St Augustine versus keeping half the yard as beds. What has survived a Spring summer for you?

We took out about four hundred square feet of dead sod along our back fence in Lexington Woods three years ago. If you just lay down dirt and plants, you will be pulling weeds forever. What made it work for us was putting down heavy landscape fabric, securing it with six inch staples, and laying down four inches of chopped hardwood mulch from the bulk yard off Louetta. We put in a simple drip line off the hose spigot with an Orbit timer. The lantana and Texas sage survived that awful August heat last year with water only twice a week.

When we built our house in Timber Lane back in 1988, everyone had big green lawns of St Augustine and we watered them whenever we pleased. Things are different now with the heat and the water bills. About ten years ago my knees told me I could not manage a heavy push mower on the side slope anymore. I put in Mexican bush sage, purple plumbago, and bottle brush bushes. They take the Texas summer without dropping dead the minute you turn your back. The key is getting them established in early spring before the soil bakes like a brick. Once their roots are deep, you hardly have to touch them.

Do it. The last thing I want to do when I get home from the Galleria at seven at night is stand in the yard with a hose or try to schedule the lawn guy around afternoon thunderstorms. We cut our grass footprint in half near Springwoods Village and put down crushed granite and native perennials. My weekend yard work dropped from two hours down to twenty minutes of light trimming.

The blue plumbago in my front bed survived with almost no rain last July while my neighbor's sod completely browned out.