Texas gardeners

BrideJaye

Hi, I'm new to the board. DH and I are in the process of building a house and I completely and utterly gardening/landscaping stupid.

What kind of landscaping should we get? I want something very easy to manage and very simple (like some small bushes or maybe flowering bushes).

What types of flowers grow well in the TX heat? What about fruits or vegetables for a garden?

I need help in a "gardening for dummies" type way

stephriz

I'm new to it as well, but the key is to pick plants that are drought tolerant or resistant.  I fell in love with some plants at the nursery this weekend, but the thought of "water every other day during dry spells" makes me cringe.

k_warren8

Check out Square Foot Gardening By Mel Bartholomew for veg gardens. This is our first year for a garden, its thriving in the Texas heat. In my front yard I have dwarf boxwood, crape myrtles, and coral drift roses and a oak tree. Best advice to you we use home depot a lot they have plants for us in zone 8 so your not growing stuff that won't work in Texas.    

TarHeels&Rebels

Head to the library and pick up any gardening book that looks interesting.  If you accidentally grab some that are too serious, don't get bogged down, just return them.  It's ok just to look at easy ones

nital

oleanders, daylilies, jasmine, hibiscus, azaleas,  are low maintenance...i have strawberries, peppers, tomatoes, basil, thyme, rosemary, chives, oregano, and parsley growing well, thought it may be too late to plant the veggies.  the herbs should be fine to plant now though.

you can also go to a nursery and ask them to help you pick low maintenance plants, they'll just need to know your growing conditions.  a lot will even help you plan out your garden if you buy plants from them.

 

 

Green*Flamingo

I highly, highly recommend coral honeysuckle. It is a native, loves the heat, flowers all spring, summer, and fall (ours starts in March with flowers and does stop until the first frost). They are very hardy and drought resistant. Just plant, give it a BIG trellis and room to grow and just let it go. Occasionally help wind the vines along the trellis, but otherwise- it will keep blooming and growing.

 Heres a link to some info: http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/2013/

another KT

Investigate the Cooperative Extension.  Every state has them.  They are a gardening extension of state colleges. http://texasextension.tamu.edu/  They are a great resource for all gardening and landscaping questions.  My extension has list of all sorts of categories of plants (i.e., drought tolerant, native species, plants for shade, plants for sun.....).  And they are great because it is specific to my area.