Incorporate Texas SmartScape Plants and Strategies Into Your Garden This Month
By Melissa Walker, Environmental Education Specialist
Posted on March 09, 2020, March 09, 2020

SmartScapes™ are adapted to the Texas heat, drought tolerant, pest and disease resistant and beneficial to animals and insects.

Texas SmartScape™ Month is a regionally coordinated effort to promote water conservation, stormwater pollution prevention, recycling, composting, and waste reduction principles of Texas SmartScape™. These principles offer a variety of advantages for local ecosystems and homeowners’ wallets. SmartScape™ methods not only add aesthetic value, but also contribute to the control of temperature, erosion, and invasive species while providing a habitat for a variety of wildlife especially pollinators. These methods also mitigate the excessive amounts of fertilizer and water required by conventional lawns, which can harm local waterways and the wildlife that rely on them.

SmartScapes™ are adapted to the Texas heat, drought tolerant, pest and disease resistant and beneficial to animals and insects. They are not desert scapes, rock gardens or cactus patches. SmartScapes™ utilize native and adaptive plants to conserve water, reduce stormwater runoff, reduce water pollution, provide wildlife habitat and save money.

By incorporating Texas SmartScape™ plants and strategies into your lawn care routine, you have the potential to save money, time, water and reduce harmful chemical use. Texas SmartScape™ approved plants are native or adapted to the Texas climate and need less water and fertilizer to thrive in the intense heat of Texas summers. In addition, the Texas SmartScape™ program encourages proper design, care and maintenance techniques to better protect the environment. Since March kicks off landscaping season, this is an excellent time to turn your yard into a resilient and attractive SmartScape™ yard by planting native and adapted plants.

For more information on how to plan, design and search for native and adapted plants suitable to North Texas visit www.txsmartscape.com or visit the Texas Smart Yards page at www.arlingtontx.gov/stormwatereducation.

Champion Great Neighborhoods, Stormwater
News, Government, Public Works