Landscaping Questions

[kreeyax]

If it's just a grassy area now it could turn into a big job for one person. Sod would need to be cut/removed and disposed of. Dirt/soil would need to be brought in and built up, I'd probably make it at least a foot deep to give flowers and plants enough depth for roots to grow. 100 sq. ft. doesn't sound like much, but that's a lot of bags of dirt to haul from Home Depot if it's a foot deep. You'll need many bags of mulch too, a thin layer of mulch won't cut it with this heat.

[crone]

I would wait until the 2nd. or 3rd. week in October. Get yourself some knowledge from books and friends. Then get a square point shovel for removing sod. Then a round point for digging dirt and get to work. Dig up the soil, spread about 10 bags each of manure, peat and fine ground bark. Work it into the soil. Start planting pansies, snapdragons, dianthus and a bunch of other stuff. Cover with mulch and enjoy. Some plants will die back in the heat in late spring, replace with what you like. Most things that flower or fruit need six hours of sun. You can put in annuals and/or perennials. The River Oaks garden club used to put out a book on growing things in Houston.

[cla]

Originally Posted by TimBomb

she said full sun!

There are many drought tolerant, full-sun tolerant plants out there. I know because I have 500 sf of them in my back yard which gets full sun.

The problem with starting a garden now is that the first year all plants need more tlc - a drought tolerant plant isn't really drought tolerant right away - the roots need to establish themselves before taking on the challenges of this climate.

I would take this time to start planning. There are plenty of books out there and plenty of information on the internet. Decide the location and shape of your garden, then research plants, plan your design and by the time fall/winter rolls around you will be ready to start digging and planting.

Once you've created your garden, you may want to keep a diary - take pics when first planted, and as the garden grows. If you decide you'd like to move a few plants around, you can do that - just make sure it is during the cooler weather for the most part - but double check the transplanting requirements for any plant you want to move.