The City of Austin has excellent recommendations for you. You will be the smartest person on the block with minimal maintenance and delightful results. Writing a smaller check to Austin energy for water consumption helps too.

Earthwise, sustainable plants that are native to or have successfully adapted to Central Texas are the focus of their free picture filled 41-page booklet compiled and sponsored by a joint effort between the City of Austin and a host of their earth conscious partners. The goal is to preserve Austin's water resources. This not only equates to watering less but using fewer chemicals and fertilizers, if any, to maintain your own piece of paradise.

Austin is sitting at the mouth of the recharge zone and watershed of the Edwards aquifer, which is one of the most prolific artesian aquifers in the world. Austin promotes responsible planting to prevent overall depletion and detrimental runoff into the aquifer and other pristine natural pools such as Barton Springs.

You may be thinking that choosing plants from our native landscape precludes the "exotic and lush rainforest canopy you have always wanted off of your breakfast nook". It does. What about, "predictable?" you may ask. To this we say, no-siree. You may not be able to transplant the abutilon megapotamicum you adored in Costa Rica but the tremendous variety of native vegetation available enables you to create unexpected and heavenly compositions.

The City of Austin has included non-native but adapted plants for special situations like shady areas, poorly draining soil, deer resistance and due to their unusual beauty. They are selected because of their non-invasive nature and their inability to out-compete local vegetation.

The guide entitled, "Native and Adapted Landscape Plants", but referred to by most Austinites, as the Grow Green Guide is available at nurseries in town. The plants are placed in categories such as trees, shrubs, perennials, vines, groundcover, etc. They are listed alphabetically under their common names with details on height, spread, light conditions required for growing, color and features, maintenance and other helpful details. The guide makes it easy to select plants from a purely aesthetic standpoint due to very clear and enlarged pictures. As a builder you may receive Green Building credits when plants from the guide are utilized.

If you do not have access to one of the local nurseries the city of Austin site is filled with information. Here you will find the pdf's of the printed guide and you will find updated information including local partnering nurseries, the least toxic way to deal with bugs and pests and many other issues related to landscaping in Austin and Central Texas.