Page 90 - 2017 PARADE STYLE MAGAZINE

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A Timeless
Trend Landscaping with Native Plants
If you’re lucky enough to have a little piece of Texas for your new home-building site, consider preserving as much of it as you can. The use of native plants in your home landscape will help you save water, retain the beauty and character of its surrounding, and will always be on trend.
Going native is the most logical choice when deciding on a landscape style. A Texas Hill Country plant palette, for example, has adapted to its natural surroundings—limestone outcroppings with alkaline, shallow soils. Native plants are most suitable for such conditions and require the least amount of water and maintenance. Can you imagine the Texas Hill Country looking like anywhere else?
As a starting point, preserve a minimum of 30 percent of your land after your home footprint is set. Even better, go a step further and design your home to maximize the native area. Then protect it during construction. If you have shade trees and good understory, protect everything under the drip lines with temporary fencing. Soil in native areas must be undisturbed and not compacted by vehicles for long- term survivability.
Additionally, there is no need to install an irrigation system in native areas since established native trees and understory plants require no supplemental watering to thrive. That’s a good thing considering homes with irrigation systems use 51 percent more