Landscape looking limp or lacking structure? Brace it with a backbone of Texas-style evergreens.
Believe it or not, having an attractive, low-maintenance, water-efficient landscape year-round is possible.
The key: a backbone of Texas-style evergreens. This includes structural natives like red yucca (Hesperaloe parviflora), blue agave (Agave americana), agarita (Berberis trifoliata), evergreen sumac (Rhus virens) and Texas mountain laurel (Sophora secundiflora).
These garden workhorses can 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 dry, scorching summers to frigid winters — and some local landscapes sometimes pay a hefty price. The ones that fare best are those with a good backbone that’s heavy on native plants.
Now is the time to contemplate and plan to establish your garden’s grit. Look around now to determine where you could use evergreen structure 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’s 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.
