Jun 24th, 2010
Landscaping Your Garden In The Texas Style
Most people simply let their garden mature naturally in that they do not select a particular style. This is all right, but it can turn into a hodge-podge, if not looked after. Some people, though, deliberately choose to landscape their garden according to a clear style or a theme. Some of these themes are very sophisticated and others are fairly simple.
One of the many themes to choose from is the Texas Style. We all know that everything in Texas is done on a grand scale, so you would be forgiven for thinking that landscaping in the Texas Style would necessitate a huge garden.
It is perhaps easier to carry out your landscaping in the Texas Style in a bigger garden, but it just depends how you go about it.
The first points to remember are that Texas is very hot and so the landscape closely resembles wilderness. Plants and shrubs are thin on the ground, so to speak. Landscaping in the Texas Style is what you could call minimalist gardening.
You will have to make use of every square inch of your property, if you only have a small plot and the average temperature will have to be fairly warm in the daytime although it is all right if it gets chilly at night. This will allow you to grow many of the plants that thrive or at least grow in Texas. One good thing about Texan plants is that when they do bloom, they really do show a lot of colour.
One of the kinds of plant that you are certain to have success with is the cactus. There are many types of cactus, so you should not have too much trouble finding several kinds that will grow in your garden in order to create a Texan dry climate look, as long as it does not rain every other day where you reside.
Cacti yield magnificent flowers when they blossom, but they have big thorns, so if you have young children, the Texas Style garden may not be for you for a few years yet.
Once you have your flora sorted out, you can begin looking for accessories. You can pick up ideas from the old cowboy films and from magazines, but a few suggestions are: a chow wagon style barbecue area with a canvas hood; some broken wagon wheels; a well, working or not (it could even be a fish pond that looks like a well); boulders and wooden fence posts.
Boulders are usually overlooked by gardeners but there are some fascinating stones, boulders and rocks in all kinds of shapes and colours. Boulders with fossils in them are great conversation starters. Smaller rocks can be used to create a rock garden and this will expand the choice of plants that you can grow in your Texas Style garden. You will be able to plant succulents, small cacti and other small plants that often grow in this harsh environment.
Lighting should be low and subtle so that you can see the stars at night. You could even have a camp fire with log seating or you can accomplish this look by using low powered solar lighting. Solar powered lighting will also save you from having to have an electrician wire up your garden.
When you have finished landscaping in the Texas Style, do not fail to remember to get pleasure from it by eating out of doors as often as you can. Barbecues, steaks and Texmex food are the order of the day.
Owen Jones, the writer of this article writes on a number of subjects, but is now involved with outdoor accent lighting. If you would like to know more or check out some great offers, please go to our website at Outdoor Wall Lamps.
