Planting a Low-Maintenance Garden in Fort Worth

Growing a garden is a great way to beautify your property, and the work that goes into planting and caring for the plants can become a family bonding activity. If you’re thinking about starting your own garden on your Fort Worth, Texas, property, check out a few helpful tips and ideas on what to plant for a low-maintenance yet beautiful outcome.

Preparing the Ground

Before you head to your local nursery and start shopping for plants, it’s helpful to know what flowers, shrubs, trees, and plants grow well in the Fort Worth climate. Consider the amount of sun vs. shade your property gets. You also need to prepare your yard for the incoming plants, whether you plan to bring in large trees or put in plants that will produce fruits and vegetables for your family to enjoy.

The first step is choosing your planting location. It’s helpful to note that most flowers and vegetable plants require at least six hours of sunshine per day to thrive. Look for a level spot with well-draining soil. Remove any weeds that are growing in the area where you plan to place your garden and test the soil pH. Add at least 6-12 inches of organic material to the soil, such as composted fir bark, processed livestock manure, or compost. Turn the soil and break up clods to ensure that the organic material is properly dispersed.

Low-Maintenance Flowers

Now that you have your soil ready, you can start making a list of flowers and plants that might do well in your garden without requiring too much TLC. The heat and humidity that are common throughout much of the year in Fort Worth can take a toll on certain shrubs. A few of the best-growing flower options in these conditions include quartz rose verbenas, Lord Baltimore hibiscus, Belinda’s dream roses, rhododendrons, and hydrangeas.

Quartz rose verbena plants produce bright pink flowers and provide excellent ground cover. The plants grow as annuals in every zone and are quite resilient to weather changes. The Lord Baltimore hibiscus is a local perennial that blooms from July until the first frost. The plant will come back in the spring, although the flowers take several months to bloom. It does best in moist soil, so plant near a water feature or sprinkler head.

Belinda’s dream roses can help you turn your property into a rose garden without much effort. The plants are bred in Texas, so they can stand up to hot weather conditions, and they provide gorgeous blooms through the spring and summer months. Rhododendron bushes are low-maintenance and vary in height from several inches to 12 feet. Hydrangeas are generally fairly hearty, although certain strains require more gardening effort. If your home sits on black clay soil with a high alkaline rating, hydrangeas may not do as well since they prefer acidic, sandy soil.

Easy-To-Grow Edibles

Image via Flickr by Derek Bridges

Cultivating a garden that includes fruit and vegetable plants and trees is both visually appealing and functional. Your family can enjoy the literal fruits of your labor all through the growing season. However, growing food in Texas can be a challenge, especially if you choose plants that don’t do well in the heat. If you want to add shade to your property, consider adding apple, apricot, peach, or pear trees to your landscaping. These often don’t produce fruit for the first several years, so be aware of that when planning for production.

Other options that may grow well, depending on your yard and soil conditions, include beans, peas, pomegranates, grapes, jícama, peppers, and blackberries. If you enjoy nuts, consider planting a walnut or pecan tree, as this type of tree grows very large and can produce quite a few nuts each season. Additional plants and trees to grow that have edible fruits, flowers, or both include mulberries, citrus trees, crabapples, figs, persimmons, plums, redbuds, ginger, hibiscus, peanuts, sunflowers, passion flowers, and Malabar spinach. If you enjoy cooking with fresh herbs, consider adding mint, oregano, chives, garlic, or lavender.

Watering Schedule

Another key aspect of a successful garden is setting up the proper watering schedule. Your newly planted greenery needs plenty of water to thrive and stay hydrated through the scorching Fort Worth summer months. If your sprinklers provide sufficient water to the plants, set up the schedule to provide hydration early in the morning to minimize evaporation. Most plant life needs about an inch of water every five to seven days to stay alive, so watering for a longer period of time but less frequently during the week can provide sufficient water more efficiently.

If your sprinklers aren’t providing enough water, consider setting up a drip irrigation line that puts the necessary water directly into the soil and roots, rather than watering the leaves inefficiently. A drip irrigation line is fairly easy to install and can connect to one of your nearby sprinkler heads. Adding more mulch throughout the growing season also helps soil retain water around plants. Apply about 2 inches of mulch around each shrub, tree, or plant several times per year.

Installing a rain sensor on your property can also reduce water waste. This type of sensor works by communicating with the sprinkler control system when it’s raining so that the sprinklers don’t run on wet days. It’s also helpful to remove weeds from your garden often, as these pesky plants will soak up some of the water intended for the trees, flowers, and bushes.

With the right soil conditions, plenty of sunshine, and sufficient water, many types of plants can thrive in your Fort Worth garden. You and your family can spend time together in the yard as you prepare the soil, select flowers and plants that appeal to the entire crew, and enjoy the payoff in the form of visual beauty and/or edible fruits and vegetables. A well-landscaped yard can also add value to your property and create a more inviting atmosphere with cool, shaded areas, so gardening can be well worth the effort.

If you have any favorite low-maintenance plants or simple gardening tips that we forgot to include, drop by Hiley Mazda of Fort Worth to let us know! We can help you find the perfect vehicle to haul your plants from the nursery.