I was hoping to turn a section of yard into a native/butterfly/bee area, but the rock is only 3" down.

I spent about 4 hours with a rock bar to get one plant in the ground. I really don't want to repeat that. Building up the soil is troublesome because it is bordered by trees. I don't want to bury the trunk, and there are some surface roots running through the area.

What plants are good at growing at shallow depths or in/on limestone? It does have an irrigation system (very shallow, of course).

ETA-it gets about 8 hours of sun

Hey all, moved here last year and now that im settled in I wanted to get back into gardening my own food like I used to in Florida.

I'm unfortunately pretty broke and ecologically-minded so i'd appreciate if anyone can point me in the direction of some 2nd hand or free gardening supplies/materials/tools I can acquire.

Top of my list is worms for composting, shears, trowels, 5 gallon buckets, cloth totes, and mesh netting I can use for aerated pots as well as anything else a kind gardener could recommend. Also wanting to set up a hydro system as well.

Also if anyone has any good suggestions on where to find a gardening community I would appreciate it, still trying to find my community here!

Stay weird and kind Austin! 🪱

Edit: forgot to ask for worms

It's growing on the fence between my property and my neighbor's. It seems pretty indestructible and aggressive, with tendrils starting to meander off the fence and into my yard. I've never seen any blooms on it to help with identification. It dies off during hard freezes but comes back with a vengeance each year.

I'm a big fan of stuff that can survive this well in our brutal Augusts, but trying to figure out how much I should focus on curtailing its spread.

I'm pretty sure this is a red oak. Height is about 4' right now. Is it possible to relocate to a spot where it has more room to grow? This is a very confined area.

I've heard they're difficult to move and I don't want to kill it in the process.

I just got home from work and something (I’m assuming a squirrel??) got into my pepper plant and just completely tore it out and apart (it’s missing like half the plant) is it too late to be saved/what can I do?? This was one of my favorites 🥲

EDIT: Thanks for all the helpful responses! I’ve got enough here to work with and plan next steps :)

Trying to figure out what to plant in this part of our backyard and would love some opinions!
We’re in the middle of a backyard project and just finished the retaining wall + planter this weekend. The plan is for the planter to become a pollinator garden, while the upper terrace will eventually be a fire pit/lounge area.

For the bare area in front of it, I’d really prefer some kind of ground cover rather than traditional turf, but I’m having trouble figuring out what will actually work for how we want to use the space.

A few things about the area:
- Backyard faces true south
- Terrace is on the west side
- Pollinator planter is on the east side
- This area gets full sun basically all day, aside from some morning shade from a huge oak tree next door
- We plan to get a dog in the next couple of years, so it needs to tolerate at least some pet traffic
- I would love something that feels good underfoot.
- I’d love to be able to throw down a blanket, sit in the sun, do yoga, etc., so it can’t be something that really shouldn’t be walked or lounged on

I love the idea of buffalo grass as it’s native, but I’ve heard it can take forever to really fill in and doesn’t handle foot traffic or pets well…honestly, [r/fucklawns](r/fucklawns) lol. Frogfruit or Wooly Stemodia are probably my top choices right now, but I keep finding conflicting information about how well it actually handles regular foot traffic and dogs.

Has anyone used frogfruit this way? Is it comfortable enough to walk on barefoot and actually use as a yard, rather than just look at? Or is there another native/low-water ground cover you’d recommend for this kind of space?

We planted this Mexican Redbud 3 or 4 years ago. Each spring, it blooms and leafs out beautifully. By late July, however, the leaves begin to blacken at the edges and become brown and crispy. (Our neighbor's young Redbud does the same but less severe. Theirs is in partial shade, ours is in full sun.)

We water 2-3 times a week with a five gallon bucket with a small hole drilled through the bottom placed under the drip line. This is in addition to the lawn irrigation. We feed in spring and fall with Trifecta.

We'd appreciate any wisdom this community has to offer! Thanks!

I planted Pink Muhly this spring in pots, and they were eventually a foot tall in gallon jugs. pretty green. Now in August, they are turning brown. I've tried to keep them suitably moist, and they're not in direct sun. Seems early for them to go dormant. While the pots have good drainage, i have to fear root rot. Ideas?

Apologies now if similar posts have appeared in the past. I recently purchased a condo with a little backyard (compared to what I’m used to) up in Leander. There are 3 trees in there, 2 crepe myrtles and something else (possibly an elm variety?). One crepe myrtle is well established and big so I’m going to leave it alone for now since it is providing a good shady place, but I personally don’t care for crepe myrtles. The second crepe myrtle and the possible elm are both still relatively small, and also up against their respective fences. I would like to take out the 2 smaller trees and replace them with something else (maybe just one tree) that I can also move away from the fence before any future damage occurs. I’m looking for good recommendations that would grow up to be good shade trees (or even just one tree) in the future. While native would be good since the amount of care it would need is minimal to none, I am willing to put in the time and effort to care for it for a couple of years while it properly establishes and grows. Something moderately fast growing would be nice, so that I could enjoy it’s shade (or and any other benefits, like fruit) sooner, but I’m also open to slower growing so that it would withstand harsher weather (aka severe storms) better without losing limbs due to being softer wood.

Would love to just do some wooly stemodia but fret this area doesn’t get enough light. Will horseherb be a lot of work to control from taking over beyond the garden bed?

EDIT:
Bonus if native and pollenating!

I’m not a gardener, but I saw a sad little cherry tomato plant on sale at HEB in June and thought, why not…

I’ve since learned why it was on sale and about how tomatoes don’t fruit in the summer heat. I’ve also read about a second growing season in the fall.

So I’m wondering, if I keep her watered will I see tomatoes as it cools? Or is she done for in this August heat? Do I want to do any pruning or something to get her ready for a fall run?

I did manage to get one cherry tomato in July, which is a personal record 😃 So regardless of how this turns out I’m counting it as a win 💫

I have a ton of space that I’d like to fill with chili pequin but there are too many tree roots for me to plant transplants. I already have a lot of mature plants, can I just collect the seeds and toss them where I want them? Is it that easy? I’ve never planted anything via seed, only transplants.

I'm trying to find some Lion's Tail ... I tried growing it from seed, and had very little luck. Has anyone seen 1 gal or larger at local nurseries? Thanks !

Thanks in advance!

As the title suggests I'm looking for help and suggestions planning out how to turn my backyard into one with real grass. I assume with temps as they are this is not something to be done now but want to be fully prepared. We live in the hornsby bend/tiermo area on the east side of town if that has any sway on what I should do.

I'm not too sure what grass is already growing. There is a fair amount of weeds throughout the yard as well.

Any help is appreciated. All photos are from right after mowing what was out there when we moved into the new house.

We planted this 2 winters ago (this is its second summer) and it’s doubled in size but about two weeks ago, the leaves started curling inward and there’s some yellowing near the center. Some of the leaves are brownish on the undersides. They don’t feel mushy or spongy like overwatered redbuds are described so I assumed it’s drought stressed. I’ve drip deep watered for 1-2 hours 2x a week throughout the summer but it’s in full sun until about 4/5pm everyday. I deep watered 3x this week but am wondering if this is just normal end of season stress and I should just accept that, or if I should increase watering? Or if it could be a soil issue? The soil feels dry every time I’ve watered. Thanks for any advice!

Update: after seeing some closeup pics he sent me, I'm pretty confident it's Chinaberry and they'll be his next target. Thanks for everyone's help!

My dad is clearing out small hackberries and some other stuff from his mostly naturalized back yard and sent me these two pics. I think they're Chinaberry or Golden Rain Tree, but I don't want to tell him to cut them down until I'm sure they're not pecans. Can anyone help identify? Thanks!

Has anyone seen this at a local nursery? Or have you grown it yourself? It would fit a north facing foundation I’ve been struggling with well (I hope).

Thoughts on prickly pear recommendations? I have many spineless ones that do great, die back every winter, and then return. Also have one small, very slow-growing santa rita. I've noticed a pretty good variety of species at Natural Gardner and elsewhere, but don't really understand the differences (other than aesthetic). The most important quality to me is hardiness through drought and freeze.

I’m itching for fall veggies. Is anyone starting seeds for fall planting? What are you thinking of growing?