Do you appreciate a beautifully manicured lawn but not all the time and effort it takes to maintain it? Perhaps you see all the new builds in Montgomery and wonder what will happen to the wildlife. Today we are exploring what might be a solution to both issues—wildscape landscaping in the Lake Conroe area.

Wild Landscaping

Other terms used to describe this type of lawn is wild landscaping or xeriscaping. Regardless of what you call it, wildscaping depends heavily on native plants and grasses, which both thrive in our area and provide food or resources for wildlife. According to the Native Plant Society of Texas, “Wildscaping is a way of designing your home’s landscape to attract and benefit wildlife, especially birds and butterflies, by providing the required food, water, and shelter.” They also say it is “a way each of us can help offset the disappearance of wildlife habitat caused by development.”

Time-Saving Reasons

Introducing wildscaping into your current landscaping will save you time and effort. The main reason being that you are selecting native plants and grasses created for our climate. No longer are you cutting back oleanders, which thrive in more mild winter temperatures, or struggling to keep your boxwoods alive during the hot, dry summer months. Instead, you rely on the native plants’ ability to thrive here. Therefore, less maintenance, less watering, less upkeep add up to save you time in the yard.

Best Plants for Our Area

According to Texas Parks and Wildlife, the Lake Conroe area is in the East Texas Piney Woods region. Therefore, use the link above to see the native trees, shrubs, vines, grasses, and wildflowers. I also like RootedIn’s article because it has photographs showing the native alternative to popular shrubs. Here is an additional resource from Texas Native Plants.

Replace less hardy plants in your yard with these ideas to slowly integrate wildscaping. Or if you are starting from scratch, you can go all in and only choose native plants. Not only will they most likely thrive regardless of our cold temperatures in the winter to the drought conditions and intense heat of the summer, but they will provide food, shelter, or resources for wildlife. From birds needing food and nesting materials to bees needing pollen, native plants will provide well for native animals.

Wildscape landscaping offers great benefits to the homeowner and to the wild animals in the vicinity. Spend more time on the golf course, on the lake, or doing what you like best instead of slaving in your yard year-round. Learn to wildscape the Lake Conroe area way.