Are you thinking of adding some plants to your yard this spring? If so, one of the top considerations for landscaping a Texas yard is ensuring the plants you choose can survive the hot summers, preferably with limited water.
Whether you’re landscaping a new lawn or updating an existing landscape, choosing the right plants for your location is key to making sure your landscape plants stay healthy and attractive. The better adapted the plants are to the climate, the lower maintenance the lawn will be.
In this article, we’re looking at 10 drought-tolerant plants that can thrive in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Most of the Dallas-Fort Worth area is in USDA Hardiness Zone 8b, though some counties northeast of the metroplex are in Zone 8a. All of the plants on this list are hardy throughout Zone 8 and will grow in the metroplex area (and, in most cases, other parts of Texas and similar regions). Some are native to the region, while others are adapted to locations with similar growing conditions.
Lantana
Lantanas are perennial flowering plants that thrive in hot dry climates, making them popular in South and Southwest gardens. You need to be careful which one you plant, though. Lantana camara is a non-native invasive species. If you’re planting lantanas, opt for a sterile cultivar or the Texas-native Lantana urticoides (formerly Lantana horrida). The Texas Lantana can get quite large (up to 6 feet tall and wide), but you can cut it back in the winter to manage the size if you want.
Liriope
Liriope, lilyturf, or monkey grass are low-growing grassy perennials that tolerate drought very well. They’ll grow in sandy or clay soils and thrive in full sun to partial shade. Since they’re relatively short (9-18 inches, depending on the species and cultivar), they work well as groundcovers or edging plants in landscape beds. Liriope muscari grows in clumps, while Liriope spicata spreads more aggressively and can become invasive.
Yucca
There are about 50 different species of yucca, including around 20 that are native to Texas. They vary widely from the familiar clumping garden plants with slim leaves, to treelike yuccas that can get up to 30 feet tall. They typically grow best in full sun and sandy soils, but still grow well in part sun and clay soils.
Autumn Sage
Autumn Sage (Salvia greggii), also called Cherry Sage or Gregg Salvia, is a small flowering shrub with red flowers and aromatic foliage. It’s a Texas native that grows into a compact mound about 2-4 feet tall. Autumn sage has a high tolerance for drought and heat, and it’s also cold tolerant. It requires well-drained soil and doesn’t do well in heavy clay.
Texas Sage
Texas sage or barometer bush (Leucophyllum frutescens) has fuzzy, silvery-green leaves and purple, pink, or white flowers. It’s a shrub that grows 5-8 feet tall and 4-6 feet wide. Texas sage is very tolerant of drought and heat and thrives in sunny locations with well-drained soil, including rocky soil. It won’t do well in shade or in soil that doesn’t drain well.
Ferns
When I think of ferns, I usually think of shaded gardens with moist soil conditions. There are a few drought-tolerant ferns, though, that can thrive in our Texas weather. Christmas fern (Polystichum acrostichoides), Eastern Wood Fern (Dryopteris marginalis), Hay Scented Fern (Dennstaedtia punctilobula), and Lady Fern (Athyrium filix-femina) all thrive in dry shade. They can grow in partial sun, but they’ll need more water if they don’t have shade to help them weather the hot summer days.
Gulf Muhly Grass
Gulf Muhly or Pink Hair Grass (Muhlenbergia capillaris) is a hardy native grass with clouds of pink blooms that make it a beautiful ornamental choice. It blooms in the fall and thrives in hot, dry, sunny locations. There are other muhly grass species that can also grow in the drought-tolerant landscape as well, but this one stands out for its showy flowers.
Yaupon Holly
Yaupon holly (Ilex vomitoria) is an attractive evergreen that grows well in full sun to part shade. It’s drought-tolerant and thrives in well-drained soil. If you want a larger hedge or shrub, some yaupon holly can grow up to 45 feet high (though they’re usually trimmed smaller). The “dwarf” varieties still require pruning to keep them small, but they are slow-growing. You can cut them into formal hedges or grow them as a mounding shrub.
Barberry
The red barberry (Berberis thunbergia) is a drought-tolerant shrub with beautiful foliage. A wide variety of available cultivars offer a range of foliage colors in shades of red, maroon, and pink. The branches have thorns, which keep most wildlife from bothering these plants. Most varieties of barberry are drought-tolerant, so you’ll have a range of colors and mature sizes to choose from. They typically grow best in sunny parts of the yard.
Honeysuckle
Many honeysuckle varieties are invasive, but native North American honeysuckles can be a great addition to your Texas landscape. These drought-tolerant vines provide beautiful flowers (often with a sweet scent) that attract insects and birds to the garden. Non-invasive varieties that grow well in the Dallas area include the Dutch Honeysuckle (Lonicera periclymenum), Coral or Trumpet Honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens), and White Honeysuckle (Lonicera albiflora).
All the plants on this list are perennials, meaning they’ll come back year after year in your landscape. There are drought-tolerant annuals (plants that only live for one growing season) as well, but we didn’t focus on them here. This article also doesn’t include trees, so if you’re looking for a tree to plant, check out our article “Trees for Texas Lawns.”
