5 Smart Ways to Prepare Your Landscape for a Hot Texas Summer

Texas summers bring the heat—literally. With soaring temperatures, water restrictions, and dry conditions, your yard can go from thriving to thirsty in no time. But with a bit of smart planning, you can set your landscape up for success before the worst of the heat kicks in.

In this guide, we’ll share five smart and sustainable ways to prepare your landscape for a hot Texas summer. From choosing drought-tolerant plants and efficient irrigation systems to strategic shading and water-wise soil practices, these tips are designed to help your yard stay beautiful, healthy, and low-maintenance, even in the peak of summer.

Why Summer Prep Matters in the Texas Heat

With scorching temperatures, long dry spells, and unpredictable droughts, Texas summers can seriously damage your landscape.

But there’s good news. With some planning and techniques, your outdoor space can thrive despite the heat. Preparing your landscape for a hot Texas summer helps you:

- Conserve water when restrictions kick in

- Avoid brown lawns (by replacing them with native plants!)

- Reduce plant loss due to heat stress and dehydration

- Protect soil from moisture loss and topsoil erosion

- Save money on water and utility bills

- Boost curb appeal even in the height of summer

Whether you’re a seasoned gardener or new to Texas landscaping, these five smart summer landscaping tips can make all the difference and keep your yard looking great all season!

 

1. Choose Drought-Tolerant Landscaping Solutions

Choosing drought-tolerant landscaping solutions is essential in Texas. They help you beat the summer heat and still have a beautiful yard. 

- Use Porous Materials

Avoiding pavement and using permeable materials like gravel or groundcovers for pathways and bare soil will prevent runoff. This prevents erosion and allows more water to be absorbed into the soil. 

- Terracing Slopes

If your yard has slopes, adding terracing with beds or large rocks will help control runoff and stabilize the soil. This also prevents erosion, and the terraces will capture moisture, nurturing the plants grown in them. 

- Rock Gardens

Rock gardens can add visual interest and reduce the need for lawns or other less water-wise practices. Create beautiful rock beds and use large rock features, then fill the beds with heat-resistant native plants. As a bonus, large rocks create shelter for wildlife. 

- Create a Rain Garden

Use the rain we get by creating rain gardens to capture rainwater runoff and reduce erosion. You can even create river rock channels to direct high runoff areas into your rain garden. Then, plant your thirstier native plants in and around your rain garden. 

- Group Plants With Similar Water Needs

To make watering easier and more efficient, group plants according to their water needs, like thirstier plants around the rain garden. Hotter and drier areas in your yard or areas where irrigation doesn’t reach make perfect xeriscape gardens.  

 

 

2. Choose Native Plants That Thrive in Texas Summers

Next, skip the lawns and plant heat-resistant native plants that thrive in Texas summers. Smart plant choices will cut water use and save money on your water bill. It also boosts landscape resilience, creating beautiful, healthy, drought-tolerant gardens that survive with minimal effort.  

 

Here are some excellent heat-resistant native plants for your yard!

 

Blanketflower - For Colorful Blooms

The gorgeous Blanketflower is a vibrant annual wildflower that thrives in dry, sunny conditions and easily tolerates heat and drought. It’s perfect for adding color to meadow gardens, annual beds, and borders, and will attract pollinators to your yard. 

Image: BLANKETFLOWER is available now at Nativo Gardens!

Blue Fescue - For Rock Gardens, Borders, and Xeriscapes

The lovely Blue Fescue is a compact ornamental perennial grass that thrives in well-drained soils and tolerates the full Texas sun. This makes it a perfect addition to xeriscapes, rock gardens, and borders, adding silvery-blue color year-round in milder climates. 

Image: BLUE FESCUE is available now at Nativo Gardens!

Fragrant Mimosa - Rock Gardens and Accent Shrub

If you are looking for an accent shrub, fill for the back of a rock garden, or something fragrant to plant near your house, the Fragrant Mimosa grows up to 6 feet tall and thrives in harsh conditions. Next to the home, it will help reduce your cooling bills, and out in the yard, it will provide color and support pollinators with its sweet nectar. 

Image: FRAGRANT MIMOSA is available now at Nativo Gardens!

 

Frog Fruit - Native Groundcover

The native Frog Fruit makes a perfect groundcover for bare ground, to replace lawns, or to add flowing depth to rock gardens as it trails over boulders. It helps hold soil moisture, suppresses unwanted weeds, and provides excellent erosion control. The best part is that it tolerates everything from floods to droughts. 

Image: FROG FRUIT is available now at Nativo Gardens!

 

Maximilian Sunflower - For Colorful Borders

The 5- to 10-foot-tall Maximilian Sunflower makes an excellent drought-tolerant border or fence line. Grown next to the house, it can shade sunny windows and keep cooling bills down. Its bright yellow blossoms also attract native pollinators while the seeds feed the birds, making it an excellent choice for wildlife-friendly gardens.  

Image: MAXIMILIAN SUNFLOWER is available now at Nativo Gardens!

 

Agave Lechuguilla - For Xeriscapes 

For those extra hot, dry xeriscapes in your yard, the Agave Lechuguilla will easily handle poor soils and extreme heat. This makes it perfect for xeriscapes and rock gardens with little to no access to water. Be careful planting it next to footpaths, though—the sharply pointed leaves are tough!

Image: Agave Lechuguilla is available now at Nativo Gardens!

 

3. Upgrade to Water-Efficient Irrigation Systems

Smart irrigation helps your landscape stay green without wasting water. If you aren’t quite sure how to set up irrigation systems, book a consultation with Nativo Gardens, and we can help design your water-efficient landscape!

- Drip Irrigation

Drip irrigation = smart irrigation. Overhead sprinklers are a thing of the past. They spray water all over where it lands on rocks, paths, and other areas where it’s not needed, increasing water loss from evaporation. Instead, drip irrigation delivers water directly to plant roots where required, significantly reducing water loss. 

- Rainwater Harvesting

Make the most of every drop in our dry Texas summer. Rainwater harvesting is a simple and eco-friendly way to supplement your irrigation without increasing your water bill. Install gutters on your roofline and direct them into rain barrels or cisterns that can hold dozens to hundreds of gallons that would otherwise end up in the storm drains or cause erosion. Consider adding screens to keep debris out, a spigot for easy watering, and elevating them for gravity-fed distribution. 

- Watering Practices

How you water is equally important. Giving our plants a quick drink is a mistake because they will need water again very soon. Instead, watering deeply but less frequently helps plants grow deeper roots, making them much more drought-tolerant. Also, water in the early morning rather than during peak heat, which can stress plants.

 

4. Mulch and Soil Management for Maximum Moisture Retention

Another great way to prepare your landscape for a hot Texas summer is to create healthy soil with more moisture. Healthy soil sets regenerative landscaping apart from traditional landscaping and prevents thirsty, unsustainable gardens prone to pests, disease, and erosion.  

- Amend the Soil

Organic matter holds more moisture than mineral soil, so add plenty of compost to your new or refreshed beds, working it well into the soil. For established no-till perennial beds, add a healthy top-dressing of compost around the plants every spring and again in the fall.  

If you have very poor soil with little to no organic matter, you should dig out some (not all!) of the native soil and blend what’s left with a finished soil suited to your plants. Don’t forget to add compost!

- Apply Mulch

All plants will thrive much better in the summer when you add a layer of natural mulch to help conserve moisture, keep the roots cooler, and suppress weeds. That is a win-win for every gardener. Paying a little attention to mulching will save you enormous time, resources, and money in the long run. Mulch should be applied every spring and again in fall to help protect plants over the winter. Tip: Add a topdressing of compost first, then mulch! 

 

5. Add Shade Strategically with Trees and Structures

Finally, shade is critical to help reduce heat stress on your plants. Place heat-sensitive or shade-loving plants in the shade of a native tree, vine arbors, or pergolas. Planting native trees near your home will also reduce your cooling and heating bills. 

'Tangerine Beauty' Crossvine - For Shade Arbors and Trellises

The Tangerine Beauty Crossvine is a fast-growing evergreen vine that climbs fences, arbors, pergolas, and trellises up to 30 feet without damaging the structures. It will provide rich shade with vibrant colors that will attract tons of hummingbirds and butterflies, so keep that in mind when choosing the perfect location!

Image: TANGERINE BEAUTY CROSSVINE is available now at Nativo Gardens!

 

Mexican Plum - For Shade and Edible Landscapes

Instead of your usual shade trees, why not choose an edible tree? This deciduous plum grows up to 35 feet tall and thrives in full sun. It will provide essential shade for your garden or next to your home. After the showy, fragrant white blossoms fade, it will grow delicious plums that you can harvest or leave for the wildlife. 

Image: MEXICAN PLUM is available now at Nativo Gardens!

 

Ready to Beat the Heat?

Preparing your landscape for a hot Texas summer isn’t just about survival; it’s about setting your yard up to thrive sustainably with less maintenance. With the right plants, thoughtful design, smart irrigation, healthy soil, and a touch of shade, you can build a yard that resists heat and drought, supports local wildlife, and looks stunning even during extreme heat.

Are you not sure where to start? Download our Summer Landscape Prep Guide for practical design, maintenance, and plant ideas, or book a Personalized Consultation with Nativo Gardens for expert help tailored to your space.

Make this the year your landscape beats the heat—beautifully.