All-Too-Common Landscaping Mistakes

from October 2003 issue of Texas Co-op Power online magazine, by G. Owen Yost

"The lawn holds great appeal, especially to Americans. It looks sort of natural-it's green; it grows-but in fact it represents a subjugation of the forest as utter and complete as a parking lot. Every species is forcibly excluded from the landscape but one, and is then forbidden to grow longer than the owner's little finger. A lawn is nature under totalitarian rule."

The first myth I would like to challenge is that everyone has to have a green rectangle of a lawn. Sure, a lawn can be beautiful and soothing, but do you really want to put so much money and effort into a monoculture?

For the majority of homeowners today, the answer is "yes." The most recent statistics from the Lawn Institute of America estimate some 50,000 square miles of lawn under cultivation nationwide, costing us $39 billion a year to feed, water, groom and pamper. In Texas alone, turf grass is a $6 billion a year industry, according to Texas A&M University. And that's not counting the water used to soak the grass in some of the driest parts of the state. About two-thirds of the chemicals applied to lawns are simply swept into the sewer by rainwater, contributing to the pollution of our water supply.

The cultivation of lawns is a throwback to the 1700s, when European aristocrats could afford to deploy a staff of gardeners to manicure vast estates of rolling green. In the 21st century, huge lawns are an expensive anachronism. I don't see why any of us should feel obliged to carry this burden if we don't want to.

Good! Now that I have that out of my system, let's go on to some other misguided notions:

Spring is best for planting. In Texas, October and November are the best time to put plants in the ground. Up north, spring is preferable because frosts arrive early. Here, we usually don't have a killing frost in the fall, and we need to give plants as much of a head start on next summer's heat as possible.

The best plants are found on nursery shelves. Many retailers say they don't sell plants that won't grow in Texas. That's true, but very misleading. Any plant can grow anywhere with the right amount of money and care. But personally, I avoid plants grown in other climates. Texas native plants (from nurseries or friends) are a better choice because they are adapted to our harsh conditions.

"Xeriscaping" means using cactus, rocks and no water. All plants need water. Using nothing but cactus and rocks is boring. Genuinely dramatic and attractive xeriscaping involves grouping plants with similar water needs. That way water is used with the ultimate efficiency, and no plant gets more or less water than it really needs.

Chemicals are safe in the garden. Artificial chemical fertilizers affect plants in much the same way that caffeine affects humans. The quick boost can work in the short run, but then comes the letdown. It's safer and cheaper to use natural, organic fertilizer a couple times of year. Besides, artificial chemicals can harm children, pets and birds.

If you protect a tree's trunk, you've preserved the tree. A tree's entire root area should be preserved and protected. If not, the tree may die even if the trunk--which is mostly dead wood anyway--is undamaged. Tree roots usually extend several feet beyond the drip line within the top few inches of soil. This is the area that needs to be protected from compaction, digging, erosion, pollution and other hazards.

Trees do best with a ring of flowers planted at their base. I suppose this practice evolved because homeowners couldn't grow a lawn beneath trees, so they planted flowers. Neither the trees nor the flowers flourish in such close quarters. In Texas, plant a shade-loving ground cover (like vinca, horseherb or wood fern) instead.

Houses need foundation plantings. That predictable row of sheared shrubs at the base of a house was necessary back when houses were built off the ground, mainly for drainage reasons. Plants obscured the "crawl space" beneath houses. New building procedures have eliminated the crawl space, but foundation plantings persist merely out of habit.

Pruning and trimming are essential. Spring is when trees are pruned needlessly, shrubs are trimmed too low, and lawns are "scalped." Plants must use a lot of energy recovering, instead of growing. The weakened plants can't fight off diseases or insects naturally, so you're forced to spray with expensive chemicals.

Natural landscapes are always "wild." A natural landscape design is guided by the plant relationships and irregular spacing found in nature. Instead of copying nature, a landscaped area makes accommodations for people, cars, swimming pools ... whatever is required.

The only good bug is a dead bug. About 98 percent of the bugs in your yard are "good." They might control fungus, turn into butterflies, control overpopulation of other bugs or spread pollen. At the very least they're food for birds. Eliminate most of your insects and you'll probably be overwhelmed by fast-reproducing "bad" bugs.

Trees need to be staked and pruned when planted. This old habit costs homeowners money needlessly. Healthy trees need to be able to "sway" slightly in the breeze. A staked, rigid tree can't become accustomed to doing this. The only trees that really need staking are those planted in extremely windy places like seashores or canyons and ones that are top-heavy.

If you ever doubt the validity of a common gardening practice, ask yourself, "Does this happen in nature?" If not, there's probably a good reason that it doesn't.

Owen Yost is an area landscape architect specializing in designing low-maintenance landscapes while incorporating native plants with hardscape. He is a member of the American Society of Landscape Architects, Keep Denton Beautiful and the Native Plant Society of Texas. His Denton office is at 4516 Coyote Point; call 940-382-2099 or 940-383-9655 or e-mail him at Yost87@charter.net