This part of Texas typically gets very little rainfall, and even that amount is shrinking in recent years. If North Texas isn?t officially "dry," I don?t know what is. To make matters even worse for area gardeners, water rates are going through the roof.

It may be raining as you read this, but we all know that?s rare in summer here. Smart gardeners are realizing that it?s a lot less expensive to landscape if you accept the environment that God gave you, and learn to work with it, rather than trying to change it with lots of artificial fertilizer, synthetic soil additives and water.

To most Texans, this means learning to garden appropriately in dry, hot weather ? where the soil is poor. A few folks (and you know who you are) have landscaped with gravel, cactus and, in a few cases, artificial grass. Unfortunately, this is what often springs to mind when we say "dry landscaping".

However, there?s a whole lot more creativity available to you if you flex your imagination!

Cacti ("succulents" to be precise) and large rocks (bigger than a basketball) are usually key to a dry garden, for the simple reason that they demand little or no water. They work well as a team, too. Place a large rock on the south side of a newly planted cactus. This helps keep the strong sun from scorching the new cactus before it can acclimate to its environment.

My two favorite cacti for Texas both fall in the Opuntia genus ? cholla (Opuntia imbricata) and prickly pear (Opuntia engelmanni and phaeacantha). Like all cacti, they are slow growers. Both flower dramatically, however, after a rain. If you plan to buy them, remember that many will appear shrunken and dry at first, but should fatten up soon after planting. All cacti MUST be planted in a well-drained area ? like in a raised bed or on a slight rise. (In the Denton area, much of the soil is clay-like and drains poorly, so choose a location wisely).

Since almost all sandy, desert-like soils are lacking in humus and organic matter (decomposed leaves and such) they drain very well naturally, so this is the rare situation where you need to resist the urge to add such stuff to your garden. Such soil is, however, high in calcium. For many plants (like gardenias, dogwoods, azaleas and camellias) this is a big negative, since it causes alkalinity. Garden locations in sloping, slightly elevated spots usually drain well too. Cacti will love it!

So will other water-efficient plants like sotol, nolina, red yucca and ocotillo, all of which can grow rather large over time. My personal favorites are cenizo (sometimes called Texas sage) and a tough flower with the unattractive name of ironweed. Native prairie grasses (there are dozens of kinds) are useful too.

Place some of these in your dry garden for a change from the year-round sameness of most cacti, and to provide seasonal spots of color. Also, just about any plant with "Mexican" in its name works in areas of minimal rainfall; after all, most of this state used to be Mexico. These include Mexican redbud, Mexican hat and Mexican buckeye.

One kind of plant that has no place at all in a dry garden is lawn grass. The lush green lawns we envision gulp huge amounts of water and demand a very organic soil. Both spell death for most cacti and associated plants. So forget about a lawn! If you absolutely must have a lawn somewhere, keep it to a minimum, and keep it well away from cacti.This year, stop fighting our hot, dry weather ? at least in part of your yard. Instead, see if you?re up to the challenge of landscaping in a dry, seemingly host ile environment.