Get Started!

Step 1: Choose Your Site

• Timeline: Plan and prepare your garden in the summer and plant in the fall. It’s too hot to plant in the summer (or even late spring) and expect any level of success.
• Location: Find an area in your yard where you would like to add native plants. It can be to an existing landscape bed or you can create a new bed by removing turf grass. Use a hose to outline your area and get an idea of how much space it will take.
  • Light: Determine the sunlight conditions of the site:
  • Full sun = 6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day
  • Part sun = 4-6 hours of direct sunlight a day
  • Shade = less than 4 hours of direct sunlight a day
• Soil: Check the soil in your planned planting area. Is it deep or shallow? Rocky? Is it dry or in an area that collects water and stays wet? Urban neighborhoods often will have imported soil on top of the soils found naturally in the ecoregion.
  • Visit Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s soil maps if you want to learn more about underlying soils.
  • Most of our native plants perform well in a variety of soils. Our plant database specifies the best soil types for each species.
  • If you want to enhance your soil with nutrients you can mix in a layer of compost. 
• Size: Measure the size of the area so know  roughly how much space you have to work with. This will inform the number and type of native plants you can use.
  • You will want to space plants based on their mature size, not the size they are when you bring them home from the nursery.
• Garden Border: Create a clear border using mulch, stones, or edging to show intentionality and separate your garden from your lawn.

Step 2: Prepare the Site

• Remove unwanted plants and turf grass from the bed. Our recommended methods for killing existing vegetation are:
  • Cardboard and mulch: Cover the garden bed area with flattened cardboard boxes. Overlap them so there are no gaps in between. Cover with 3 inches of shredded wood mulch and water in deeply. This will kill the existing vegetation. When you are ready to plant, cut a hole through the cardboard with a garden knife.
  • Solarization: Cover with thick plastic sheeting to use sunlight to kill grass. Plastic must be secured to ground tightly with landscape staples, bricks, etc. so that there are no openings, and kept in place for a couple months to kill existing vegetation.
  • Organic herbicide: Mix orange oil, 20% vinegar, and dish soap. Expect to treat multiple times.
• Using landscape fabric as a weed barrier is not recommended. It does nothing to prevent undesirable plant growth and can sometimes cause problems with drainage and roots.

Step 3: Select Your Plants

• Choose Texas native species: Select plants that are native to your local ecoregion (you can filter the results of our plant database by ecoregion). These plants are adapted to local soils, rainfall and temperatures.
• Choose plants that meet the sunlight conditions of your bed. Group plants together that have similar sunlight and water needs.
• Understand the mature size and growth habit of plants. Most native plants require three years to reach their mature size. Space your plants in the garden bed based on mature size, not the size they are in the pot.
• To maximize pollinator benefits, aim for a variety of bloom periods throughout the year.
• Incorporate native evergreen shrubs, trees and ornamental grasses to provide winter interest while other native plants are dormant.

Step 4: Plant Your Native Garden

• Dig a hole wider than the size of your pot at about the same depth.
• If the roots are wrapping around the inside of the pot or are compacted, loosen and spread them out.
• Add the plant, fill hole with soil and gently press into place.
• Water plants deeply immediately after planting.
• Consider placing a layer of mulch (1-2”) on top of the soil to retain moisture and reduce evaporation.

Step 5: Watering Your Native Plant Garden

• First Year: Water new plants deeply once or twice a week, especially during dry spells.
• After Establishment: Gradually reduce watering frequency. Many native plants can thrive with natural rainfall.

Step 6: Maintaining your Native Plant Garden

• Many native perennials go dormant in the winter. They may look dead but they are not.
• Dead foliage provides important winter habitat for insects. Leave the leaves that have dropped from trees. Insects often overwinter in leaf litter.
• Dried seed heads provide food for birds and other animals.
• Cut back dead plant matter in late February or early March to allow for new growth in the spring; prune woody shrubs in winter during dormancy.

Step 6: Observe and Document

• Enjoy Your Native Plant Garden: Watch as pollinators find food and shelter in your garden.
• Record Observations: Use the iNaturalist app to track wildlife and plant species.
• Share Online: Join the NPSOT Facebook group and share your progress with others.