Our Approach

Our Mission

At Native Son Gardens our mission is to return Austin’s urban landscapes back into the broader ecosystem they’ve been cut from using sustainable landscaping practices and a plant-centered approach. By creating novel plant communities inspired by our unique Central Texas landscape we can improve our soils, fill our aquifers, give food and shelter to our local wildlife, and create gorgeous yards that inspire us to get outside and enjoy our slice of Texas paradise.

We approach landscaping from a radical new direction. The old ideas of the suburban landscape—endless green carpets and static evergreen shrubs—added little and required lots in the way of resources. Instead of filling space with lawn, we create plant communities modeled on our native green belt areas and inspired by Ladybird Johnson’s beautiful Wildflower Center. Native meadows of low-water, drought-tolerant ornamental grasses and wildflowers create sustainable ecosystems in the full sun where lawns would flourish. Under the sprawling oaks of west and central Austin, shade plants like those that grow around our creeks and wooded areas create lush gardens perfect for intimate sitting areas.

The resource intensive yards of the past are not sustainable, so we ask - what if your yard felt less like a “yard”, and more like an extension of our beautiful natural ecosystem?

What do you want from your yard? What would you do if you spent less time maintaining it and more time enjoying it? What if instead of cutting your lawn every week, you only had to cut back your plants once a year? The American—and yes, the Austin—landscape of the future needs to look very different than it has in the past. Our goal is to help move us in that direction, one yard at a time.

Thoughtful Design

We take your particular space and lifestyle into consideration with every design, to ensure that the final product and everything included makes sense for your goals and is feasible to maintain.

Sustainable practices

We love designing spaces that serve us as well as our furred and feathered friends. We also employ sustainable techniques during installation for an earth-friendly approach, one that keeps your yard looking great long-term.

For example, one of the most common questions we get is how to prevent or control weeds. The industry is filled with weed fabric and plant-killing chemicals. We use these only to control aggressive and invasive species like bermuda grass. But plants will always grow where there is space, even in the mulch on top of weed fabric! Instead we like to plant things we actually want! That means a more layered and dense planting style that leaves less room for weeds and matures into a lush garden bursting with texture and color.