BOLT Landscape Design

I’ve been experimenting with several lawn alternatives in my own Central Texas yard, and it’s been fun seeing how each one fills a different role.

Horseherb (Calyptocarpus vialis) can be mowed surprisingly low if you’re after a more traditional lawn look. Texas frogfruit (Phyla nodiflora), on the other hand, I think looks its best when you let it grow and flower, so I use it as a living mulch in my wildflower bed. Right next to it, my neighbor keeps their horseherb mowed along the gate path. That contrast does a lot to make the whole area feel intentional. Sometimes all a wild garden needs is a clean edge or a tidy path.

I’m also trialing native Lyreleaf sage (Salvia lyrata) as a lawn alternative near my front door. It stays green through the winter with its evergreen rosettes, then puts on a great show of blue flowers in spring before slowly spreading on its own.

Another favorite is Webberville sedge (Carex perdentata). It’s a native sedge with a soft, relaxed texture that takes very little water once established, and I’m continuing to fill it into a few areas of the yard.

What lawn alternatives have you had success with in Central Texas? I’m always interested to hear what others are growing.

This Central Austin home is about as storybook as it gets. Original limestone, original windows and doors, vines climbing the chimney, and huge heritage pecan trees. Instead of fighting that character, we’re leaning into it.

We’re enlarging the front beds to reduce the St. Augustine lawn and layering in a mostly native, low-maintenance, water-wise planting palette. Think soft whites, purples, and lots of green texture with Texas mountain laurel, Mexican plum, yaupon, American beautyberry, oakleaf hydrangea, white autumn sage, fall aster, dwarf ruellia, and Big Blue liriope.

I can’t wait to watch this garden grow together over the next few seasons. The goal is a lush, shade-friendly landscape that feels like it’s always been part of this charming old cottage.

If you’ve gardened elsewhere in Texas and think you know deer, Northwest Austin will humble you.

The deer there are on a completely different level. In NW Hills, Cat Mountain, Great Hills, and parts of West Austin, deer populations are exceptionally dense.

When deer numbers get high enough, “deer resistant” starts to lose its meaning. A hungry deer will absolutely eat plants that are supposedly deer resistant, especially during drought, freezes, or periods when natural forage is limited.

That’s why successful gardening often requires a different strategy. Sometimes that means fencing, larger plant sizes, dense planting, physical barriers, or simply accepting that deer are one of the primary design constraints.

If you garden in Northwest Austin, what “deer-resistant” plant have you seen them eat and what has worked for you?

Designing a garden isn’t just about plants. It’s about how you move through the space, where you pause, and what draws you in.

This first phase includes 200+ plants, but it’s all planned with the future in mind. Trees and shrubs going in this fall. Growth over the next 1, 3, 5, even 10+ years. And just as important, how people will use it every day.

Where will you walk without crushing plants?
Where will kids or dogs cut through and play?
Where can you actually reach to trim, water, and maintain?

Before I design anything, I pay attention to where I naturally want to stand or sit. It’s almost never the middle of the yard. It’s usually under a tree, along an edge, or somewhere with a view that feels a little protected. That becomes the anchor, and everything builds out from there.