mainstreetlawn

5 Low Maintenance Shrubs for North Texas

August 12, 2024
, Plants

As our seasons grow longer, our busy schedule tends to follow. This leaves little room for precarious landscaping needs that are required in many different gardens. In order to solve this, we have included a list of 5 low-maintenance shrubs for North Texas that will add liveliness and efficiency to your landscape and help contribute towards a low-maintenance lawn. Among these shrubs are many pros for low maintenance, including pest resistance, being an evergreen, some being a native Texas plant, adaptable to numerous soils, requiring less water, and being drought resistant.

Dwarf Yaupon Holly

The Dwarf Yaupon Holly is a modest-growing plant, growing up to 3 feet in height and width. Because of its minimal height and dense leaves, pruning is easy and should rarely need to be done. It is also tolerant to shearing, so if for some reason it needs to be cut back, it should be an easy task to complete. The Dwarf Yaupon Holly is adaptable to most any range of sunlight and soil and does not require an abundance of water, making it an overwhelmingly low-maintenance shrub. Lastly, this shrub is an evergreen, meaning that after blooming in the spring with appealing blooms, it does not lose its leaves in the winter and tends to be quite self-sustaining.

Silverberry

Unlike the dwarf hollies, the Silverberry, or “Elaeagnus” shrub, can grow up to 6 feet in height and 8 feet in width, classifying as a medium shrub. Despite its great size, the Silverberry is one of the most low-maintenance shrubs because of its ability to adapt to any type of soil and still retain its fast growth pace. The Silverberry, like other low-maintenance shrubs, is also drought-tolerant, meaning it requires small amounts of water. This evergreen shrub thrives best in full sunlight and blooms during the summer in colors ranging from white, yellow, and silvery-toned white depending on the species.

Dwarf Burford Holly

Similar to the Dwarf Yaupon Holly, the Dwarf Burford Holly is another small evergreen shrub, growing up to 4 feet in height and 3 feet in width. Due to its density and fast maturity, minimal shrub pruning is required. It is popularly used in landscaping as a low-border and hedge shrub. Similar to most of these low-maintenance shrubs, the Dwarf Burford Holly can be planted in most any soil with minimal water. This shrub thrives with any range of sunlight and shows its elegant white blooms in the spring. Although it is a heavy berry producer, it is not considered to be overwhelming or invasive in any way.

Texas Sage

This native evergreen shrub can grow to be 6-7 feet tall and is easily pruned if needed. The Texas Sage is commonly used as a desert landscaping shrub due to its extreme drought tolerance, which, although beneficial, can also create problems for landscape owners. The most common reason for the death of a Texas Sage shrub is overwatering because of its ability to tolerate extreme underwatering. Although it may sound severe, that is the only real concern over this shrub, making it quite low maintenance. The Texas Sage thrives in full sunlight with minimal water, as well as most any type of soil. It blooms in the summer and fall, showing its vibrant flowers in pink, lavender, and white.

Abelia Rose Creek

This low-maintenance evergreen shrub, despite not being a native plant of North Texas, is known to do very well in our planting zone, meaning it is easily adaptable. It can grow up to 4 feet in height and 5 feet in width at maturity. Due to its small branches, compactness, and density, the Abelia Rose Creek is one of the easiest shrubs to prune. It is also easily contained and is not an invasive species whatsoever. Much like the other shrubs listed here, this shrub is also adaptable to most any soil, requiring minimal water and most any variation of sunlight in order to thrive. The Rose Creek Abelia has vibrant white blooms that show from the late spring to the fall. It can grow up to 4 feet in height and 5 feet in width at maturity.