Why is it so expensive to buy rural??

[Trainwreck20]

To be fair, in my old house in N. Austin - in a non-HOA neighborhood - I let nature take its course, as well. It didn't look half bad, but it did still need mowing. Native grasses can thrive under pretty adverse conditions!

[riaelise]

I have admit that as a gardener I do like my flower beds and am ridiculously festidious about weeds, lol....


The half acre we have is too much if someone is like that, haha...our lot is probably 80% flower beds/landscape at this point. I lay the mulch, weed, etc. myself..and as I get older I'm thinking this would be too much.

[Austin97]

Originally Posted by riaelise

I have admit that as a gardener I do like my flower beds and am ridiculously festidious about weeds, lol....


The half acre we have is too much if someone is like that, haha...our lot is probably 80% flower beds/landscape at this point. I lay the mulch, weed, etc. myself..and as I get older I'm thinking this would be too much.

we have no grass to mow with about .5 acres. We also have mulched beds and native plants. Even so we hire landscapers to pull weeds, put new mulch down, trim the plants back etc. It is only a few times a year and we rarely water which helps to slow growth.

In the end a weed is typically just another native plant.

[ATX Wahine]

We had an enormous and gorgeous St. Augustine lawn when we bought this house. I have no idea how the previous owner kept it so well cared for and green but the first thing we did was let it go. Couldn’t see using the water required to keep it so nice. Over the years since the spots under the trees have stayed nice and green, but the rest of the lawn has become a xeriscape of mostly attractive weeds. It actually doesn’t look too bad at all. Not the show lawn it once was, but an acre-plus of green lawn does not feel natural here anyway.

[10scoachrick]

Originally Posted by ATX Wahine

We had an enormous and gorgeous St. Augustine lawn when we bought this house. I have no idea how the previous owner kept it so well cared for and green but the first thing we did was let it go. Couldn’t see using the water required to keep it so nice. Over the years since the spots under the trees have stayed nice and green, but the rest of the lawn has become a xeriscape of mostly attractive weeds. It actually doesn’t look too bad at all. Not the show lawn it once was, but an acre-plus of green lawn does not feel natural here anyway.

St Augustine is absolutely horrible in this area UNLESS you make the water commitment .
Zoysia is SO much better, slower growing and requiring much less water(but typically doesn't like a lot of shade). A bit more expensive up front; but the payoff lasts and lasts!!