Drought Tolerant Plants

 

 

In 2012, an ordinance went into effect that changed what landscapers and homeowners planted around the outside of homes in the Dallas area. An ordinance about water. The new regulation said when you could and couldn’t water your lawn and landscape beds. They initiated a plan to conserve water because not only is there a serious shortage of water in Texas but also a rapid increase in population.  The regulation changed what plants we were recommending. It changed what plants are able to survive here because they are no longer receiving the required amount of water to thrive.

Dallas receives only 37″ of rain annually. Now obviously plants that thrive in somewhere like Miami, where they receive roughly 65″ of rain annually, cannot thrive here unless they are receiving supplemental water on a regular basis.  Let’s bring it into focus a little more, in July of this year the DFW area only received a quarter inch of rain. Since April, it has only rained about 4″, well below the normal range.  What does this mean for you? How do we better equip our customers with plants that will thrive, even though there is a shortage of water?

We have compiled a list of drought-tolerant plants that work great in North Texas landscaping. Drought-tolerant does not mean that your landscaping has to lack color.  The plants listed below are beautiful, full of color and greenery.

Native or well-adapted plants are best because not only are they aesthetically pleasing but they also use water efficiently. Native plants are those that originated here. Native plants thrive in our clay or sandy soils and unpredictable weather.  Well-adapted plants are ones that the horticultural society has deemed suitable for our area.  They often come from parts of the world with similar climates and soil types.

Here is you drought-tolerant plant list:

Perennials

Lantana

Coreopsis

Blackfoot Daisy

Blue Plumbago

Garden Phlox

Rudebeckia

Shrubs

Yucca

Red Yucca

Dwarf Wax Myrtle

Autumn Sage

Butterfly Bush

Ground Cover

 

Liriope

Ornamental Grasses

Mexican Feather Grass

Maiden Grass

Muhly Grass

Ornamental Trees

Crape Myrtle

Red Bud

Canopy Trees

Live Oak

Bald Cypress

Texas Red Oak

 

 

We hope these suggestions help you to conserve water and keep up your curb appeal! Did you know that if you do not use Dallas water you can water your lawn as much as you want? In one of our upcoming blogs, we are going to discuss benefits and ways to harvest rainwater! What are some ways you help to conserve water? Tell us in the comments below!