Take a look around your landscape. Is it looking limp? Lacking structure? Give it some backbone — of Texas-style evergreens, that is.
Believe it or not, having an attractive, low-maintenance, water-efficient landscape year-round is possible.
The key: a backbone – of Texas-style evergreens, that is! This includes structural natives like red yucca (Hesperaloe parviflora), blue agave (Agave americana), spineless prickly pear (Opuntia ellisiana), and Texas Mountain Laurel (Sophora secundiflora).
These garden workhorses are able to withstand extreme weather conditions and, in most cases, sail through these extremes where other plants may struggle or go dormant. San Antonio experiences weather extremes – from a dry, scorching summer to a frigid winter, which often takes its toll on local landscapes. But the landscapes that fare best, by far, are those with a good backbone that’s heavy on native plants.
Now is the time to contemplate and plan on establishing your garden’s grit. Look around your yard now after things have frozen back, where could you use evergreen structure and bones to carry your garden through every season? Backbone plants make for an attractive landscape and provide depth and texture year-round, setting up other plants to look their best when it is their season to shine.
Gone are the days of a few overgrown foundation shrubs – it’s time to modernize our landscapes while conserving water. Let’s swap out the old with some new evergreen, water-saving, structural choices that require less maintenance.
