The heat and humidity of a Texas summer – which will officially begin on June 21 – make this season less than optimal for most kinds of planting. Nevertheless, it’s still a good time to consider the types of vegetation you may want to include as part of a long-term landscape update and/or renovation plan.

Succulents

One succulent you may wish to consider is the scarlet hedgehog cactus. It can form large, mounded clumps of cylinder-shaped dark green stems that are about 16 inches long. In spring, these mounds bloom with 3-inch-wide, red-orange flowers. The red yucca is another fine choice. It forms clumps of slender, tough leaves that can grow up to 3 feet tall. Flower stalks rise above the foliage to bear striking tube-shaped red flowers.

Shrubs

The Texas mountain laurel grows 15 to 20 feet tall and about 10 to 12 feet wide, which makes it a good shrub plant. In the spring, it produces showy, fragrant clusters of purple flowers as well as silvery seedpods. Female yaupon holly bushes grow to about the same height as Texas mountain laurels, but have stiff, gray-green colored leaves. They bear glossy red berries in fall and winter, but only if they have male bushes nearby for pollination.

Trees

If you’re looking to add a few trees to your landscape, the plateau live oak will add not only beauty and grace, but eventually shade. A slow-grower, this Texas evergreen tree reaches 20 to 40 feet tall. Another evergreen with scale-like, fragrant leaves is the eastern red cedar. At maturity, the red cedar is 40 to 50 feet tall and 10 to 20 feet wide.

Perennial grasses

Lindheimer’s muhly grass makes a wonderful, fine-textured landscaping plant. Typically, it grows in clumps 2 to 4 feet tall and 1 to 2 feet wide and produces gray-blue arching leaves. In the fall, flowering stalks grow to 5 feet. If you want a larger grass, try the big bluestem. It has wider, dark green leaves and grows to 6 feet tall, with flower stalks rising even higher.

All of these plants are native to Central Texas. That means that they are all pre-acclimated to our weather patterns (and, in most cases, to drought). Despite recent heavy rains, water conservation remains an ongoing issue for Austin.

For your irrigation system needs, call South Austin Irrigation at (512) 534-7449

Republished by Blog Post Promoter

March 20th is the first day of spring. If you’re a landscaper or homeowner, this is the perfect time to lay down seed for the new Austin grass growing season. Here are some spring grass planting tips.

1. Types of grass
Bermuda and centipede grasses are the two most popular varieties here in south central Texas. Like most grasses, they do best when planted early in the spring season, when the temperatures are between 65 and 70 degrees.

2. Tidy up and prepare
Before you seed your lawn, you’ll need clean up your yard. This means removing anything that doesn’t belong, like toys and trash. You’ll also need to rototill all the areas you intend to seed. Otherwise, no grass will grow.

3. Spread and fertilize
You can scatter grass seeds around the yard using either a broadcast spreader or your hand. Spread starter fertilizer afterwards. Use a moderate amount and aim for coverage that is as even as possible.

4. Mix it up
Rake the whole yard, making sure that you bury the seeds and fertilizer together. Then spread one final layer of grass seed on top of the grass/fertilizer mixture. These seeds will eventually sink into the soil and take root.

5. Water thoroughly
Make sure to water the area you’ve planted, either by hand or using a sprinkler system. Keep people and dogs off the seeded area and make sure that the soil is moist enough to allow for proper germination, which usually takes about two weeks.

When you do water, be aware that Austin is still under Stage 2 water restrictions. You can hand-water any day of the week, but if you have a sprinkler system, you will need to abide by the schedule put out by Austin water.

At South Austin Irrigation, we’re proud to offer top-notch irrigation system service and repair that people trust. Whether you’re looking to invest in irrigation equipment or make the most of what you already have, contact us!

Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Unless you decide to cover your property in rocks and cacti, any landscape you decide to create will need at least some maintenance. The good news is, though, that it’s easier than you think to design a beautiful outdoor environment for your home. All it takes is some advanced planning.

The first thing to remember is that simple designs are best. Every extra foot of bed edge, rockwork and fence line can mean more weed eating or edging work for you. Elaborate plantings that require a variety of plants need more attention to keep them looking good.

Whatever kind of landscape layout you do end up choosing, keep the following design principles in mind:

Group plants strategically

Keep plants with similar care needs together. Put higher maintenance trees, shrubs and flowers near your home where the added beauty may justify the added work.

Plant less the further out you go

As you move outward from your home, design areas that need less maintenance the. If your property has a place where you will want to spend more time, invest the majority of your time, effort and money there.

Big, rounded beds are better

Make beds large and sweeping and combine several small beds into one large one to reduce mowing time. Avoid sharp angles. Gradual curves are easier to mow and more pleasing to the eye.

Bed your trees together

If you have several trees growing close together in your lawn, consider creating a large bed around them. This will save you having to mow and edge around each trunk. It will also provide a place to put dead leaves, which can be used as natural mulch.

Delineate between turf and bed zones with edging

This is a good idea because it will prevent St. Augustine and some kinds of Zoyias grasses from invading your landscape. Remember that edging made of metal or better quality plastic is best. Anything else won’t endure.

Republished by Blog Post Promoter