'll have to look on the forum to dig deeper into this issue. Thanks for mentioning it. The orange tree is still in a container. Should I leave it in there? I figured that eventually this might stifle it so much that it wouldn't do well, which is why I thought I needed to put it in the ground. Is this not true? After this discussion, now I'm also kind of afraid of the fig tree. It's small right now. It just appeared on its own one day in a random spot in my backyard. I was excited (because I love trees that produce fruit that I can use and I love figs) but hearing that whitecap's fig tree has frozen back several times and is producing crazy amounts of trunks sounds like a problem. Is this something I shouldn't keep? Back to the point of this discussion - My main original question was, if I don't know (construction-wise) what will happen with my little property, do I really have any choice on where to put the trees that will grow lots of strong roots and possibly be hard to transplant in a few years? It seems like the more I ask people the more they say: 1) No question; plant on the perimeter. In fact, I've even had one person question why would I plant anywhere but the perimeter? 2) In 2-3 you are not going to have a problem transplanting your trees, but don't wait too long after that point to decide where they should really go. Thanks again for all the help. I'm such a beginner and information that is obvious to most of the forum people is most likely new to me.

Thanks for starting this thread, Ingrid. In fact I was thinking not only of resource-thrifty plants and gardening techniques, but also of attitude adjustment. I agree with your ideas. When I started gardening here I had an idea that water was going to be the critical item, and with our dry summers and diminishing rainfall that's true, though we also have our flood-landslide years. Scrounging up organic matter also turns out to be quite a chore. I think it's scarcer here than in the U.S., and our clay is very poor in organic matter, though once adequately supplemented it takes care of itself. People who garden in Florida sand, for example, may need to amend forever--do you? I'm asking--while, if I can ever get ground well enough amended that the plants there grow vigorously, the litter and prunings from those same plants provide all the organic amendment that ground needs. Unfortunately there's not much of the garden where this happy state of affair reigns, but it's true for the escarpment in front of the house, the bed beside the house with the big climbing roses, much of the woods, and a few other places. My goal is to get the garden feeding itself. Generally I'm friends with annual grass in the beds: it grows, dies, and provide a layer of organic matter above AND below the ground, with its dead roots that I don't have to dig in. I want all the ground covered with plants busily generating organic matter. Nonetheless I anticipate that we're going to be buying bales of old hay for years to come. Digging big planting holes and heavily amending the the soil we return to them has shown itself to be a necessity. We water plants the first year after they're planted, and little or none after that. We have one hose for the big garden and water by hand. Plants grow VERY SLOWLY here. This is part of the attitude adjustment I mentioned. However, if I dug them a good hole to start and the plants are tolerably adapted to their conditions, they hang on through all kinds of adverse conditions, not keeling over when the summer drought hits. They develop good root systems, I believe. We have deep clay they can dig themselves down into, the ground is moisture retentive, and we have 40" of average annual rainfall. All this makes dry gardening feasible. (N.b. I believe there are plants that grow in thin soil in dry climates: not everything requires clay and good annual rainfall.) More attitude adjustment: I accept that my roses aren't going to bloom to speak of in summer, nor will much else. By the end of summer the sunny garden in fact looks like a bomb hit it. Total devastation. I stay indoors and forget the garden, rather like northern gardeners in winter, or I stay under the wisteria pergola, where I have my sansevierias and other potted plants to admire. Last summer we got busy clearing a strip of woodland of ivy and brush, and the shade down there was very enjoyable. Just a pleasant spot to be in is worth having, whether or not anything is in bloom. And good foliage and interesting plant form can be present and enjoyable even in a drought. I love the seasonal aspect of the garden, looking forward to cyclamen and the persimmon in fall, admiring dormant buds and sarcococca flowers in winter, getting thrilled by the first sweet violets at the end of February. As always, I have more to say, but I ran out of steam. Coming up: trees. I want to hear others' thoughts. Melissa

I definitely feel for you as I have had concerns about boundaries since I started living with my fiance. First, the discipline method and primary responsibility needs to fall on your GF since she is the legally responsible parent in the situation. Obviously this doesn't mean you never help enforce rules, but she should be the one deciding appropriate punishments for her child. This can be extremely frustrating when you see her being lax about things and aggravating the problem. She needs to learn that children need boundaries and punishing them appropriately when they misbehave isn't cruel or mean but a necessary part of learning to become a functional person. Sounds like you are on the right track with the classes, but you should not let her off the hook for her responsibility as a parent by assuming the disciplinarian role. Second, the issue with your future SS's behavior when he first gets back from Dad's house sounds SO familiar. My future SD used to do the same sort of thing (acting strange when she first came home from BM's). The behavior was based on how BM would (over)react to SD making her tense and anxious a lot of the time afraid of making a mistake. After a day or two she generally relaxed and acted more "like herself". The situation is similar to the way adults modify their behavior when they are around friends vs their boss for example. Your future SS probably acts scared of you because he is used to being intimidated by his own father and expects you to treat him the same way (not because he's heard you're some terrible guy). It's natural behavior and is not a reflection on you. Think of it this way, if an adult left a relationship because their partner cheated on them wouldn't they automatically be suspicious of their next partner cheating on them too? So, if dad yells wouldn't you expect that father figure #2 might yell too? Overall, I would say it's great you are planning to take the engagement/marriage plans slow with your GF. If she doesn't learn to control her DS through proper discipline you might have a really tough time on your hands. Also, this forum is very helpful to get lots of real perspectives instead of the "just pretend like you're one big happy family" BS that seems to exist in so many places. At least that's why I ended up here in a pretty similar situation to you as well (got engaged & I don't know s*%@ about being a mom but even less about being a step parent) lol.

Texasgal47- Yes, the front door would be near the kitchen area. The space just off the office is actually a mudroom for when we come in from the garage. Backpacks, jackets, shoes. I love builtins! I'm sure it was wonderful having a husband who could do all that! My stepdad is a wonderful woodworker, so I'm sure he'd pitch in to help with a few things like that. lavender lass- Thanks! we are actually wanting to go a bit smaller. We owned a home previously that was 975 sf and I think short of not having a second bath, it would have worked wonderfully! I know not everyone likes the idea of being that cozy, though. One of the things I truly do NOT want is my living room by the front door, but I may have to be flexible with that. Luckily my husband's background is in HVAC.When he gutted our current home, he and his brother did all the wiring, added ductwork to the entire house, new pex plumbing, etc. Almost every sq inch of this current house is new. It just lacks trees and space. And not tomatoes - but as cute as the house may have been as a cottage- I have dreams of this being more mid century modern. I think that JoAnna has great taste, and I would love for her to decorate my home any day! As far as the kitchen size goes, I was basing it off of my current kitchen that is similar in dimensions. It would also be open on the north side to accommodate folks sitting on the other side. I think I drew the dining table a bit large, lol With that being said, I am currently reevaluating this current layout, for something more simplistic and streamlined. (mainly for cost reasons). I am imagining a shed roof, with rain barrels to collect as much as possible off it. the entire north side being glass/and doors to the outside, attached garage with loft space that will be dedicated to my husbands home office, since he works from home full time. I think we could finish the attic space for the kids dedicated play space/media room, and a deck that would run the entire length of the home. I also am doing some research on alternate siding/roofing for the home, as well as an inexpensive alternative to drywall. (is that even possible???) lol I really hate drywall.