Austin Backyard Garden & Kitchen Collab
Striking the right balance in a multi-use back yard was a big priority for this client. A young family and a passion for dinner parties guided their landscape needs. And a scenic but complex property that plunges two stories down to nearby Shoal Creek created project guidelines.
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The multi-pronged install is the product of a partnership between Maas Verde and Eischen’s General Contracting, LLC. The Eischen crew first installed the awning, deck, and outdoor kitchen. Maas Verde finished the space with the steel-edged gravel landing, rain-absorbing garden bed, and turf lawn.
Choosing the right materials and building to last were Maas Verde’s priorities. Signals that this landscape would be well-loved were everywhere — from the client’s energetic young pet Weimeraner to the packs of neighborhood kids who swarmed through the job site daily!
3/16″ custom welded steel edging retains the gravel pit against a concrete curb. The material will stand up to heavy foot traffic over time, and limit gravel from spilling away downhill.
(Photo/Maas Verde)
The same edging separates the mulched bed from the lawn. Maas Verde chose attractive, easy-going Webberville sedge (Carex perdentata) for the bed. The shady area and location right below a gutter and downspout will suit its tolerance for wet roots. But in a drought, it won’t give up.
Shade-tolerant Emerald Zoysia was the clear choice for the lawn. A small paver walkway provides easy access to the firewood rack.
End result: one of Maas Verde’s most versatile and cohesive residential landscapes.
What’s Going on Here?
Unless you live under a very warm rock, you’re well aware Central Texas is an icebox right now. Proper vegetation management during these freezing conditions is crucial for safeguarding plant life.
If you’ve braved the frozen tundra, you may have seen plants doing some bizarre things. But one of the most bizarre of all, most of us might think, is this:
(photo/Marc Opperman @slowcomotive via Flickr)What is it? A native Texas pollinator staple called frostweed. What we’re seeing is a physical reaction by the plant to freezing temperatures.
Why does it happen? That’s the really weird part. During landscaping, effective vegetation management strategies and practices can help mitigate the impact of such phenomena on plants and ensure their long-term health and survival.
Maas Verde’s Marc Opperman explains:
Frostweed (Verbesina virginica) is a native Texas perennial that, in its natural state, colonizes under live oaks and other shaded areas. It can grow to five feet or higher in wetter years, and is still incredibly hardy in drier ones. It produces prolific clusters of white composite flowers in Fall, making it an important nectar source for many pollinators, including migrating monarch butterflies.
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But when temperatures take a steep polar dive in Winter, frostweed really puts on a show.
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As the air drops quickly below freezing, but when the ground remains relatively warm and moist, sap from the active root system of the plant pushes up through the above-ground stem. As the sap freezes, it splits the stem and begins to produce delicate ice “flowers” that can sometimes resemble white roses made of ribbons, or maybe a large tuft of cotton. Often, the tendrils of frozen sap will continue to grow for as long as the ground stays warmer and the air stays cold. It’s not uncommon to find these ribbons growing to a foot or more over prolonged cold.
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Relatively few plants exhibit these ice shows, and no one seems exactly sure why frostweed does. But this unique bit of winter interest, as well as its shade tolerance, drought-hardiness, and importance to pollinators, makes frostweed a worthy addition to a native landscape.
(Photo/Marc Opperman)You heard it here first.
Featured Image: Frostweed displaying its signature winter behavior; (photo/Marc Opperman @slowcomotive via Flickr)
Why to Book Austin Tree Service in January
When the New Year begins, home and property owners can take advantage of an opportune moment for tree care in Austin. January marks an ideal time to schedule tree services from trimming and deadwood pruning to air spading, canopy lifting, or tree removal.
Regularly-scheduled tree care with Maas Verde’s ISA Certified Arborists supports tree health, property safety, and landscape resilience.
Here’s how initiating tree maintenance in January can be a genius move for Central Texas residents.
Low Temps, Low Stress for Trees
Recent summer droughts have hit Texas trees hard, but live oaks and other native trees all get some relief when the heat breaks.
Many trees thrive in Central Texas’ temperate winters. Thanks to wetter air and soils, they can exchange moisture and nutrients more freely than summer’s demanding conditions allow.
Their root systems get a break, too. Soils help regulate temperature for plants no matter how hot or cold the air is. But when ground cover and understory species are healthier, they increase the insulation soil provides. Also, fallen leaves can increase soil health and function.
Each one of these factors can add benefit trees undergoing trimming, pruning, soil decompaction, or other care.
Beat Oak Wilt in Texas
Oak wilt is a growing threat to live oaks, Texas red oaks, and other oak trees across a huge swath of the midwest. In fact, the Texas A&M Forest Service calls it “one of the deadliest tree diseases in the U.S.,” responsible for killing millions of oaks across the state.
Veinal necrosis, a symptom of oak wilt; (photo/Texas A&M Forest Service)In an effort to contain oak wilt, most cities only allow oak trimming during a certain season. In Austin, that season runs from July through January.
One factor that makes oak wilt so aggressive is its ability to spread via a certain beetle. Nitidulid beetles are sap feeders that search for food by traveling between trees with decayed parts or wounds (such as cut limbs).
Stopoakwilt.com offered this fascinating description of the process:
Overland transmission of Oak Wilt begins with an infected red Oak (Shumard Oak, Spanish Oak, Blackjack Oak, Texas Red Oak, etc.). When a red Oak dies, one or more fungal spore mats may form under the bark. The mat grows and expands causing the bark to crack open. The spore mat emits an odor that attracts Nitidulid beetles. The beetles enter the spore mat to feed and spores stick to the insect. These beetles then travel to other trees to feed on the sap from a fresh wound. The Oak Wilt spores may then infect that tree, starting a new disease center. Experiments have shown that under their own power these insects can travel a mile or more and may appear on fresh wounds in 15 minutes or less.
When you trim your trees in January, you hit the sweet spot — when the beetles are minimally active and when oak trees have thrived longest.
At Maas Verde, we do all we can to stop oak wilt spread by disinfecting our tools after each tree care appointment. Heritage Tree Care Master Arborist Vincent Debrock warns that disinfection with rubbing alcohol or bleach spray is a critical step for any provider.
“It is important to vet a tree services to make sure they know how to disinfect their tools,” he told KXAN. “Be safe rather than sorry.”
Prep For Winter’s Harshest Weather
Punishing ice, stiff wind, and plummeting temperatures characterize Texas winter storms. Recent February episodes have wreaked havoc on trees across the state.
February 2023; (photo/Maas Verde)To protect them and your property, expert care is the best you can give them.
Weak or overgrown branches quickly become hazards in extreme weather, putting you and your property at risk. Scheduling tree service with Maas Verde in January keeps trees professionally trimmed and pruned, reducing the chances of damage or harm.
Proper trimming can pre-empt excessive damage in any harsh winter weather event. But it also gives residents the best chance to get ahead of the tree care curve after the storm ends — when it’s especially unsafe to trim.
After Austin’s February 2023 ice storm, Texas A&M ecologist Karl Flocke spoke with KXAN alongside Debrock.
“As we proceed into the spring, further cuts to trees might open up wounds that oak wilt can be transmitted to so if at all possible, we don’t want to cut more than necessary on our oak trees,” Flocke said. “And any cuts made to oak trees should be immediately painted to seal over that wound.”
In light of the added risk, Debrock encouraged Austin residents to seek professional help instead of removing or pruning damaged trees themselves.
Get a Head Start on Spring Growth
Regular tree maintenance, particularly in January, promotes overall tree health and vigor. Pruning and trimming stimulate new growth in trees, and improve their structural integrity. Removing overweight or dead branches in the canopy also improves airflow, encouraging lush foliage and robust blooms when spring arrives.
Trees in peak health can help you plan to meet further landscape goals. Knowing your shade conditions, irrigation requirements, and species distribution can support your landscape planning at large.
And don’t forget that understory plants often rely on trees in symbiotic relationships. On all landscapes, each plant interrelates with all of its neighbors. Healthy canopies help host their understory and low-growth species, plus all beneficial insect communities within them. And this creates better soil health — which, to recall this article’s first subtopic, brings us full circle.
Bound for the ground; (Photo/Marc Opperman)For Austin tree services including trimming, pruning, removal, canopy lifting, and more — contact Maas Verde’s ISA Certified Arborist-led staff today.
5 Best Ways to Enjoy Ecological Landscapes
So you’re thinking about replacing your turfgrass or other conventional landscape with native plants and features that provide ecological function.
Gray Hairstreak butterflies flicker between bluebonnets. Limestone boulders harvested from the crust of quarries just 30 miles north of Austin create shape, character, and retention. Rain gardens grow Webberville sedge and Big Muhly at warp speed and help recharge underground aquifers.
But you’re also thinking, “what should I do out here?” There’s nothing to mow, you can’t exactly picture a backyard barbeque or kids’ football game, and you know that your hearty native plants don’t need much from you except a little water on a modest schedule.
So what do you do in the kind of landscape Maas Verde creates? Maas Verde’s got a few ideas.
Have a Backyard Barbeque
The idea may seem strange at first, and I know we already panned it — but bear with me. A native planted landscape can create a grounding but curative impression at any gathering.
First, consider adding seating areas and walkways among your natural landscape features. Maas Verde can consult on grading and impervious cover requirements to create the right plan and aesthetic.
Landscape installed by Maas Verde, designed by @colab.workshop; (photo/Adam Barbe)Add a little outdoor lighting and you’ll be all set for safety and cool vibes after dark.
Elements like decomposed granite paths can make a property more walkable for anyone who’s less mobile or visually impaired.
Broad, flat surfaces with wide walkways can help access. Add a ramp or remove cut stone borders for an even easier experience; (photo/Maas Verde)And don’t worry about the kids. They’ll have a great time exploring boulders, gardens, and plants — and most native species will like it back. Agitation and even trampling are natural for prairie grasses, shrubs, and perennials.
Set up a Wildlife Camera
By now, it’s a familiar Texas two-step. Step one: start monitoring wildlife in a native landscape. Step two: become a citizen scientist.
To see why, check out Texas Backyard Wildlife. To start monitoring, use a Nest cam. Any more specialty equipment is up to you.
Wildlife is awesome. Enough said.
Create a Shady Grove for Happy Hour
Think about your current landscape. Maybe there’s a naturally shady spot where you can hang out on a summer evening. Maybe it faces west, so you can catch Austin’s signature blazing winter sunsets; maybe it’s secluded for better concentration or intimacy.
A 1,980-gallon rain catchment system also functions as a shady outdoor seating area; (photo/Marc Opperman)If you don’t have one of these, you probably want one. Have you noticed almost every restaurant in Central Texas has a patio?
There’s a reason for that, and the good news is, it’s not hard to create one (at least a small one) in any landscape. A simple pergola or even a well-placed new tree can provide shade and shelter without adding hot, reflective surfaces.
From there, choose your seating and surfaces. For a finishing touch, climbing plants like evergreen wisteria (millettia reticulata) or coral vine (antigonon leptopus) can add flair and flavor to any happy hour.
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Enjoy it with Your Pets
A dog with a loving home and its own backyard is a happy dog — so imagine what a great dog mom or dad you’d be if you gave them even more nature to enjoy!
A monoculture landscape only offers a fragment of the fun a pet can receive from a biodiverse, sustainable landscape. Spaces with more natural elements help trigger a wider range of senses for better mental stimulation.
And just like us, pets can get bored and irritable if they’re cooped up. Bring nature to them, get outside together, and let them live their best lives.
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Get a Native Habitat Certification
This one’s for the hardcores! With this National Wildlife Federation or Texas Parks & Wildlife certification, you’ll stand out as a native landscape steward — not only fostering but also promoting the well-being of Texas wildlife.
(Photo/Maas Verde)“The program promotes the creation and conservation of wildlife habitats through community-wide collaboration and public education and helps bridge existing city initiatives that encourage a well-balanced and healthy urban environment for people and wildlife,” the City of Austin says.
How? It’s easy; just apply. Most sustainable landscape designs are only one or two tweaks away from eligibility. The certification process is straightforward.
Featured image: Maas Verde added a landscape to this deck and outdoor kitchen installed by Eischen’s General Contracting, LLC; (photo/Maas Verde)
5 Ideas: Natural Decor For Christmas
Spread cheer not waste with these five natural Christmas decor and gift tips.
We all want our holiday decorations and gifts to make a big impact — but not on the environment. Why not bring the festive cheer right into your own Austin landscape? From eco-friendly wrapping paper to repurposing natural elements from your yard as Christmas decor, here are Maas Verde’s top recommendations for sustainable holidays at home.
1. Sustainable Gift Wrap with Natural Accents
Make attractive natural decor for Christmas with materials you can find all around you — common fruits, native plants, or brown paper!
(Photo/Marc Opperman)Maas Verde’s Marc Opperman trims his holiday gifts with bur oak caps, bright red mountain laurel beans, and Ashe juniper cuttings.
You can even dye your twine ribbon with Cochineal. You can collect this bright red dye from cacti, where you’ll see it as the white deposits on the plant. It’s one of the world’s oldest and strongest natural decorative dyes — which you can use if you’re not too grossed out by the fact that it’s the crushed bodies of parasitic insects!
Bur oak acorn caps (spraypainted) and Cochineal-dyed twine; (photo/Marc Opperman)2. Choose a Living Tree (Don’t Cut it Down!)
If you have natural tree decor, you should have a natural tree. But why kill it?
Maas Verde project manager John Harris recommends a 30-gallon Eastern red cedar or Ashe juniper. These native trees can resemble the traditional spruce tenenbaum, and diffuse festive household aromas.
Check your local nursery for availability. And when your tree outgrows its pot, just take it outside and plant it!
3. “Deck the Halls with Ag-a-rita!”
Ditch the tinsel and artificial wreaths in favor of native plant holiday garlands.
Possumhaw holly is an obvious choice for a Texas Christmas wreath, and deep-green, pointy-leafed Agarita can add a festive touch. Its berries even ripen bright red!
(Photo/Sam Anderson)4. Send Eco Friendly Holiday Cards
Plenty of choices exist for either option. Maas Verde recommends Native American Seed’s Texas Wildflower Mix Gift Packets. They’re reasonably priced and easy to apply to any garden bed.
(Photo/Sam Anderson)Or, check out OneTreePlanted and their options for e-cards that sponsor tree plantings.
5. Recycle or Donate Your Tree
Opting for a traditional, cut tree brings a traditional cheer that’s palpable. The trees do provide wildlife habitat during their growing period, and boost local economies.
But when you’re done with it, either cut it for firewood yourself, compost it, or recycle it into mulch through the City of Austin.
Xeriscaping is Not Cacti and Rocks, But Also Is
As the landscaping industry grows more responsive to water savings and sustainable landscapes, the buzz around xeriscaping only gets louder.
But what is a xeriscape? Does it involve creating a desert, a succulent garden, or a pit of gravel or lava rock? Is it an ecological practice or an aesthetic? Or a little of all of the above?
The answer: it’s complicated. And often misconstrued. Yes, landscapers and property owners can use xeriscaping to meet their conservation and aesthetic goals. No, that doesn’t always mean creating a desert — but it sometimes does.
Sound execution of a xeriscape actually depends more on choosing the right plants to build soil health and minimize inputs.
To create a drought-tolerant landscape, a designer must put the right plants in the right places; (photo/Maas Verde)What is Xeriscape?
“Xeriscape” comes partly from Denver, Colorado’s city water department. Denver Water coined the term in 1981 to describe a revised set of landscape techniques in response to a prolonged drought.
The word xeriscape itself combines “landscape” with “xeros,” the Greek word for “dry.” But the word was built to sell the idea, not fully describe it. That’s what the seven principles of xeriscaping are for.
These seven concepts define xeriscaping beyond its root words and position it as a landscape method that can be applied anywhere. They are:
- Planning and Design
- Soil Improvements
- Plant Zones
- Mulches
- Turf Alternatives
If you’re familiar with ecological landscaping, these all sound very familiar. In Maas Verde’s view, ecological landscaping leverages natural sciences to create healthy communities of diverse native plants and wildlife. It relies on all seven of the principles above.
If you compare other descriptions, the same strong resemblance between “ecological landscaping” and “xeriscaping” stands out.
“Xeriscape landscaping promotes water efficiency by using plants that are native and adaptable” to the local climate, Denver Water says.
There are xeriscapes, and then there are gravel yards. This designer could use a swale or rain garden to absorb water. Instead, this downspout will just cause runoff and weed growth; (photo/Marc Opperman)“An ecological approach to landscape design takes the fundamental horticultural precept — right plant, right place — and views it through a biogeographical lens,” wrote Travis Beck, author of Principles of Ecological Landscape Design. “Where do plants grow, and why do they grow there?”
Murat Ozyavuz, professor of landscape architecture and author of multiple landscape and natural resource books, also defined xeriscaping in a 2012 book.
“The goal of xeriscape is to create a visually attractive landscape that uses plants selected for their water efficiency. It is also an environmentally sound landscape, requiring less fertilizer and fewer chemicals,” he wrote.
Applying these ideas in Arizona or West Texas would result in a landscape that looked like the stereotypical xeriscape. Cultivating native species in arid conditions with minimal irrigation and chemicals naturally produces less plant cover. The xeriscape of the popular imagination is an ecologically compatible landscape in these conditions.
It’s only a xeriscape if it uses native species. This one is located in Southern California; (photo/Creative Commons)Central Texas Xeriscape
But Central Texas is not a desert — so a xeriscape installed here shouldn’t be, either.
“Here in Central Texas, we decouple the imagery of xeriscape and think about the word. Then, we’re talking about drought-tolerant plants, mulches, and good soil. That’s a better vision of these techniques for us,” Maas Verde project manager Marc Opperman said.
So, do xeriscapes in Austin actually resemble rain gardens and native plant beds? I checked Opperman’s assessment against Denver Water’s recommendations.
Denver averages about half as much precipitation as Austin each year. Even in the city’s semi-arid climate, the recommended xeriscape designs are almost entirely native plant-covered. As research continues to demonstrate, there is not a more efficient way to produce a resilient landscape that meets aesthetic and budget goals.
A xeriscape doesn’t have to be a desert — it just has to demand minimal resources. Harvested rainwater irrigates this native-planted garden; (photo/Maas Verde)“Too often designers force plants into the wrong places,” Beck wrote in Principles. “Throughout the United States many cultivated landscapes are out of touch with their surroundings.
“Designed landscapes that match their plants and the communities in which they are grown to the prevailing climate should take less effort to create and maintain. They will also be better able to provide habitat for local wildlife, better connect to regional landscape networks, and better bounce back after predictable disturbances such as fire, windstorms, or floods.”
Featured image: (photo/Steve Davies via Flickr)
‘Leave the Leaves’ — Yes, But Why and How?
A million.
That’s how many microorganisms can live in a soil sample that would fit in a bottlecap.
They’re nature’s decomposers: microscopic, beneficial fungi and bacteria that form the foundation of the food web. They make soils fertile, providing various food sources for plants and animals alike.
But they don’t live in soil unless they, too, have something to eat.
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Enter “leave the leaves.” Some homeowners employ it as a low-impact mulching method — harvesting free soil-enriching resources by doing almost nothing.
Fallen leaves can insulate roots, trigger nutrient cycling, and create shelter for a wide range of insects and invertebrates. Birds and squirrels use the litter as nesting material, and whatever’s left can help conceal seeds from them.
But Maas Verde wanted to go deeper. So we asked:
- What effects does leaf litter cause in soils and wildlife communities?
- How does it impact the environment on larger scales?
- What do we lose when we remove leaf litter from the landscape?
And if we do “leave the leaves,” how can we tell that we are causing a positive effect?
Researchers are still studying the impact leaf litter makes on soils and biota at large. But we do know that this unassuming natural byproduct can build biodiversity, create soil resilience, and increase ecosystem function.
“The leaf layer protects and nourishes the soil, enables rainwater to filter into the ground, harbors seeds, and provides hiding places for woodland animals,” the American Museum of Natural History writes. “Without it, the woodlands would be unable to exist and reproduce.”
Not bad for a renewable resource that ends up in landfills at rates up to 10 million tons each year.
Natural Leaf Recycling in the Landscape
When a tree loses a leaf, it starts a recycling process.
(Photo/Marc Opperman)The first step in this process is senescence, which is the aging of leaves. As sunlight on a tree decreases, it begins to reabsorb nutrients from its photosynthesizing structures. Proper tree maintenance, including pruning and trimming, can help ensure that trees receive adequate sunlight and nutrients, promoting healthy leaf growth and senescence. The tree first pulls nitrogen and minerals back from its leaves. This triggers a hormonal response that causes the leaf to start detaching from the tree.
Fall colors start popping as the tree reabsorbs chlorophyll from its leaves. Finally, the leaf detaches, usually influenced by wind and other disturbances.
Once the leaf drifts to the soil, it joins an unsung but vital group of the food web: the decomposers. These heavy-lifting fungi and bacteria complete the food chain.
Decomposers break down organic materials like decaying plants and leaves into simple compounds like phosphorus and nitrogen, creating viable, nutrient-rich soil. Many varieties of microbes and fungi belong to this group.
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Along with nutrients, they also expel CO2 and water into the soil for future plant and animal generations.
They and their leaf litter habitat are existential in forests and landscapes.
“Forest litter, including fallen leaves, twigs, seeds, and other woody debris, is the link between forest and soil systems. [T]he leaf litter is the main component, accounting for more than 70% of the litter.”
Guizhou Normal University, ‘Leaf litter chemistry and its effects on soil microorganisms in different ages of Zanthoxylum planispinum var. Dintanensis,’ 2023
The nutrients they produce can act as fast-uptake food sources. Nitrogen and phosphorus are cornerstone ingredients in many fertilizers. They generally belong in the landscape in abundance.
Why Not Mulch?
Is leaf litter mulch? No, but Maas Verde recommends adding leaf litter along with wood mulch. Soil organisms need varied food sources to thrive, and leaves contain key nutritional components that wood does not.
Imagine a cyclist. The athlete needs a platform of robust, protein-rich meals for long-term strength and stamina. But during a ride, their needs are completely different — here, they require simple sugars for fast-burning energy.
Basically, this is the difference between wood mulch and leaf litter as food for soil organisms.
Wood mulches contain very high amounts of lignin. This is the compound that reinforces plant cell walls, making them sturdy enough to create structures like trees.
Lignin helps create fibrous woody tissues, like this oak stem; (photo/Fayette A. Reynolds, M.S., via Flickr)Soil bacteria and fungi can digest lignin — but they can’t do it very fast. On the other hand, leaf litter is a highly bioavailable food source for these creatures. The nitrogen and phosphorus in fallen leaves can provide quick bursts of growth.
This helps diverse bacterial and fungal colonies propagate, which increases ecosystem resilience.
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How Leaf Litter Shelters Insects and Protects Roots
Why should you leave your leaves? So the plants that were put in during landscaping can thrive.
But leaf litter also creates critical habitat for a wide range of invertebrates. Many insects like cicadas, worms, and beetles depend on leaf litter for larval habitat and overwintering.
That’s also the case with bumblebees, which are the only pollinators for potatoes, blueberries, and tomatoes.
Bumblebee “gynes,” or young queens, spend winter burrowed under warm leaf litter. When one emerges, she can produce a colony of up to 800 pollinating workers.
Some key functions the leaves provide for these animals are soil decompaction and temperature insulation.
Leaf litter insulates the soil and the roots and organisms in it, creating more stable temperatures. This helps plants develop healthy roots, which loosen the soil. It results in better conditions for insects and increases water absorbency, which mitigates pollution, erosion, and floods.
The opposite conditions — bare, compacted soils where water can’t penetrate — often host damaging chain reactions.
In these soils, the American Museum of Natural History writes, “it is difficult for rainwater to filter into the soil. When soil is compacted, the pore spaces in the soil collapse, making it difficult for water to penetrate and making air less available.”
Bare soils also fluctuate in temperature more readily than covered ones. And dry soils like those in Central Texas can heat and cool faster than wetter soils.
Consistency in soil temperature supports healthier plant and animal populations. Biodiversity strongly depends on these animals which, like soil fungi and bacteria, play a key role in the food web.
Generally, biodiverse ecosystems are healthy ecosystems — capable of supporting a wide range of life.
Ground-nesting birds like killdeers protect and camouflage their eggs with litter components, and feed on insects and worms; (photo/Marc Carlson via Flickr)How To Apply Leaf Litter to the Landscape
Of course, the easiest way to use leaf litter on any landscape is to simply not move the leaves from where they fall.
You may want to use them more strategically. You can use them to cover bare soil in beds or lawns, jump-starting the process of improving soils there. You can also insulate plants with leaves, including trees. (Protective structures around trees should be rings — never mulch volcanoes!)
Keep in mind that each tree on your landscape is actively using its falling leaves to support its own health. So Maas Verde wouldn’t recommend transporting all of your leaves between spots. From a land management perspective, “leave the leaves” should literally apply on each landscape.
Several inches of cover should be plenty for trees. Planted beds can take less.
Deeper leaf cover can yield higher soil benefits, depending on conditions.
Finally, try to make sure your soil cover doesn’t get compacted. Mulches or leaf litter can turn into matted surfaces that won’t allow water and air to reach the soil.
Simply choose a small area of soil cover and dig it up with your fingers or a trowel. It should release under light pressure and not come out in clumps.
To loosen your soil cover, use a twist tiller. Work it moderately, several inches deep across the whole surface until you’ve broken it up.
“What you’re doing is infusing oxygen into the system that probably wasn’t there before,” said Maas Verde president and founder Ted Maas. “Thick mulch thatch can prevent infiltration — so what you’re doing when you aerate these materials is kick-starting the process for the microbes inside.”
How Can We Tell if Leaf Litter is Working?
Like many creative ideas, enriching a landscape with leaf litter is only as good as its results.
One of the central goals of this method is to cultivate soil microbes and fungi. But these organisms are tiny, and even huge communities of them leave very little visual trace.
On top of that, they also need time to cause their effect. How can you measure the impact of using leaf litter?
For one, Maas Verde recommends long-term seasonal monitoring. You’ll want to do this over multiple seasons or years. To start, set up a camera spot. This should be a convenient, out-of-the-way place that overlooks your landscape or yard — like a fence corner or deck.
Mark it with a flag, T-post, or similar item and start snapping a few photos each season. Keeping track of every plant on a landscape can be harder than you might think — but plant spread can be a general marker of soil health.
Sometimes a desired species will propagate in one area, then pop up in another one nearby (Maas Verde recommends native plants under virtually all circumstances). When desired plants “move” around a landscape like this, it can indicate improving soil conditions.
Hot conditions inside this leaf compost pile indicate microbe activity; (photo/Marc Opperman)However, the information you’ll get from these observations is anecdotal and may not pertain directly to healthier soil. Changing light conditions, seasonal variances, and species competition are factors, too.
A targeted soil test is the only way to measure bacterial and fungal content in soils. Multiple groups provide these resources. Choose a regional specialist, like Texas A&M or Austin’s Rhizos.
Or take the short route — which, in this case, is letting nature take over. Without leaf litter to provide ecological services like nutrient cycling, soil will soon lack nutrients and plants will suffer.
The American Natural History Museum simplified it:
“New plants sprout from the nutrient-rich soil. The cycle begins again.”
Tips For Winterizing a Garden in Central Texas
Temperatures have finally dropped (maybe for good), and there’s one thing on every Texas cultivator’s mind: winterizing the garden.
Whether you’re a homeowner with landscape shrubs, an avid gardener with colorful flower beds, or a farm-to-table vegetable grower using steel planter boxes, you know how important it is to prep your plants for winter.
There’s plenty you can do to help. Winter is a key season in any plant’s growth cycle, and there are benefits available. In fact, most plants will do some of the work themselves.
Check out this list of our favorite tips and tricks to help your plants not only succeed, but thrive through winter in Texas.
1. Water Deeply Before a Freeze
It might be counterintuitive, but watering plants before a freeze actually helps roots stay warm. Soil is a natural insulator — it changes temperature more slowly than air. And wet soil cools even more slowly.
“Water loses its heat slowly over the hours into the colder temperatures,” Texas A&M AgriLife advised. “Watering just before the freeze can help by creating warmth.”
(Photo/Maas Verde)2. Add Mulch or Leaf Litter To Boost Insulation
Have you ever stopped to wonder how even small plants can survive weeks of bitter-cold temperatures? While the above-ground structures of species like woody natives are especially resilient, it’s what happens inside the soil that counts.
The best way to protect that functionality: mulching.
Soil is an excellent insulator. In Texas’ tumultuous climate, that’s a key to any native plant’s survivability.
Consider those weeks when daytime temperatures swing between 40 and 75 degrees. Even in a cold front that lingers for a few days, the soil can retain a lot of ambient heat.
That’s like a jacket for plants.
“During these big swings, soil will typically stay closer to an average temperature,” Opperman said. “Just because air temperature drops, that doesn’t mean the depth where these plants have roots is going to be that cold.”
Maas Verde recommends sprinkling fresh mulch or leaf litter on garden beds ahead of the coldest winter temperatures. The added material will help limit heat loss at the soil surface.
(Photo/Creative Commons)3. Choose the Right Plant Covers for Freezes
With eco-friendly planting practices, gardeners aim to create sustainable gardens that are in harmony with the local environment. However, even the most thoughtful planting cannot fully protect plants from the dangers of freezing temperatures. Freezes can shock plants when the air deposits frost on their leaves and stems, causing their cells to rupture as water inside becomes ice and expands. This can happen anytime the temperature stays low enough to freeze standing water on the ground.
While covering plants with tarps, towels, or blankets will help, it’s not ideal. Breathability, sunlight penetration, and weight are all concerns — using the right tool for the job is important.
For beds, Maas Verde recommends a medium-weight UV fabric like DeWitt’s N-Sulate. It’s purpose-engineered, reusable, and generally easy to handle.
For winterizing potted plants or trees, you can use a Planket. Essentially the same thing in a parachute shape with a drawstring closure, it tightens around plant bases or pots for convenience. Multiple sizes are available.
4. Build Your Own Plant Caddy
The “if you’re cold, they’re cold” feels — we’ve been there, too. And whether or not you’re sentimental about your plants’ comfort, sometimes a plant just needs to come inside. Young individuals with shallow roots can be especially vulnerable to extreme cold, and even bringing them inside the garage can make a difference.
Have you ever noticed how so many plant caddies are the same size and shape? Our resident gardeners know plants are the opposite of that — they come in every size and shape.
For a quick solution, get a plastic bus tub or metal galvanized tub and add casters with construction adhesive or nuts and bolts. This simple design will fit various pot sizes and keep water off your floors.
Or you could hit the same function with a different aesthetic by using a wooden craft crate. For floor protection, consider plastic bin lids or pot saucers.
5. Fertilize in Early Winter
You don’t want to fertilize too late in the season. This is because plants have the best opportunity to capitalize on any nutrient recharge when growing conditions are also ideal.
As I write this in early November, that’s exactly the case.
“Treatment right now is a great idea,” Maas Verde project manager Marc Opperman said. “With plenty of sun, warmth, and regular rain before it gets cold, it’s pretty much the best time to give your garden a boost.”
Maas Verde recommends a light layer of organic compost or granular fertilizer, such as MicroLife Multi-Purpose 6-2-4.
6. Your Plants Are Protecting Themselves!
At first glance, it might not look like much is going on with your outdoor plants in winter. But native and non-native adapted species actually spend this time deepening and developing their root systems.
The plant’s above-ground tissues are experiencing dormancy. Instead of using resources to grow leafy tissue, pollinate, or transpire, it’s sending all that energy underground.
“As roots grow, they tend to channel downward to create structure, and send these hairy rootlets out sideways ,” Opperman explained. “It’s a surface area thing, and it’s especially important for nutrient uptake, mycorrhizal connection, and all kinds of good stuff.”
In temperatures about 40 degrees and above, this is how native plants “winterize” themselves. By spring, they’ll be even better prepared to capitalize and grow.
*Featured image: Sylvia Sassen via Flickr
Why Fall is the Perfect Texas Growing Season
Planting a garden or landscape in fall could raise some eyebrows.
But good reasons to do it are not hard to identify from casual observation. Here in this unheralded but productive Texas growing season, native and non-native adapted species roar into activity with colorful blooms and torrents of seeds.
The reasons why are technical but intuitive.
In October 2023, significant rains finally broke months of drought stress. The water signaled plants that had eked through the summer in dormancy to take advantage and pollinate.
The same mechanism gets triggered when Texas’ soaring summer temperatures subside. Since plants cool themselves through transpiration, or releasing moisture through their leaves, extreme heat and drought are a tough one-two punch.
Take either of those two stresses away, and you’ve got viable conditions for growing. In 2023, it all happened at once.
“Most of the species that grow here natively can handle one or two sources of stress at a time,” Maas Verde project manager Marc Opperman said. “Once they start adding up, that plant tends to have a harder time.”
He added that recent rainfall has supercharged local plant growth. At Maas Verde headquarters, recently planted seeds of multiple species have sprouted and are now advancing rapidly.
Indiangrass (Sorghastrum nutans) sprouted within one week of late October planting at Maas Verde; (photo/Marc Opperman)The conditions add up to an ideal time to install many Central Texas plants, especially larger specimens. Hot, dry weather doesn’t treat plants well when they’re trying to establish.
Growing demands resources. Trees and shrubs, particularly, can take more inputs to establish than smaller specimens. When the plant is getting signals to conserve moisture and nutrients in any possible way, progress can be marginal.
On the other hand, it’s a big advantage to transplant during an easier growing season, ahead of a period that induces fewer stresses. Many Central Texas natives grow best below 80 degrees, so planting them now gives them the best chance to root and thrive with proper maintenance before summer heat arrives.
“Transplanting itself does induce some stress. So with the amount of rain we’re getting right now and the better growing temperatures, it’s a great time to put plants in the ground,” Opperman said.
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Featured image: Wild-growing Texas lantana (Lantana urticoides) under a fall sky at Maas Verde headquarters; (photo/Maas Verde)
