High Plains Gardening

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Welcome to High Plains Gardening, the free, non-commercial, gardening information website for the Texas High Plains region and surrounding area!

The purpose of this website is to promote a culture of gardening within the Texas High Plains Region by offering information on an easy and successful way to garden. My hope is that many more people will enjoy gardening, and gardening success, in the Texas Panhandle.

My Vision — Gateway to Southwest Gardens

I have several goals, or visions, for the Texas High Plains region. I envision:

The Texas High Plains region will be known as “Gateway to Southwest Gardens”;
Area nurseries will stock and sell a huge selection of low-water use plants suitable for our area;
Area nurseries will promote and sell a wide range of organic gardening supplies; and
TV gardening programs that focus on and highlight area gardens, as well as being informational about southwest gardening, will be broadcast locally.

Establishing and creating this website is just one of the activities I do to draw closer to my vision for our area. I believe all four of my goals are attainable. Read through the rest of the website and give it a try. HighPlainsGardening.com is filled with information that will help you create gardens that are:

Featured Photography

Winter Interest
Click on arrows at the right and left of photos to advance, and on the i for description.

Featured Plants

Check out my top plants for the season

Yucca species

Yuccas for Texas High Plains Landscapes

There are many yuccas we can grow in the Texas Panhandle that are all low water-use. Those yuccas native to the southeastern United States can take medium water. Soils for all these yuccas should have fairly good drainage.

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Vauquelinia californica

Arizona rosewood is one of the few native evergreen trees or tall shrubs that are low water-use. Underused in the Texas Panhandle, mostly due to lack of availability. But with searching in Albuquerque or Santa Fe, one should be able to locate a specimen. Faster growing than the Chisos rosewood. Long slender, serrated, glossy green leaves with white flowers in summer.

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Nolina microcarpa

Bear grass is similar in appearance to yucca and clumping grass, but is neither. Usually found growing in high desert areas, along cliffs and rocky slopes. Thin succulent grasslike yellow-green leaves emerge from a trunkless center, are pointed and sharp edged. A plume-like inflorescence with many tiny cream colored flowers emerges early summer. Cold hardy, drought and heat tolerant.

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Hesperaloe parviflora

Texas red yucca is technically not a yucca, but has many of the same qualities as yuccas. Thick, succulent dark olive green leaves grow out of the base, as it is stemless. The coral red flowers appear at the top of a long raceme, often 4-6 feet tall. 'Yellow' and 'Red' blooming yuccas are also available. Although it's natural range is north eastern Mexico and West Texas, it is cold hardy throughout much of the Southwest. Allow for sharp drainage in moister climates to prevent root rot.

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Dasylirion wheeleri

Dasylirion is one of the plants I call a southwest evergreen. Different in appearance from traditional evergreen shrubs, it fulfills the same purpose in native and xeric landscapes. Symmetrical rosette of narrow leaf blades or leaves emanating from the center of the rosette. Barbs lining the margins of the thick pale green leaves give Dasylirion another common name, sawtooth yucca. As Sotol ages, a trunk may form under the rosette and even multiple heads may develop. At maturity, an 8-10 foot tall flower spike ascends from the center where thousands of small creamy white flowers open.

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Cactus

Not all succulents are cacti, but all cacti are succulents. Nearly alll cactus species are native to the Americas, providing a prickly evergreen presence. There are many cactus that are cold hardy for the Texas Panhandle. There might be one for your garden.

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Recent Garden Notes

Growing Local at Home

02/14/2014 - 11:08

Has the drought in California caught your attention? Near daily stories in the major national newspapers about water shortages in the Central Valley have been shouting at me. Will the cost of vegetables, fruits and nuts become prohibitive? Sure, the Central Valley is only one region, but it is a major region of food production for the United States. The cost and quantity of vegetable, fruits and nuts is bound to be impacted. What can we do?

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De-Mystifying Winter Interest

02/05/2014 - 10:12

The subject of winter interest seems to mystify gardeners when it comes to design. Just what makes a garden interesting in winter? It is a common misconception that color alone from the ephemeral flower defines the garden. Design and style is based upon our choice of plant, hardscape and materials, their placement in the landscape in relation to each other.

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AHS Plant Heat Zones – A Great Tool for Gardeners

01/11/2014 - 16:46

In my last post to Garden Notes, The Gardening Year 2013, I stated I didn't know whether 2013 was a hotter, cooler or average year, heat-wise. The AHS Plant Heat Zone Map provides a great tool gardeners can use month to month to guide them in real time plant care. Compare "heat day" averages to see if it's cooler, average or warmer. I've crunched the data for the past 20 years that may offer insights.

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On Facebook

News

The new upgraded website contains new articles, more content, double the plant profiles and photos, new garden notes, seasonal featured plants, photos and more! The plant profiles are able to be displayed by Botanic Latin and common names, and sorted by plant type, sun/shade, water and soil requirements, as well as flower and foliage color and bloom time, wildlife relationships and plant origin, including, native, non-native and hybrid.

New Garden Notes posted February 14. New Featured Photos and Plants posted February 5, 2014!

New Plant lists added at Other Southwest Evergreens.

Please email me comments and questions at pog@highplainsgardening.com. Angie Hanna

Article Categories

Plan and Design

The first vital principle of the Basic Gardening Principles is effective planning and design. Formulating your gardening management statement, determining your garden theory, settling on the style, working out the design, and deciding how the garden will be used should be settled before ground work can begin.

Soil

Understanding our soil and plants soil requirements are two vital keys for the gardener. Without a basic knowledge of soil, a gardener only plays the trial and error game. Amending the soil to conform to one's plan and matching plants to all components: aspect, location (sun, shade, wind), water needs, maintenance requirements and style criteria is vital in expanding one's plant palette.

Landscape Beds

After acquiring a basic understanding of our soils, it's time to apply your knowledge to your garden itself, whether in creating new beds or revitalizing existing beds, borders or lawns. This section discusses different situations gardeners face in creating new beds and borders in an existing landscape, particularly in regards to soil health.

Lawns

Lawns, or turf, is so important to American Gardening, that an entire principle is dedicated to these residential expanses composed of a single plant type, turfgrass. The purpose of lawns, lawnscaping in general, alternatives to lawns, turf type choices, how to take care of turf, and water-conserving tips to implement in traditional landscapes are some of the issues discussed.

Plants

Gardening is all about making choices. None of the other seven basic principles of gardening illustrates the impact of choice quite as much as our choice of plants. Plants are the focus, the purpose, and the reason for the garden and illustrate the garden of our imagination. Choosing regionally appropriate plants that match your choices are essential to success.

Plant Lists

To view lists of plants of different categories, such as native grasses, shrubs, flowers, and Southwest evergreens: cold hardy cacti, agaves, yuccas and other native evergreens suitable for the climate and soil conditions of the Texas Panhandle, click here. Often one just wants to scan a list of possibilities rather than reading through all the plant profiles, however, not every plant on these lists will be profiled.

Trees

The Texas High Plains region is part of the vast and treeless plains, at the southern end of the Great Plains. It is difficult for trees to grow effortlessly. Planting a tree is viewed as an act of hope and trust in the future. Care should be taken to match the tree to soil, location, exposure and water needs.

Efficient Use of Water

Water continues to be a precious resource on the Texas High Plains. Our average annual precipitation of 17-21 inches is sufficient for growing regionally appropriate plants, especially when moisture is used efficiently. In soil, where just adding more water is not always the answer, make every drop count, soak in, quenching the plant's thirst before it moves down the line.

Mulch

Although all of the 7 basic principles of gardening are important and will greatly enhance your gardening success, the easiest to implement is to use mulch. Appropriate mulch covers help preserve moisture, improve soil structure and quality, helps prevent weed seed germination, moderates soil temperature and much more.

Pest Management

A lethal arsenal of products have been developed to eradicate weeds, insect pests and pathogens in the lawn and garden. Integrated Pest Management is a four-step system of managing landscape problems by using the methods that are the least harmful to the environment first, before considering chemical intervention.

Maintenance

Everything worth having requires maintenance, even lower water-use gardens that follow the other six rules of gardening. When a landscape is properly designed and implemented, matching plant to location, maintenance is greatly reduced. Maintaining the garden using correct horticultural methods, not seeking control but cooperating with the normal properties of our plants, is the gardener's simple mission.

Stepping Stones

Gardening is a succession of related tasks, when combined together, orders our garden. Choice of plants, climate, location, water supply, soil type and texture affects design and style choices. Our degree of knowledge, competence and time available to give to gardening affects the outcome. This section focuses on the week to week, month to month gardening timeline for the Texas Panhandle.

Creating Organic Landscapes

Successful gardens are in harmony with nature, working with soil and climate conditions, not against them. For this section, I've combined the 7 basic principles of gardening and 6 principles of organic gardening and divided them into three sections: gardening practices above and below ground, practices below ground and gardening practices above ground.

Designing for Panhandle Gardens

What garden style differentiates Texas Panhandle gardening from any other region across the world? What plants, accents and hardscape, when combined, bring to mind the Texas Panhandle? I've explored the shortgrass prairie, cliffs and outcrops, the plateaus and playas and have noted features, landmarks, colors and plants to gain some insight in formulating a distinctive Panhandle garden style.

High Plains Gardening

High Plains Gardening

My Vision — Gateway to Southwest Gardens

Read More ...

Featured Photography

Featured Plants

Yucca species

Vauquelinia californica

Nolina microcarpa

Hesperaloe parviflora

Dasylirion wheeleri

Cactus

More Plant Profiles ...

Recent Garden Notes

Growing Local at Home

De-Mystifying Winter Interest

AHS Plant Heat Zones – A Great Tool for Gardeners

More Garden Notes ...

On Facebook

News

Article Categories

Plan and Design

Soil

Landscape Beds

Lawns

Plants

Plant Lists

Trees

Efficient Use of Water

Mulch

Pest Management

Maintenance

Stepping Stones

Creating Organic Landscapes

Designing for Panhandle Gardens