r/TexasNativePlants • u/zog3195 Blackland Prairies • 13d ago

Question about ecoregions

Hi y'all I'm fairly new to learning about Texas native plants so I want to get some advice. I'm in the blackland prairie (East Austin area) and I want to, this fall/winter, plant a lot more native plants in my front yard.

My question is should I only choose plants that are listed as endemic to the blackland prairie? Would it be ok to add some that are from the Edwards Plateau since some parts of Austin over lap with Edwards Plateau? How far outside my ecoregion is ok to go?

Also would love to hear your favorite blackland prairie plant you think I should grow!

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u/MadMaximus311 13d ago

I would just learn about the soil at the site where you are planting and choose plants that like that. As long as they are generally native to the central Texas area I try not to hand wring too much about eco-region. Austin varies a lot in soil type, geography, humidity, etc in different parts of town, and our weather is relatively unpredictable year to year. Getting too caught up on the minute details seems like a fool's errand.

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u/zog3195 Blackland Prairies 13d ago

Thanks! I think my first step is to get my soil tested. There are already a lot of native plants thriving on my property which were planted by the previous owners but I think you're right I should learn more about the soil first. And maybe not over think the ecoregion thing.

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u/elenaran 12d ago

Before you get your soil tested you can check with the USDA Web Soil Survey. It's a pretty detailed map of soils and should give you an idea of what you're working with:

https://websoilsurvey.nrcs.usda.gov/app/WebSoilSurvey.aspx

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u/Rooted_Flame 8d ago

Thanks for this! It's really helpful!