20+ Best Texas Landscaping Ideas and Designs

Last Updated on December 20, 2023 by Kimberly Crawford

Texas, the Lonestar state, is so large its regions experience different types of extremes when it comes to weather conditions. They can have mild to very cold winters as well as hot and arid summers. Because of this, you might find it a challenge to imagine what Texas landscaping would look like. Or perhaps, you are from the area, and you would like to upgrade your existing Texas landscaping. 

If you are curious about what Texas landscaping looks like, in this post, we will roundup some of the most standout yet workable landscaping ideas per region of Texas. If you are interested in this, read on. 

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North Texas landscaping ideas

This side of Texas is where you could find Dallas and southern Oklahoma. With their booming balance of suburbia and metropolises, as well as colder winters and more temperate summers, North Texas landscaping could benefit a lot from bright green turfs, colorful flowers, shrubs and trees like Chinquapin oak, vines like juniper, and light tones. 

This upscale property is in Dallas. It capitalized on its sloped terrain and created a sophisticated and clean concrete stair that goes straight to the front door. Minimal yet specific hardy plants are used as accents and borders to the wide grass turf. The addition of warm lights by the stairs gives it a more upscale look.  

This one in Fort Worth is the perfect balance of dense shrubs and fine grass turfs. It makes a beautiful entrance view to this brick stone house. The contrast is on point and the earthy tone of the house makes it a beautiful landscape overall. 

South Texas landscaping ideas

Southern Texas has a more tropical climate but also tends to have harsher summers, and more arid ones for that matter. As such, landscaping in South Texas benefits a lot in having water features like fountains and swimming pools. 

The use of the right plants such as the Texas palmetto, Texas sage and Texas prickly pear among others could enhance its lush and refreshing look. This one here looks very cool to chill on even in hot summer days. 

This one sports a small pool positioned at the edge instead of the usual center arrangement. The tropical vibe is completed with large greens, palms, and concrete pavers. It blends well with the white monochrome of the area. 

Complete with a long, narrow pool, stained gravel walkway that leads to a central firepit and wooden seating, lattice fencing and a beautiful display of perennials, grass and cobblestone path to the pool, this one is a very complete landscaping look for a South Texas home. 

Central Texas landscaping ideas

Central Texas is a tri-boundary among the three largest cities of the state: Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio. It is a beautiful location for hard xeriscaping because of its natural elevation and hilly landscape.

It could benefit well from a lot of hardy plants and succulents or in tree and shrub-based landscapes (such as juniper, jasmine, and Hawthorne) when the property is near lakes which Central Texas has a lot of. 

This one is 100% a cacti palooza. It passes into a native landscape with the use of clay soil, minimum ground cover and all native plants to the area. It looks dense but alluring. And the parade of colors from the succulents give it an interesting look. 

This one look neat and well-organized. The bright flowering plants are positioned on the walkway’s entrance, and it rounds out on a grass focal point. More shrubs are shelved in a dense arrangement on the edges, providing bright borders to the area. 

Houston landscaping ideas

Although a rising city, Houston is prone to harsh summers which is not very good for most plants. It is also vulnerable to torrential rains and flooding as well as clay soils.

If you are planning on Houston landscaping, make sure that it is as low maintenance as it could get. Some tips to consider would be hardscapes, bright groundcovers, artificial grass turf, perennials, and evergreen trees. 

This one features smaller walkways that branch out from a larger one. Well curated bright flowering perennials are spread on above ground stone planters. The dwarf palmettos on the side adds a fine touch. 

This one has a classier touch with just the accent of Bermuda grass, hardscapes and trimmed shrubs enclosing another shrub. The only challenge here is to maintain that turf. Overall, it is a perfectly low maintenance Houston front landscape. 

Texas landscaping ideas for front yard

Given Texas’ climate and general topography, landscaping the front yard depends on hardscapes like pebbles and pea gravel, shrubs, flowers like begonia, marigold or English lavender, and grass like Bent grass, Bermuda grass and rye grass. 

This front yard garden provides a natural edging to the simple concrete driveway in this Central Texas home. It has a pebble bed and a flush of lavender and marigold, among others. 

You can also create a lush shrubbery for a cottage style home like this one. It is complete with a cobblestone pathway which walks straight to the front door. 

Pool landscaping ideas

As has been said, the climatic conditions of Texas need water features like pools. It need not be colossal, but it should be properly placed and surrounded with the right elements for it to quench the aridity of the Texas summers. 

This one is a true hardscape pool and a vibrant one for that matter. The focal point is its above ground twisty pool, flagstones, concrete pavers, and surrounding flowering plants that enlivens it. 

This remodeled pool landscaping in Houston is everything you need for a summer day. The use of wood makes it lighter and more refreshing. The towers of shrubs and trees surrounding the area adds to its coolness. 

Texas landscaping ideas for small yards

Compact yards have a certain allure and Texas landscaping can benefit well from dense plants, grass, and shrubberies. Stone edges and wood planters are also essential if you want to whip up a comprehensive look for your small Texas yard. 

This wood-fenced yard from Austin is shaped by its twisted above ground stone planters. It is made of stamped concrete and adorned with a small spread of pea gravel, shrubs and a line of solar powered garden lights. 

This neat design proves that there is no small yard when it comes to a neat and refreshing design. It has an elevated patio with small seating. A reading nook near the shed. The whole thing is made alive by bright flowers and medium size shrubs. 

Texas drought tolerant landscaping ideas

You would really need a lot of succulents and hardy plants if you are going for a drought tolerant landscape. The use of stones, concrete, and other hardscape elements would also make it a beautiful focal point in your Texas home. 

You do not need an all-succulent yard. Sometimes, you just have to angle your yard well so that you can have segments of succulent spreads. 

For a cleaner, angled design on a compact yard, you can setup raised concrete planters and there, neatly arrange large cacti as the focal point and at the base, use bright colored plants and stones. 

Texas hill country landscaping ideas

For a layered Texas home, you must infuse a combo of plants, stones and water features if possible. Just sticking with stones and bright plants could also be a good idea for tighter budgets but want low maintenance landscapes. 

You would not even suspect that this is a hilly landscape if it were not for its winding driveway loop. It is made more comprehensive by the proper arrangement of shrubs, the gravel bed, and some low growing succulents. The spread of thin grass also makes it look neat. 

Who says you cannot turn your landscape into a garden walk? If you have a hilly Texas home, you can make it whimsical by adorning it with dense grass and flowering plants like this one. 

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Native Texas landscaping ideas

This type of landscape makes use of plants, shrubs, trees, and groundcover that are native to the area. A proper know-how of what indigenously grows in Texas could provide great allure to your native landscaping. These two here make use of the clay soils of Texas, succulents, and low growing shrubs that are native to Texas. 

You can exclusively depend on plants to cover everything. This means that you need to make a raised soil bed and use the right flowers or plants to be used as edging. A turf grass is still needed for more depth and a slight feature of cacti gives it more texture. 

This one from Central Texas makes use of a bright flowering shrub as the focal point of the yard. One side is composed of thickets of dense ground cover while the other side is arranged with native potted plants. The walkway makes use of irregular shaped flagstone. It looks like a traditional summer yard with all the greens and its raw vibe. 

What can you plant in front of your house in Texas?

If you want to know which plants you can use for your Texas landscaping, here is a list of what you can explore. 

Central Texas

• Bald cypress
• Black-eyed Susan
• Buckeye
• Red yucca
• Holly
• Rock rose

North Texas

• Ashe juniper
• Chinquapin oak
• Crossvine
• Palmetto
• Beebalm 
• Cornflower

East Texas

• Sugar maple
• Beauty berry
• Lantana 
• Paintbrush
• Winecup
• Trumpet creeper

South Texas

• Coral bean
• Rosemallow
• Mountain laurel
• Prickly pear
• Sage

West Texas

• Desert willow
• Arizona cypress
• Acanthus
• Lechuguilla
• Purple muhly
• Yellow bell
• Marigold

Texas landscape design guide

Any landscaping design contains the dos and don’ts in a particular terrain, climate, and general topography. It also includes proper space allocation, right tree, and shrub placements especially if your home is near roads, a list of native plant species in the area, including non-mow zones. For this and more, you can click here. 

Conclusion

The only limiting thing about landscaping in Texas is not knowing which plants you should use for certain regions. To be sure, you can build on hardscapes and basic xeriscaping, or you can just choose from a wide range of hardy plants and shrubs.

You can choose from different ideas but remember that knowing your terrain and the vulnerabilities of your property always do the trick.

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