Is there anything like "Sunset Magazine" for the Austin region? (Midland: house, landscaping)

[janineg]

It's my favorite magazine here (California), and I'm hoping that there's something like it out there. It has a section devoted to Western gardening, and sections about food/restaurants, home, and travel. It's all specific to the west. Thank you,
Janine

[OpenD]

Well, for starters there's Austin Monthly: www.austinmonthly.com

and there's Texas Monthly: www.TexasMonthly.com

and we also have Sunset Magazine. http://www.sunset.com/garden/climate...0400000036339/

[janineg]

Thanks! That Austin one looks like what I'm looking for. I can still get Sunset delivered to Austin, but I don't think that they have a regional edition for Texas. The farthest east that they go is the Rockies edition. I really want gardening tips for the Austin area. Looking online at lots of pictures of backyards, I'm seeing very little landscaping. Most yards look to be lawn all the way to the fences. I'm starting to worry that it's hard to garden and grow things, or else Austinites prefer the simple look of a lawn.

[kiacook]

Yeah, it's hard to garden and grow things. The ground is either dry and rocky or clay based. It takes a strong desire, trial and error, lots of mulch and many soaker hoses. I read local garden blogs for tips and ideas:

ROCK ROSE
Digging | Gardening wisely & beautifully in a hot climate
Go Away, I'm Gardening!

[calel]

Most of my neighbors keep their landscaping close to their house in small beds... mostly green shrubs and grasses. A lot also have the ubiquitous purple wandering jew ringing their trees. I've seen a few pretty awesome examples of xeriscaping though (and one not so good version) while walking my dog; I suspect they had it professionally installed.

I've been having a lot of fun planting all kinds of salvias in my front beds (along with some wormwood, lantana, mexican heather, and lavenders). They're extremely hardy and come in a lot of colors. Been blooming since February at least. You'll want to aim for drought tolerant plants here, but you don't have to go so far as planting nothing but succulents and cactus. The most difficult part of planting here I think is just the digging alone (lots of chunks of limestone in the soil).

[G Grasshopper]

Austin is gradually starting to convert from the "big lawn" to xeriscaping with natives. And having lived in CA for many years, I can tell you that Texas has MANY beautiful natives, both flowers and grasses, and you can make gorgeous landscapes with natives and perhaps a few adapted plants. Sunset Mag, as you have noticed, is no help, as there is no edition for Texas. But there are many books specifically about Texas or even Central Texas, there is the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, which is a great resource, there are also lots of nurseries that specialize in natives (I never found this in CA), there is the weekly TV show "Central Texas Gardener," and the Green Grow Guide that the City of Austin puts out. You can also join the Native Plant Society and/or become a Master Gardener. I don't think it is especially hard to grow things here if you are going with the natural environment rather than fighting it. One case where you may want to go against the native thing is if you want to grow vegetables. That is admittedly a little harder, but there are also lots of resources for that, as well. You have to learn about our planting seasons, which are completely different from CA, and about suitable vegetables. There are some great books on that subject.

I have to say, that having spent 32 years in CA, both southern and northern, the Austin area is a much better place to work with natives, and I am enjoying gardening much more than I did in CA. So don't be discouraged about seeing all those lawns. I will give you one tip: St. Augustine grass is really no problem to remove in order to install a native garden, but Bermuda grass is almost impossible to get rid of. If you plan to take out grass, look for a house with St. Augustine (the big, wide blades.)

Please feel free to PM me. I'm always happy to converse with a fellow native gardener.

[TexasHorseLady]

There's also Hill Country Magazine, which is a quarterly, and Austin Home.

[OpenD]

After a couple of straight years of drought and water restrictions, conventional lawns are being replaced by xeriscapes right and left.

Vegetable gardening... a lot of people had their tomatoes and veggies in the ground more than a month ago, and by July it's all toast. Except for peppers and eggplants.

[iloveflowers]

The equivalent to Sunset Magazine for us would be Southern Living Magazine. I subscribe to the magazine and there's a texas section for gardening every month in there and Austin is featured along with other Southern cities quite frequently. Their recipes are to die for and their gardening tips are great too. A couple of months ago they featured Austin and some of the best places to go downtown.

[Cathy4017]

Originally Posted by OpenD

After a couple of straight years of drought and water restrictions, conventional lawns are being replaced by xeriscapes right and left.

Vegetable gardening... a lot of people had their tomatoes and veggies in the ground more than a month ago, and by July it's all toast. Except for peppers and eggplants.

There are other areas that should be doing exactly that. It makes NO sense to have to do the upkeep of a huge lawn. I did it for 25 years in Midland, and I'm NOT doing it again. Ever.

True about tomatoes. I now grow mine in self-watering tubs on wheels. I can move them to shade when they start burning up or being beat to death by wind when they're young and tender.